Wolf was halfway down the cliff when he heard the helicopter fly up behind him. He looked, and saw it leveling its guns right at his head.

"Attention, Major Jason MacKenzie. Surrendur yourself and General Vong to us or be destroyed." The pilot shouted.

"Fat chance, flyboy!" Wolf shouted back. He saw the barrel of the Huey's chaingun begin to spin, and he knew he had to react fast. He released his climbing claws, allowing himself to fall rapidly as the opening barrage of bullets hit the cliff wall just above his head. As Wolf neared the ground, he used the claw on his left hand to slow his descent, while he started firing his .45's cookie cutter rounds with the right hand. The rounds connected with the front of the helicopter, but failed to damage it enough. Wolf got through 4 rounds before he hit the ground hard, landing rather badly on his back as the claw gave way. The helicopter adjusted its aim and prepared to fire again.

Come on Katlin...shoot them! Wolf's mind screamed.

As if Katlin had heard him, a barrage of M16 bullets emenated from the cave, cracking the cockpit canopy glass. As the Huey turned to face the new threat, Wolf took careful aim with the Colt, and fired the last cookie cutter round.

The explosive bullet hit the chaingun dead on in the ammo feeder. The blast set off the 500 or so rounds left in the ammo bin, which ignited the cockpit in a hellish inferno. Fortunately for the pilots, the touched-off bullets had perforated them long before the fire could roast them. The bullets alse tor holes in the Huey up and down it's entire chassis. The dying helicopter flew drunkenly off to the west before crashing into another mountainside.

Katlin looked off the side of the cliff. "Jason, are you all right?" she shouted down.

Wolf got up, shrugging off the dull ache in his back. "I'm fine, but I'd say the situation has gone from SNAFU to TARFU." he called back.

"You're telling me; that helicopter almost punched your ticket."

"Yeah, but you're timely intervention prevented that from happening." Wolf grinned. "Now stand back, I'm going to use my nano-augmentations to hurl all the guns up the cliffside."

***

2 minutes later Wolf climbed back up the cliff, the last AK-47 strapped to his back. He hadn't tossed this one, because it had an underslung grenade launcher on it.

This will definetely come in handy. He thought as he reached the top of the cliff and walked back into the cave. Katlin had arrayed all of the salvaged guns in a neat row.

"All right, how much did we get?" Wolf asked her.

"We have 40 rounds for the Dragunovs, plus the 7 shots already in each rifle. As for the AKs, with that rifle on your back we have over 480 rounds for the AKs, plus those three impact grenades you can use in that rifle's launcher."

"Good, because I can tell we're going to need it." Wolf said as he looked out of the cave. "I can tell Mastermind is coming for us with all he's got."

"Did you set out the welcome mat for him?" Katlin asked.

Wolf held up a remote detonator "It wouldn't be very hostpitable of me if I didn't." he grinned.

***

Not more than 5 miles away, a detachment of 600 Mastermind soldiers, backed up by 4 Recon Buggies made their way towards the cave. In the lead buggy, a familiar figure in a business suit sat in the driver's seat.

"Smith, this is your last chance...I can't afford to give you anymore cyborg bodies."

"I understand, Mastermind." Smith said as he continued driving.

OOC: And now it's time for fun with military jargon
SNAFU- Situation Normal- All Fucked Up
TARFU- Things Are Really Fucked Up
FUBAR- Fucked Up Beyond All Repair

Isn't it great to know the military actually uses these phrases to describe the situation of a clandestine operation?

OOC: I'm gonna try and keep this as complicated, yet easy to read as possible. I think. Somewhat. (And to think: I was gonna drop out of this!? I'm in a girl's body! Woo-hoo!)

Monk gave himself an odd look. "Funny stuff? I don't know what you are talking about..." He gave him an evil look. "Oh! I getCHA."

He nodded, finally admitting to himself that he was now Jade. "This is... wired. I'm a lot shorter than normal..." He took the bandana and tied it around his head, "I have way too much hair than I should have, and I have..." He looked down, "These! How the hell do you do it? Aw man, This is gonna be akward..." He tried to walk around the room, having little success. "Hm... I should get the hang of this soon enough." He looked at Jade, in himself, once again. "I guess we should explain the mix-up, huh?"

"It shouldn't be too hard to get used to walking, but you think you have it bad? I HAVE TO GO TO THE BATHROOM!!"

OOC: ROFL LMAO! Kids, this is why person-to-person cyber connections are bad for you.

BIC: Wolf heard Mastermind's troops approaching. So the seige begins he thought. As he was about to hit the detonator, he heard a voice he had had enough of for one day.

"I'm back, Mr. MacKenzie."

Shit. Wolf thought. He turned to Katlin. "It's Smith." he said through clenched teeth.

Katlin just nodded.

Wolf shouted "What do you want, Smith?"

"I just want to end this peacefully. Just come out so we can talk."

Wolf looked at Katlin "I'm going out there."

"But it's obviously a trap." she said.

"I know, but remember, I have this." he said holding up the detonator. Without another word, Wolf walked out into the open, the wind causing his trenchcoat to flap out meanacingly. He looked down and saw Smith standing 10 feet in front of a massive amount of soldiers. The soldiers had their guns down.

"You seem...surprised to see me again, Mr. MacKenzie. But then again that's the difference between you and me. I've been waiting a long time for this."

"What is 'this' exactly?" Wolf asked.

"Your inevitable demise." Smith said as he drew his Desert Eagle and fired. Wolf moved almost too slow. As it was, the bullet grazed him above his left eye, causing blood to spray from the wound. Wolf crashed to the ground as the enemy soldiers began to fire, tracers spitting over him.

Wolf heard ladders being propped against the cliff, and he knew he'd have to move. Ignoring the throbbing pain in his head, he rolled to his feet and began firing his .45s at the oncoming enemy. He dropped about 10 before he dove for cover back in the cave.

"That was a fast talk." Katlin said as she began firing the M16.

"Yeah, well, I'm letting my friends do the talking now." Wolf said as he peeked out from behind a rock, and saw Smith almost at the top of one of the ladders."

"Resistance is futile! You will be assimilated!"

"Assimilate this." Wolf snarled as he pressed the detonator button.

Two 1/2 pound blocks of C4 implanted in the face of the cliff wall detonated, shattering the ladders, killing troopers, and causing a rocky ramp to form from the ensuing rockslide. As for Smith, the blast tore into his legs as he was lifted up off the ground almost 20 feet before crashing back to earth on his head 10 feet in front of Wolf's postion.

The blast had brought virtual silence to the battlefield. Then, Smith started bitching.

"Ow! My fucking legs! Why did Mastermind allow me to feel pain!? Does anyone have an ace bandage! The bone is sticking through the skin! ((OOC: I know this was bad humor...but I felt it justified...))

"I guess that knock on the head made him even more crippled. Probably messed up his cyborg brain." Wolf chuckled as he and Katlin walked up to Agent Smith. Wolf took Smith's shades, Katlin took his Desert Eagle. They leveled their pistols at his head.

"Goodnight, shitbag." Katlin said as she and Wolf opened fire and destroyed the second Smithinator.

Wolf looked at the stunned troops. "You can either leave, or you can try and stop us." he said as he drew his AK.

The troops charged, a recon buggy in the lead.

Fools Wolf thought as he loosed a Grenade from the AK's launcher. It exploded right under the buggy, which Bruckheimered and exploded as the dead driver and gunner were thrown into the air.

Wolf and Katlin beat a hasty retreat to the cave after that, returning fire all the way.

OOC: Bruckheimer- verb. "Bruckheimered": When a vehicle flips in the air while exploding, like in many action movies that Jerry Bruckheimer produced.

Angel's body was a horrible wreck. There were many scars along his arms, and lots of IV's in him. The entire thing was visibly thin, and his hair had grown down to his waist. It was easy to tell that Mastermind hadn't exactly had Angel really high on his preference list.

***

Angel snapped two shots off of the gun he'd stolen, then grabbed the phone.

***

In the real world, Angel's eyes slowly opened, and he groaned. "God I feel like shit. Thanks for saving me Wraith....now someone please get me out of here..."

For the first time in a long time, Angel tried to sit up, and wobbled a bit. He noted the IV was still in him. Probably queued to providing when needed. Hence why he felt the muscles in his back suddenly come back.

"...So I think I should be able to get back to norm fast but...Wraith, listen to me. Somewhere in this building they have my old laptop. Get it fast. It contains a cache copy of the Aegis program."

Wolf and Katlin, controlling the high ground, made things difficult for the oncoming Mastermind troops. 50 or so fell from their constant barrage of assault rifle bullets. A grenade also took down two recon buggies simultaneously. This forced Mastermind's soldiers to fall back down teh rocky ramp and consider a new tactic

***

"How many did we lose?" the captain asked

"Um...about 60." his Leuitenant said.

"Damn...who knows how many bullets those two have. Well we can't risk another frontal assault, those two have dead-on aim." the Captain said

As if to illustrate a point a crack resonated through the mountains as a Dragunov round from Wolf took out the Leiutenant. The Captain scrambled for cover with his other XOs.

"Well..what do we do now?" the Captain asked

"If we keep running away, maybe it'll confuse them." Said Sgt. Robin.

"Shut up and go change your uniform." the Captain said, noticing a yellow stain on Robin's pants.

"Maybe we can taunt them, making them so mad they'll make a mistake." said Sgt. Galahad

"Like what?" the Captain asked. "Ah screw it, let's just regroup and throw everything we've got at them."

***

Taking advantage of the slight cease-fire, Wolf wiped the blood from his forehead. "Damn that stings."

Katlin tore off part of the service jacket. "Here, use this to staunch the bleeding."

Wolf took the scrap of fabric and wrapped it around his head, tying it in the back to form a bandanna. "Second time I've done this in as many days...except the first time I was a little insane."

"Ah yes, the mansion."

Wolf grinned a bit at the mention of the mansion. "Anyways, let's get ready for their second attempt at stopping us...or the 4th...I lost count."

Wolf's PDAP beeped. "I'd say it would be the sixth time since this mission started." Beowulf said.

"Ah...you're back. Any word on incoming support for us?"

"Nothing from Knight or Jade...looks like you're on your own for now."

"Damn...we're really outnumbered here. Well...I'm not letting them get us under any circumstances."

"...Laptop? Nobody mentioned any laptop to me! What do I look like, a skycap?!" Wraith asks, a little stressed. He sighs at length and readies his rifle. "We've got one minute."

"J2?" he asks, holding up his padd.

"Yes, sir?" she responds.

"There's a laptop somewhere in this building with a cache copy of Aegis on it. You, Gabe, and Tycho please find it ASAP. And I MEAN A - S - A - P."

"Right, sir; fifty seconds."

She disappears from his screen with a flash of white noise, and he walks over next to Angel to help him out of bed. Suddenly his padd beeps and he has to pause to take it back out. "Wraith."

"We found it."

"ALREADY?!"

"We're AIs. We're ten times faster than you humans. Anyway, it's on the third floor, room three-twelve."

"Forty seconds," Wraith answers, closing his padd. He nods to Hikaru and the soldier accompanying them, activating his comm line as he helps Angel to his feet. "Team two, fall back and rappel to floor three, room three-twelve. You're looking for Angel's laptop. You have thirty-five seconds."

An acknowledgement comes over the line as they exit the room, but sounds of feet scuffling and voices speaking in Russian come from down the hallway. Wraith readies his rifle and hurries for the hole in the wall, listening to the sounds getting ever closer. Team two disappears out the hole and starts rappelling down to the indicated floor, soon followed by Hikaru and Wraith helping Angel out and onto the lines.

Indistinct Russian shouting comes at them from behind just before a hail of bullets starts tearing into the walls on both sides of the hallway. Wraith turns to Angel and Hikaru and shouts, "Hurry!"

They quickly get him holstered and hit the recall switch, and the line retracts with a snap, taking Hikaru and Angel up to the chopper. Wraith turns around and ducks to one knee, firing his rifle continuously down the hall. Agents duck and cover while four guns go off at them, then peek back out and start firing again when it slacks up. Cyber Force soldiers duck back behind their doorways while Wraith holds his ground stubbornly, firing away on his rifle as soon as agents stick their heads out. "Ten seconds!" he shouts.

The other soldiers take the hint and fall back one by one, returning to the chopper until only Wraith remains, firing his gun with one arm while reattaching his cable with his other. Then his ammo runs out. He holds the trigger down and listens helplessly as the firing hammer clicks repeatedly down on nothing. He glances at his gun for a second and then tosses it away just as several agents lean back out from behind cover and start firing again. Bullets ricochet from the walls around him as he's jerked away from the hallway and back towards the roof, and as he looks down at the ground zooming away from him, his watch beeps and he shouts into his microphone, "Time!"

A response comes back immediately, "We got it; the AIs showed it to us."

"Good, now get the hell outta there!"

"Aye, sir!"

He crests the lip of the roof then and scrambles over to the chopper, removing his cable on the way. "Everyone all set?"

"Mostly," answers a soldier.

The last team begins to crest the roof then and hurry towards the chopper as it starts to wind up and prepare for liftoff again, then leaps up into it as it leaves the ground and slides the door shut behind them. Everyone begins to take their seats again while the chopper rocks from side to side, gaining altitude and speed quickly, except for Wraith. He grips an overhead handgrip and takes the laptop from a soldier, glancing over the item tag before presenting it to Angel. "This better be it."

Jade called Dr. Oedupe back into the room, and after yelling at him for a few minutes, explained the situation. "Oh my...I'm sorry, I didn't realize." "No time for that, why did you unhook us?" "A message came over your PDA saying that Wolf was in big trouble." Jade took it and played it back. "Ah geez, I guess we're going to help them." The doctor gave her a questioning glance. "But ma'am...sir...ma'am...uh...I thought you didn't want to help Wolf." "I know I said that, but I say a lot of things." She threw a glance at Monk, "some of which are very stupid. Besides, I'm not going to abandon my second at a time like this." She turned to Monk, "we can get to the hanger unnoticed, most of the personnel are too busy to bother with us. We can probably grab a helicopter without much problem." She then turned to the doctor. "Not a word of this to anyone. Work on a solution to this problem while we're gone." As she got up to leave, her PDA beeped and the General's face showed up. "Jade! What in blue hell are you doing giving Wraith command! Oh, it's you...pass me to Jade." Jade forgot for a second that she wasn't...herself and almost said something. "But ge...I mean, right away." She handed the PDA to Monk and whispered "sound convincing" to him.

The uncoordinated charge by Mastermind's troops was desperatly fneded off by Wolf and Katlin. Laying down mutliple fields of fire, and using as many bullets as possible, the two knocked back the assault. All the while, Wolf mocked them, singing to the tune of 'onward Christian soldiers'.

"Onward dumbass soldiers," <BLAM> "Blindly charging me." <BLAM>

After about 170-180 dead bodies were stacked on the ramp, the troops fell back for another breather.

"How are we for ammo?" Wolf asked.

"We've got a little more than 240 bullets amongst all guns." Katlin said. "It's not like we were trying to be accurate."

"Well...crap. Okay, throw all of the empty guns at them if we have to. I don't want to waste time switching clips form now on."

There was a pause "The situation's FUBAR, isn't it?"

"Yeah...definetly. But I'm still optimistic." Wolf said as he picked up a fresh AK, exchanging it for an empty. He placed their last impact grenade in the new AK's launcher.

I really hope somebody comes soon, cause we're screwed otherwise.

Angel nodded at the laptop. "That's definetly it." He fell weakly back.

"Wraith? Thanks."

Then he promptly fell asleep.