Chapter 28: The Pick Up
Brandan sat up quickly as soon as the plug was pulled.
"Go, go, go!" he yelled as he struggled to get the headset on. The ship quickly got into the air and took off at full speed out of the cubby. Just as the ship lifted off the proximity alarm went off.
"Shit I thought that was gonna happen for some reason. Everyone get to a gun turret we have to take'em down!" Brandan and the others quickly rushed to the weapons deck and Colin had just finished pushing in the last of the bullet casings to load the turrets. Saba, Colin, Isaiah, Brandan, Tarra and Parker all manned a gun turret while Dan flew. Saba looked into her viewer and could see a large squadron of sentinels forming behind them.
"Shoot to kill as always guys," said Parker as all of them opened fire on the sentinels at once.
"Guys is anyone monitoring her position so I know when to drop the grapple?" asked Dan as he flew.
"Don't worry Dan just fly I am watching everything else," Parker answered. Colin aimed carefully but quickly, taking out sentinels one by one as fast as he could.
"Holy shit, there's a lot of them!" he yelled.
"Keep going we have to keep them off the ship!" yelled Isaiah. Several of the sentinels began to cling to the hull of the ship and attack with their lasers cutting away at the armor of the ship.
"Guys what's wrong aren't you watching your monitors!" yelled Brandan getting frustrated at the crew for seemingly not paying attention. Just then Tarra and Saba both began firing on the sentinels on the outer hull shortly followed by Colin and Isaiah. This quickly disposed of the ones on the ship but there was far more trouble coming behind them.
"They must know we are after something," said Saba.
"Ah Captain look up ahead," said Dan as the ship burst through the tunnels out into the fields. Brandan switched his viewer to the front of the ship and could see a swarm forming up ahead.
"We've gotta bust through them, Tabatha is just on the other side! Saba, Isaiah focus on the approaching swarm ahead of us the rest of us will take out the followers," Brandan ordered. Saba and Isaiah quickly followed the orders which made sense the two of them not being overly great aimers all they had to do was focus on the forming mass ahead not the maneuvering sentinels behind them.
"Dan I'll drop the grapple soon just be ready to bring it to a quick hault!" said Parker.
"Gotcha." Dan jerked the accelerator around trying to maneuver around the swarm ahead of them.
"Shit they're fast little bastards to," said Colin aiming for the ones closest to the ship.
"You didn't just figure that out now did you?" asked Tarra following his lead. They fought for the life of there ship for several moments when they came to the spot.
"DAN STOP!" Parker dropped the grapple and Dan reversed the accelerator as hard as he could bringing the ship to a harsh halt everything shaking. The grapple fell and grabbed Tabatha and several sentinels started to attack it.
"Keep them away from the grapple, Dan get us back to the underground!" yelled Brandan refocusing his turret on the grapple. The ship was now almost completely covered in sentinels as it started to head back to the tunnels of the real.
"PARKER charge the EMP now get down there!" Brandan ordered. Parker let him self out of the turret seat as the ship flipped almost a complete 360 to head back underground. The grapple had gotten back inside just in time as they hit back into the underground.
"Saba go make sure Tabatha is ok!" Saba nodded and cautiously made her way to the cargo hold. Isaiah, Colin, Tarra and Brandan were the only active gun turrets, this was the most difficult swarm they had ever been chased by. They must have been tracing them when they were fighting the agents within the matrix.
The ship was once again flying through the tunnels and the EMP had been charged.
"Dan hurry up and sit her down somewhere I'm ready!" said Parker getting impatient. Dan got the ship into the smallest hole in the wall he could fit it into and sat it down. The gun turrets went dead and the ship went dark all except for the red lights of the alarm.
"Make sure they are all in range," said Brandan. They could hear the metal clanking of the sentinels hitting the ship and soon enough they were all in range.
"Parker now, hit it now!" Parker turned the switch and everything went quiet as the EMP was released. They could hear as the sentinels fell from the hull of the ship and hit the ground of the tunnels.
"Whew, that was close," said Isaiah as his arms fell to his sides and he put his head back.
"Saba is everything ok down there?" asked Colin.
Saba's voice was slight muffled meaning the internal communication system was most likely damaged.
"Yeah everything is fine she made it with no injuries at least," said Saba. The lights began to come back on and Brandan went down to the cargo hold to help Saba get Tabatha to the medical bay. They had moved her to the medical bay, and Parker and Dan had been ordered to start on the repairs. Tarra, Isaiah, Colin and Brandan all worked on the restructuring while Saba monitored the computer.
Tabatha opened her eyes and sat up, she was in a small dark room and dressed in some shabby clothing. Was this the real world? She thought to herself.
"Where is this?" she whispered to herself. She saw a light shining out from under the door and slowly walked over to it putting her hand on it. She pulled on the door gently and it pulled open. The door opened into the broadcast room, Parker, Brandan and Tarra were checking the equipment. Each of them stopped what they were doing and looked at her. Brandan smiled and walked over to her.
"How do you feel?" he asked. Tabatha smiled back as she spoke.
"I feel good." Tabatha punched him slightly in the arm.
"So ah, when you gonna get around to showing me what the matrix is dude."
"Whenever you're ready." Brandan walked over to the chairs and sat down. "Have a seat," Brandan beckoned to her. Tabatha walked over and sat in the chair and Tarra walked over to her.
"Lay back, and relax," said Tarra gently pushing her back into her seat. Parker jacked Brandan into the jack and Tarra hooked Tabatha in.
"Well this is kinda uncomfortable if I do say so myself," said Tabatha.
"Don't worry it gets easier every time," said Brandan looking over and smirking at her, "Parker send us into the construct." Parker sat down in the chair and typed in the commands necessary then hit enter.
Tabatha opened her eyes and her and Brandan were standing inside the construct program.
"What is this place?" Brandan walked over to her and directed her to a chair that seemed to appear out of nowhere.
"This is what we call the construct program," said Brandan, "Its our loading program we use it to jack into the Matrix. And the Matrix . . ." Brandan sat down in the chair and clicked on the television that appeared in front of them with the remote that appeared in his hand.
"The matrix is control. A system created by the machines in the real world to enslave the human race." The images on the screen changed as Brandan was talking. Images of the barren upper world and also of the machine empire.
"Oh my gosh are you serious, how did this happen?"
"Tabatha the world you live in. . . the time frame is around the year 2001 when in all actuality, it is closer to the year 2101."
"Oh my god, are you serious?"
"After seeing what you seen when you awoke do you not believe me?" Tabatha had a very sincere look on her face as she spoke.
"Yes I believe you."
"Good, now what I am gonna show you may seem hard to believe at first but it is real." Parker loaded the jumping program.
"Whoa, what's going on?" she asked.
"Don't worry its just loading." Tabatha shrugged her shoulders. The program loaded and they were on top of the building. The matrix is a program in a computer and just like a computer program you can change things. You can defy gravity, move at incredible speeds even dodge bullets." Tabatha had a doubtful look on her face.
"How can I do that?"
"All you have to do is believe, watch." Brandan walked over to the edge of the building and looked over.
"What are you doing?" Brandan walked back a few steps and then broke into a run. "OH MY GOD STOP!" yelled Tabatha as he jumped off the edge. Brandan jumped to one of the slightly distant buildings. "Holy shit!" Tabatha yelled to him.
"Come on you can do it to, all you have to do is believe in yourself. None of this is real!" Tabatha looked at Brandan then at the ledge and herself.
"Hell if he can do it I can." Tabatha ran at the edge and jumped, she started off well and made it almost to the building Brandan got to but had to just catch the edge. Brandan grabbed her and helped her up onto the building.
"Good job. Parker take us out, you and Colin can take it from here."
Tabatha opened her eyes and Tarra pulled the needle from her neck. Parker walked over to her and then extended his hand.
"Come with me I'll show you everything you need to know," he said.
"Alright." Tabatha took his hand and stood up then followed him. Brandan sat up in the seat and watched them walk away.
"Isaiah there has been reports of a strange new exile that they want us to investigate suit up you and I are gonna check things out," he said, "Tarra take the operators station." Tarra nodded and walked over to the station and put on the operators head set while Isaiah jumped into his seat and laid back. Saba walked over and jacked them in, Tarra loaded them into the construct program.
Brandan sat up quickly as soon as the plug was pulled.
"Go, go, go!" he yelled as he struggled to get the headset on. The ship quickly got into the air and took off at full speed out of the cubby. Just as the ship lifted off the proximity alarm went off.
"Shit I thought that was gonna happen for some reason. Everyone get to a gun turret we have to take'em down!" Brandan and the others quickly rushed to the weapons deck and Colin had just finished pushing in the last of the bullet casings to load the turrets. Saba, Colin, Isaiah, Brandan, Tarra and Parker all manned a gun turret while Dan flew. Saba looked into her viewer and could see a large squadron of sentinels forming behind them.
"Shoot to kill as always guys," said Parker as all of them opened fire on the sentinels at once.
"Guys is anyone monitoring her position so I know when to drop the grapple?" asked Dan as he flew.
"Don't worry Dan just fly I am watching everything else," Parker answered. Colin aimed carefully but quickly, taking out sentinels one by one as fast as he could.
"Holy shit, there's a lot of them!" he yelled.
"Keep going we have to keep them off the ship!" yelled Isaiah. Several of the sentinels began to cling to the hull of the ship and attack with their lasers cutting away at the armor of the ship.
"Guys what's wrong aren't you watching your monitors!" yelled Brandan getting frustrated at the crew for seemingly not paying attention. Just then Tarra and Saba both began firing on the sentinels on the outer hull shortly followed by Colin and Isaiah. This quickly disposed of the ones on the ship but there was far more trouble coming behind them.
"They must know we are after something," said Saba.
"Ah Captain look up ahead," said Dan as the ship burst through the tunnels out into the fields. Brandan switched his viewer to the front of the ship and could see a swarm forming up ahead.
"We've gotta bust through them, Tabatha is just on the other side! Saba, Isaiah focus on the approaching swarm ahead of us the rest of us will take out the followers," Brandan ordered. Saba and Isaiah quickly followed the orders which made sense the two of them not being overly great aimers all they had to do was focus on the forming mass ahead not the maneuvering sentinels behind them.
"Dan I'll drop the grapple soon just be ready to bring it to a quick hault!" said Parker.
"Gotcha." Dan jerked the accelerator around trying to maneuver around the swarm ahead of them.
"Shit they're fast little bastards to," said Colin aiming for the ones closest to the ship.
"You didn't just figure that out now did you?" asked Tarra following his lead. They fought for the life of there ship for several moments when they came to the spot.
"DAN STOP!" Parker dropped the grapple and Dan reversed the accelerator as hard as he could bringing the ship to a harsh halt everything shaking. The grapple fell and grabbed Tabatha and several sentinels started to attack it.
"Keep them away from the grapple, Dan get us back to the underground!" yelled Brandan refocusing his turret on the grapple. The ship was now almost completely covered in sentinels as it started to head back to the tunnels of the real.
"PARKER charge the EMP now get down there!" Brandan ordered. Parker let him self out of the turret seat as the ship flipped almost a complete 360 to head back underground. The grapple had gotten back inside just in time as they hit back into the underground.
"Saba go make sure Tabatha is ok!" Saba nodded and cautiously made her way to the cargo hold. Isaiah, Colin, Tarra and Brandan were the only active gun turrets, this was the most difficult swarm they had ever been chased by. They must have been tracing them when they were fighting the agents within the matrix.
The ship was once again flying through the tunnels and the EMP had been charged.
"Dan hurry up and sit her down somewhere I'm ready!" said Parker getting impatient. Dan got the ship into the smallest hole in the wall he could fit it into and sat it down. The gun turrets went dead and the ship went dark all except for the red lights of the alarm.
"Make sure they are all in range," said Brandan. They could hear the metal clanking of the sentinels hitting the ship and soon enough they were all in range.
"Parker now, hit it now!" Parker turned the switch and everything went quiet as the EMP was released. They could hear as the sentinels fell from the hull of the ship and hit the ground of the tunnels.
"Whew, that was close," said Isaiah as his arms fell to his sides and he put his head back.
"Saba is everything ok down there?" asked Colin.
Saba's voice was slight muffled meaning the internal communication system was most likely damaged.
"Yeah everything is fine she made it with no injuries at least," said Saba. The lights began to come back on and Brandan went down to the cargo hold to help Saba get Tabatha to the medical bay. They had moved her to the medical bay, and Parker and Dan had been ordered to start on the repairs. Tarra, Isaiah, Colin and Brandan all worked on the restructuring while Saba monitored the computer.
Tabatha opened her eyes and sat up, she was in a small dark room and dressed in some shabby clothing. Was this the real world? She thought to herself.
"Where is this?" she whispered to herself. She saw a light shining out from under the door and slowly walked over to it putting her hand on it. She pulled on the door gently and it pulled open. The door opened into the broadcast room, Parker, Brandan and Tarra were checking the equipment. Each of them stopped what they were doing and looked at her. Brandan smiled and walked over to her.
"How do you feel?" he asked. Tabatha smiled back as she spoke.
"I feel good." Tabatha punched him slightly in the arm.
"So ah, when you gonna get around to showing me what the matrix is dude."
"Whenever you're ready." Brandan walked over to the chairs and sat down. "Have a seat," Brandan beckoned to her. Tabatha walked over and sat in the chair and Tarra walked over to her.
"Lay back, and relax," said Tarra gently pushing her back into her seat. Parker jacked Brandan into the jack and Tarra hooked Tabatha in.
"Well this is kinda uncomfortable if I do say so myself," said Tabatha.
"Don't worry it gets easier every time," said Brandan looking over and smirking at her, "Parker send us into the construct." Parker sat down in the chair and typed in the commands necessary then hit enter.
Tabatha opened her eyes and her and Brandan were standing inside the construct program.
"What is this place?" Brandan walked over to her and directed her to a chair that seemed to appear out of nowhere.
"This is what we call the construct program," said Brandan, "Its our loading program we use it to jack into the Matrix. And the Matrix . . ." Brandan sat down in the chair and clicked on the television that appeared in front of them with the remote that appeared in his hand.
"The matrix is control. A system created by the machines in the real world to enslave the human race." The images on the screen changed as Brandan was talking. Images of the barren upper world and also of the machine empire.
"Oh my gosh are you serious, how did this happen?"
"Tabatha the world you live in. . . the time frame is around the year 2001 when in all actuality, it is closer to the year 2101."
"Oh my god, are you serious?"
"After seeing what you seen when you awoke do you not believe me?" Tabatha had a very sincere look on her face as she spoke.
"Yes I believe you."
"Good, now what I am gonna show you may seem hard to believe at first but it is real." Parker loaded the jumping program.
"Whoa, what's going on?" she asked.
"Don't worry its just loading." Tabatha shrugged her shoulders. The program loaded and they were on top of the building. The matrix is a program in a computer and just like a computer program you can change things. You can defy gravity, move at incredible speeds even dodge bullets." Tabatha had a doubtful look on her face.
"How can I do that?"
"All you have to do is believe, watch." Brandan walked over to the edge of the building and looked over.
"What are you doing?" Brandan walked back a few steps and then broke into a run. "OH MY GOD STOP!" yelled Tabatha as he jumped off the edge. Brandan jumped to one of the slightly distant buildings. "Holy shit!" Tabatha yelled to him.
"Come on you can do it to, all you have to do is believe in yourself. None of this is real!" Tabatha looked at Brandan then at the ledge and herself.
"Hell if he can do it I can." Tabatha ran at the edge and jumped, she started off well and made it almost to the building Brandan got to but had to just catch the edge. Brandan grabbed her and helped her up onto the building.
"Good job. Parker take us out, you and Colin can take it from here."
Tabatha opened her eyes and Tarra pulled the needle from her neck. Parker walked over to her and then extended his hand.
"Come with me I'll show you everything you need to know," he said.
"Alright." Tabatha took his hand and stood up then followed him. Brandan sat up in the seat and watched them walk away.
"Isaiah there has been reports of a strange new exile that they want us to investigate suit up you and I are gonna check things out," he said, "Tarra take the operators station." Tarra nodded and walked over to the station and put on the operators head set while Isaiah jumped into his seat and laid back. Saba walked over and jacked them in, Tarra loaded them into the construct program.
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