Shifti - User contributions [en]

User:Oddoneout

2016-03-20T22:22:08Z

Oddoneout:

Hello, new here. Hoping to learn the ropes and post a story eventually.

{{author page|Oddoneout}}

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User:Oddoneout/Ghosts: The Return

2016-03-11T17:35:36Z

Oddoneout: Request deletion

User:Oddoneout/Ghosts:Ghost Stories

2016-03-11T17:35:06Z

Oddoneout: Request deletion

User:Oddoneout/Ghosts:Ghost Stories

2015-07-05T22:26:35Z

Oddoneout:

{{Universe|FreeRIDErs}}{{title
|name=Ghosts: Ghost Stories
|author=Oddoneout
|user=Oddoneout}}

Bobbie Maiuri was having a rough morning. Her daughter had gone out the night before with her niece, once nephew, and a group of ZPA agents. They had been brought home by the APD. Apparently Claire was in a fight of some sort, very one-sided from the sound of it, and the APD had decided she didn't need to spend the night in jail. She just wasn't supposed to de-Fuse or leave the property without supervision for the next 30 hours.

The man Claire attacked was a Cape Nord native who had been in town on business. Mosley said there were 2 reasons that he was very lucky to be alive. The first was that Claire being drunk caused a lack of finer control that could have landed him in the hospital for days. The second was that if Claire hadn't slammed him into the bar her cobra headed tail would have bitten him. She wouldn't say exactly what the snake was carrying in its fangs, just that it was guaranteed to be fatal, even to Integrates.

As soon as the APD had left Mel/Claire had gone to the backyard and sat down cross-legged. They hadn't moved since. When, Sam checked on them she said they were talking to someone on an Integrate secure comm line. Ajax said the fighting and brooding was not normal.

The doorbell rang and she went to answer it.

"Excuse me, is this the Maiuri residence?" There was a tiger Fuser at the door.

"Yes."

"I'm Tiger Sauer, with the ZPA." His voice reminded her of Harvey Keitel.

"Bobbie." she shook the offered hand.

"I have been led to believe you have some of my operatives here, is that correct?"

"It is. Won't you please come in?"

"Thank you very much." she closed the door "I've also been led to believe you know about Integrates is that correct?"

She nodded "Our daughter is Integrated, just came back to us a few days ago."

It took a second for Bobbie to realize, Tiger was also an Integrate. "You don’t have to stay in hardlight." he quirked a brow "I can tell by your body language. You aren't used to hiding."

He chuckled as he dropped the sherade. His black stripes doubled as faintly glowing tron lines. He was a lanky man, narrow in the shoulders and all arms and legs. As they walked she could see corded muscles rippling beneath his fur. Despite his desk job he made a point of keeping in shape.

Bobbie had done some research on her newest guest. Colonel Tiger Sauer, served in the North American Army during the Brush Wars. Emigrated to Zharus in 132 AL first settling in Nextus. During the Nextus-Sturmhaven War he was involved in the development and adoption of RIDEs for and by covert units, partnering with a TGR(m)-HMA himself. After the war he and his partner mustered out and joined the Zharus Planetary Authority and information about them became scarce.

"So, what went wrong?" He asked as sat on the couch with his agents, sans Claire and Melody.

"They got lucky." Ajax said "I know it sounds like an excuse Sir but it’s the truth. We were a thousand klicks out from the nearest entrance to that place. We got jumped by a group from the Loose Cannons."

Tiger frowned "I thought that might be the case."

Bobbie stood there gaping "Um... are you sure you shouldn't be in a secure room or something for this."

"I secured the entire property before I rang the doorbell and no one would believe you if you told them. How's Claire?"

Mosley smiled "She's doing much better. I guess all she really needed was to get drunk, spill her guts, and get in a pointless fight. Once she had a few drinks she spent half the night talking to me on a secure line."

"How much did she say?"

"Only where she really went and what went wrong, no real details though."

"Wait she didn't go to Proxima?" Bobbie asked.

"No, I'll see if I can't get her clearance to give you guys full disclosure. At least your story matches what she told me this morning."

"You called her?"

"She called me. Mengsk gave her what looks like a Manchurian program with some hidden features. I was able to destroy most of it but I want to make sure she's in the clear before Tassadar nukes him."

"So that asshole's finally getting spaced?" Mike asked.

Bobbie blanched; spacing was slang for throwing someone out of an airlock. Tiger shook his head "I don't know. Tassadar might decide spacing is too good for him. Now, where is Claire?"

In the backyard Dominic, formerly MRS agents Carl Yottes and Dominic, was about to relive a humilitaing and terrifing experience. He had been overjoyed when his hacking revealed that Sam was related to the Fuser who humilated him in both Nextus and Oz. He could get his revenge on them at the same time.

It had been so easy to hack that idiot from Cape Nord into doing exactly what he needed. All he had to do was put out an anonymous tip to the APD and wait for them to haul that Fuser to jail. He didn't stick around to watch as he had other preparations to make. Aloha belonged to the Munns and Integrates who shared their mind set of sticking with meat. If Dominic was going to pull this off he needed an air-tight exit plan.

He peaked around the corner of the house checking the backyard. Nice and empty just like it should be, this was going to be too easy. He was going to Integrate Sam's mother and when her father came back he'd Integrate him to. Sure, Fritz wouldn't approve if he found out but it was a small price to pay if it meant teaching some freak meatie a lesson.

He opened up his sensors to check inside the house again. They bounced off a transparent hardlight barrier now encapsulating the two story home. That wasn't there a second ago. Sam wasn't strong enough to create something like this, so who did? This wasn't in the plan. He turned to leave and bump into something solid.

"Da fuq?" the entire backyard was encased by a hardlight shield.

"Leaving so soon?" He wiped around, siting crosslegged in the middle of the backyard was Claire/Mel in Fuser. "You haven't been dismissed yet ''Corporal''."

He blanched "What did you just call me?"

"You will address your superior officer as Sir. As to your question, well it took me a while to remember y'all, Corporal Carl Yottes and HAA(m)-GRZ-012J Dominic of Nextus Material Recovey Services. I was in charge of a joint op about 5 years back, ZPA and MRS, you were assigned to my squad." he frowned "Still don't remember? I was in an AIDE, matte black."

The bottom dropped out of his stomach, now he remembered having pushed it to the very bottom hoping that embaressesment would never again come up. Carl was a Cape Nord native with an extensive Mancard and, as such, expected that they would be leading the assault. Instead they had placed under the command of a young waif of a Staff Sargent.

That was fine, not being in command meant fewer responsiblities. They were confident that the Sargent would place them at the head of the entry team. They thought wrong; instead their job was to breach the wall and defend the entry point. Carl had fumed at this indignity. He was a Man for crying out loud.

When he requested (demanded) that he lead the assault he found himself re-assigned to the perimeter instead. When their target fled he almost let them get away. When questioned about it he had foolish responded that a true Man doesn't attack a defeated opponent. He wanted the Sargent to prove his Manhood.

The next 2 minutes were the most humiliating and painful of his life. His opponent, using an old AIDE, danced around his strikes and easily landing his own. They had to replace 35% of his plating, along with their hands.

"Sargent Maiuri." he whispered.

Thus named Claire gave a cold smile "Actually it's Lieutant now. Reports said you went AWOL 2 years back, guess that's a lie." the smile turned to a frown "It also seems you've forgotten the lesson I taught you. How about a refresher?"

Dominic was frozen, it had been 4 years ''and'' he had Integrated. There was no way he would lose a second time. The part of him that was Carl pointed out that it was that same attitude that had gotten pummeled in the first place. Whatever branch of the ZPA Claire nee Stuart was in they awarded merit at least partially based on how much ass you could kick.

With a snarl he leapt at the large Fuser, only to be met midway by a two fingered strike to his stomach. He doubled over boosting away with his lifters as he suppressed the urge to puke. He could hear a faint ringing in his ears, like he had stood too close to an explosion. The same ringing he heard when she struck him in Nextus. A quick check showed his lens were in no danger of failing.

He made himself invisible and prepared to strike. By the time he noticed her tail tracking him it was too late to avoid her. It was only because he did try that her arm grazed his shoulder instead of passing through it. The ringing in his ears abruptly stopped as most of his shoulder exploded. As he gaped at his severed arm he was very glad that he had already shut down his pain reception.

That hesitation was all the opening Claire/Mel needed. A pair of rapid strikes gave Dominic's left leg the same treatment. They de-Fused mid-leap, Mel pinning the Integrate to the ground as her jaws clamped around his head. Claire's tail lashed out fangs sinking deeply into the severed portion of the leg and tossing it down near his head. They stood there for a few seconds before he noticed the leg was beginning to dissolving.

"Nitric acid." Claire said in a bored tone.

He could practically ''feel'' the data flowing between the partners. They were on the cusp of Integration. If he tried to hack Mel, Claire would instantly know and she would kill him. If he tried to attack Claire, Mel would know before he could finish twitching and she would kill him. The fight had taken seconds and now he was completely trapped beaten by naked meat and a mech.

"Root." he didn't argue.

Claire wasted no time locking him out of everything except life support, consciousness, and basic senses. She could hand him over to someone else, maybe the Marshals would take him. She Fused up and sat down to wait. The others should be along shortly.

Tiger frowned when he saw Claire/Mel sitting next to an immobilized grizzly Integrate “I’m getting sloppy.”

She tapped Dominic's head "What are we going to do with him?"

He shrugged " I have no problem with turning him over to the Marshals."

She nodded "Did you bring Mel's kit?"

"Yeah, come around front and we'll get her squared away."

"Who was that guy anyway?" Ajax asked.

"Remember that smash and grab we pulled with MRS?"

"Yeah, wait was that?"

"Yup."

Ajax shrugged "Well, you can't fix stupid."

Claire/Mel nodded as they came around into the front yard they saw Tiger opening the trailer of a skimmer truck parked in the driveway. Mel slid off into Walker mode before they went up the ramp into the mobile maintenance bay. It was a little cramped with everyone inside, especially once Tiger closed it. Mel settled herself in the middle of the room before powering down.

"I'm glad you sent me Mel's updated specs. You did a good job bringing her up to Ghost-spec so all she really needs are the specialty items."

"Stealth plates?" Claire asked.

"We phased those out last year, not strong enough. These are top grade armor with coated SW's perfected stealth coating."

Claire gave a squeal, jumping up and down with joy. It was girliest thing any of them had every seen her do. Tiger just smiled as he started swapping out Mel's old plating.

Bobbie was very confused "I'm lost what's Ghost-spec?"

"Ghost-spec is like Mil-spec but better. On the official paperwork we're known as Task Force Stalker but we're called Ghosts. Always have been, even during the Brush Wars."

"Um, are you sure we should be hearing this. I mean we're civilians."

He shrugged " You guys have seen enough that you deserve full disclosure. I was just a squad leader in the original but ended up running it before we were disbanded at the end of the war. After moving out here it became my Task Force during the Nextus-Sturmhaven War. I kept that one small, a single platoon, but that was all we really needed. Top brass wanted to go public with us and our achievements, I wouldn't let 'em. Especially since they had been all hush hush with the RIDE program"

"What about weapons?" Claire asked.

Tiger frowned "We'll get to that now hush." Claire wilted a bit as he began installing other equipment "Now where was I? Right Nextus, we carried out stealth, counter-stealth, and military/industrial espionage. When the war came to an end we signed on to work infiltration for the ZPA. We've expanded over the years to counter-intelligence and added espionage back into our responsibilities. Along with monitoring the global political situation."

"Including Integrates." Sam said.

His muzzle twitched into a smile "Obviously, we steer clear of politics in general. The ZPA focus on keeping the planet as whole safe from other threats."

"Like?"

"Earth." Claire growled, literally.

Tiger gave her a nod "Keep it brief, I'll pass them some of your memories."

"My real mission was to conduct espionage and sabotage on Earth. It was going to be a 5 year mission but someone tipped off the Terran Intelligence Agency."

"You think it was that Mengsk guy you and Heather were talking about?"

Tiger grimaced "The only reason I haven't done anything is because Tassadar wants names and I think he wants the first crack at him."

Ajax grunted "I think ''every'' Ghost wants a crack at him Sir."

Mike/Aug nodded and Mosley looked positively murderous "No arguments here. Bastard wanted to have me ''studied'' ,no points for guessing what he meant by ''that''."

Tiger nodded as he woke Mel up "Now, on the subject of weapons." he led them over to a crate.

Claire gasped; inside the crate was a gun in matte grey. It was large but still small enough to be used in or out of Fuser. Its barrel was mounted beneath a rectangular cooling unit topped by square cooling fins. The stock's for end had lightening holes and a rail that connected to its battery housing. Mounted atop the gun was a boxy scope sitting in front of 5 angled cylinders the last directly above the trigger and pistol grip. It was practically a work of art.

She grunted as she carefully lifted it out "Its heavier than I thought it'd be." she braced it against her shoulder and did a few quick draws.

He smiled "It's called the Mark 14 Variable Plasma Rifle."

Mel giggled "What happened to Vipers 1 thru 13?" Claire asked with a smile.

"Hardy har har. It has 2 configurations. First is your standard assault weapon with selective fire; burst or fully automatic. Configuration 2 is Anti-mat/HPC support, single shot only. It can also be powered from an external source, just have to toggle the feed."

Stamped on the top of the stock was the serial number LN2. “The tech boys insisted you receive the first one. Its based on schematics you brought back. I’ve also got the codes so you can fabb replacement parts and geist missiles since Mel has the hard-points and firmware for them."

"Its great stuff sir but I don't know if I'll be renewing my contract."

"I can't say I blame you. Anyway, before you all go running off I need to make Sam a proper DIN, shouldn't take long."

In short order Sam had removed her DIN and was letting Tiger scan the port on the back of her hand. In the space of a few minutes he had a new DIN for her. In minutes Tiger had made a DIN that was orders of magnitude above what any Enclave Technomancer could. Then there was the comm laser he attached it to. Only a centimeter in diameter but it had more power than her old unit.

Once Tiger confirmed its function with a hand shake she received a data packet. It was Claire's memories, not everything but, it was all neatly indexed. She would have to watch them later or they'd miss the raid.

{{Separator|k}}

Sam was about ready to panic. They had ten minutes to get to the meeting point, which was 20 minutes away. Claire had them running full speed out of the safe zone. They didn’t make it very far before she had them all stop.

“Everyone’s geared up right?” Claire asked.

Ajax and Mosley both wore light plated mail armor and carried a shield and sword. Mike/Aug wore lamellar armor made of small rectangular plates and carried a slim rapier. Like he Sam he used a mix of melee and magical combat. Mel didn’t wear any armor but had a wide range of high level AoE spells both offensive and defensive. There was a round of confirmation.

“Good, I’m not technically supposed to do this but I doubt they’ll care too much.” She pulled up a menu.

“Do what?” Mike/Aug asked.

She made a few selections “This.”

There was a flash, indicating they had teleported. The forest they had been standing in was replaced by a high ceilinged rock tunnel. Sam looked around and recognized the markers for the last safe zone of the 74th floor dungeon. Claire didn’t wait for them to ask questions before leading them the rest of the way to the boss chamber.

It was the largest raid group Sam had ever seen, let alone been a part of. Over 70 players, more once she remembered that RIDEs had their own accounts. They had almost 2 dozen known Integrates and probably at least another 5 that were staying hidden. Of all the teams there they were the only one unaligned with a guild. It took a few more minutes to get everyone gathered then the raid leader gave a speech about staying with your team and how xp and drops would be divided.

As she looked around Sam felt out of place with her team, even though she could tentatively call them her friends. The Ghosts were so at ease, like they weren’t about to walk into the jaws of virtual death. Ajax and Mosley were joking with Claire about things that had happened on previous raids and missions. Mike/Aug was talking about game mechanics with Mel. It was a reminder to her that she still knew next to nothing about her cousin anymore.

The massive doors creaked open and the group streamed inside the amphitheater sized room. When the first player stepped inside the whole place lit up revealing the boss of the 74th floor. It was 3 meters of headless dark purple plate armor. It stood there, its sword embedded in the floor. Its name and HP appeared; Crom the Dulahan Lord, he had 5 HP bars.

"I know what you're thinking Sam," Mel said "but the bosses down here are on a different scale."

"Then why are you the only people unFused?"

Before she could press the issue the battle began in earnest. A dozen large black dogs poured out from caves lining the walls, Fairy Hounds. Their main job was to help keep the busy so the main teams could focus on Crom.

"Remember your number."

Sam remembered she was 6. Mike/Aug were 5, Mosley 4, Ajax 3, Mel 2, and Claire 1. Mosley said it was to make it easier to do callouts and give give commands. One syllable did take less time to produce.

"3, 4 we need to group then together for 2. 5 and 6 you're on support."

Sam did her best to anticipate her friends providing heals and buffs whenever she could. Mike/Aug was doing much the same with his debuffs. She admired the ease with which the others worked together. Mel, Ajax and Mosley did their best to corral the Fairy Hounds. Whenever 2 were close enough Mel would hit them with one of her spells.

A few times one of the Hounds would make a break for it only to be cut off and driven back by her saber or Mike/Aug's rapier. If it weren't for the constant strain Sam would almost have called it easy. ''Then again she I am working for real soldiers.'' She thought wryly.

Under Claire's calm, almost lazy, direction they eliminated all of the Fairy Hounds in about 45 minutes. They kept their guard up, they didn't know if or when the Hounds might respawn. Sam was already starting to feel a little drained. Who knew a raid would be so tiring, Claire had prevent what would have been her first one.

Taking a deep breath She risked a glance over at the main battle. It wasn't going nearly as well as theirs had. Crom had already defeated a quarter of the main raid group and they had only just finished taking out his first HP bar.

Claire frowned, Mel sighed "They didn't listen to us." They all looked at her. "If we don’t hurry the whole raid is going to fall apart.”

“Why?”

“Crom is just as capable of memorizing patterns as we are. If we don’t hurry he’ll screw us when he decides to counter attack by breaking ''their'' rotation pattern apart.”

It took a few minutes to get their team worked into the rotation. Unfortunately they were only able to spend another 10 minutes chipping away at Crom's HP. Despite their team's best efforts Mel’s prediction still came painfully true.

"Hit the deck!" Mel shouted.

Years of rough housing with her cousins came back to her as Sam went limp and dropped to the ground. Crom lashed out at them mid rotation, his blade knocking everyone to the ground with varying amounts of damage. She looked around as another handful of players died.

Sam quickly recovered scrambling back to her feet with the rest of her team. Thanks to Mel quick warning they were the only team that wasn't caught flat-footed by Crom's next swing. Mosley and Ajax locked shields preventing him from killing another batch of downed players.

Claire was still on her hands and knees. She looked around at the other downed players and had a flash of panic. They had to do something or the raid would fall apart and they would all end up dead. But what could they do alone? Mel met her panicked eyes with her own calm ones and at that moment something passed between them.

Claire surged to her feet heading towards Mel.

"5, 6 the wounded! 3, 4 stall him!"

She knew when she reached Mel there would be no turning back. She gave the fuse command. They weren't alone anymore, they hadn't been alone for almost 3 months. They had each other.

"Half my heart to make you whole," one of them said

"My strength to purify your weakness." The other finished.

Fused in both worlds she abandoned the use of her beloved menu in favor of the more efficient thought commands. She raised her left hand and launched a salvo of spells at Crom. He reeled back, breastplate derezzing as they destroyed it.

She swiped their left hand across the hilt of their blade and came away, it came away grasping a second. She blurred as they crossed the distance catching his blade's overhead strike in a double block. With a yank she forced his blade up and away. Her twin blades ignited into the blue white glow of special skill.

"This is the Black Blade, Laevateinn." Everyone was staring at her. Laevateinn was one of a kind, dropped for the first player to kill Surtr. The more you killed with it, the higher its damage became. If you used its special the damage modifier was reset to 0. A small price to pay if it meant saving lives. Her two halves in agreement she verbalized the command "Dual Sonic."

She was in motion again slashing at Crom's pale exposed flesh. She ducked a swing and viciously attacked the opening in his guard. But he was just as unforgiving. They trade blows hers landing more than his. He forced an opening and tried another overhead strike which she caught between her blades.

She didn't just bellow. She roared and yanked her swords apart. His blade shattering as the damage overwhelmed it. He hesitated for a microsecond, the AI unsure of what to do. That was all the time she needed. She rushed him and cut clean through with Laevateinn, shattering him into countless points of light.

A massive banner appeared in the air declaring her victorious. She staggered back Laevateinn vanishing from her left hand, its skill complete. She collapsed onto her butt, tired and aching. As her team gathered round she gave a weak smile.

"I feel terrible. Just gonna log out, maybe get some shut eye."

"Take my bed." Ajax said.

She nodded closing her eyes and opening them in the real. She felt like shit as she trudged up the stairs to the guest room Ajax was using. She kicked the door closed behind her before collapsing on the bed. Her wings splayed out to catch the sunlight filtering through the blinds. Maybe she would feel better when she woke.

Back in Oz there was little speculation about why Claire and Mel had logged out. Mike/Aug, Ajax, Sam and Mosley led the way down the staircase into the first town on the 75th floor. The other players treated them with anything from jovial friendship to thinly veiled disgust, mostly from the closet Inties.

Sam was relieved when they finally picked an Inn and logged out. Thanks to Claire/Mel the raid hadn't taken nearly as long as it should have. ''Then again if they hadn't Fused the raid would have been over even sooner.'' Sam thought wryly.

She stretched and went into the kitchen were Tiger was talking to her mom. She ignored them as she made a beeline for the fridge and the crunchy dill pickles inside. Enclave life had always chafed her the wrong way. It was good to be back in civilization ''and'' out in the open, at least with her family.

Mosley wandered in and sat down at the table joining Bobbie and Tiger's discussion about something computer related. Sam tuned them out as she walked back into the family room. Ajax had gone somewhere while Mike and Aug had deFused and were talking about sports. She Went up to her room and lay down on her bed before starting to watch Claire's memories.

{{Separator|k}}

''Earth Orbit, 2501 AD''

Stuart took a deep calming breath. He did his best to ignore the warning klaxons blaring in his ears as he finished overriding the shuttle's emergency systems. This was going to be tricky, the stolen IDE he had in the cargo hold wasn't properly rated for-entry. There was a shout as a full cyborg rounded the corner, gun drawn. It was quickly silenced as Stuart's combat knife, also stolen, buried itself in his head.

He tugged it free as he ran past, the gun would just slow him down at this point. He sprinted down to the cargo hold making quick work of additional armed interference along the way. He slid into his IDE and ran the start up sequence. Automated systems aboard the ship announced the impending failure of its hull.

It took him a few minutes to get in position behind his chosen bulkhead before the alarm on his chrono beeped at him. He braced himself and fired into the engineering deck. There was a half second of silence. Then everything went white as the ship's tokamak exploded. Stuart had a fraction of a second to think he might have made a mistake before blacking out.

Consciousness was slow to return and painful when it did. His head pounded in time with the rhythmic beeping of an EKG machine. So he was in a medical facility of some kind, not good. Past that he could hear a couple of voices talking quietly off to one side. The voices stopped and one of them came closer.

"Relax," the voice sounded like Ron Pearlman "you're safe here." Stuart struggled to open his eyes. "That's it nice and slow, there we go."

The man standing next to his bed was dressed in army fatigues. He was short, broad shoulder and in excellent physical condition despite his apparent age. What was left of his grey hair was cut into a perfect flat top. He had a wry half smile on his wrinkled face as he adjusted the bed to sit Stuart up.

He extended a hand "Helluva stunt you pulled up there kid. General Alphonso Knoxx, of the former North American Army."

This was like meeting a celebrity. General Knoxx was the founder and leader of Task Force Stalker during the brush wars on Earth. Every Ghost had heard stories about this man. General Knoxx waited patiently as Stuart slowly reached out and shook it.

"It's an honor sir, Staff Sargent Stuart Maiuri, Zharus Planetary Authority."

He chuckled "One of Tiger's new Ghosts eh?"

"Yes, Sir." Stuart smiled weakly "I'm afraid my infiltration might have been compromised."

The other man laughed "Its a distinct possibility. Colonel John Carter, we've managed to rig the IDE to show that you died when the ship exploded. We moved quickly enough that we were able to destroy the actual time data. You were only dead for 2.7 seconds."

"Still, without a body it will only be a matter of time before someone else starts looking into it." Knoxx said "This location is secure for now but we need to start arranging for your extraction, Earth is no longer safe for you."

"You should be on your feet in a few days but you'll still need to rest a little longer." John said.

Stuart nodded "What about my mission?"

"Plenty of time for that later. It'll take time for our message to reach Tiger and then we have to wait for him to respond. So for now rest, recover and start trying to figure out who tipped off the TIA."

{{Separator|k}}

''Atlantic Coast, South America, Earth, 2502 AD''

Everything was black. Stuart must have had his eyes closed. A few minutes passed before a transmission came in on a secure line.

'':This is Fuego. We've acquired transport, stand by.''

Stuart opened his eyes. He was surrounded by a thick heavy rain forest. It was pouring down rain but his stealth suit was sealed against water penetration. Now that his eyes were open he could hear the rain as well, must have dozed off. The clearing ahead of him rippled outward as a small craft descended on quiet lifters.

'':Roger that Fuego, I have eyes on, over._ Stuart transmitted.''

The tail ramp lowered and 4 figures quickly slipped out of it and over to the treeline. As quickly as it had come the craft lifted off and flew away. Like him they were all dressed in stealth suits, their active camouflage making them invisible to the naked eye. His VISR system painted them as moving green outlines and tagged each with a name.

'':We have 10 minutes to get inside Black Zone.'' Stuart transmitted.

'':Short window, let's move.'' Stuart's HUD identified the speaker as Hammond.

They quickly headed deeper into the forest soon spotting a pair of IDEs patrolling in the distance. It was time to put General Knoxx's gift into action. Stuart used his new command neural implant to check into their local comm traffic. It was just the usual chatter between friends but they were constantly checking in with the base which meant killing them would just sound the alarm that much faster.

They skirted around the IDEs heading farther north before cutting back to the west again. They crested a hill and caught sight of their target facility. Above ground it was a massive complex of squat buildings but below the surface it opened up into a series of large R & D labs.

That factory was their target, get in, figure out what they’re making, steal data, and get out. He was also tasked with capturing or destroying any existing prototypes. The hard part would be getting back out after the alarm was raised. Stuart had no doubt that the facility personnel wouldn't hesitate to kill them if they were discovered.

They made short work of a group of guards that were lounging around. They waited a few seconds as Stuart's implant fed authorization codes to the vault door. There was a hiss as the cylindrical door rotated open allowing them to slip into the facility proper.

They passed through a decontamination airlock before entering one of the deserted side areas moving swiftly and silently to the local security station. They waited outside its vault door as Stuart's implant went to work once again. As soon as the opening was wide enough they tossed in a mix of smoke grenades and short range jammers. They waited for a 3 count before entering themselves and easily eliminating the disoriented soldiers inside.

In the blink of an eye Stuart had full control of the facility's local security systems. It was child’s play to rig the system on a loop, no back up would be coming for the defenders in this area. They changed the codes on their way out, every extra second was important.

They stuck to the side passages as they made their way deeper into the facility with minimal, almost nonexistent, resistance. The combination of their stealth gear and Stuart’s implant probably played a part in that. Their next stop was the server room which they would ''liberate'' of all its information.

They ran into a problem when they got there. The server room had single civilian technician inside. Civilians were non-combatants and therefore off limits. To make matters worse he had fully prosthetic body so they couldn’t just knock him out. As he turned facial recognition identified him as Doctor Karl Sanderson, an expert on cybernetics and data security who had been shanghaied into service.

'':Command, Hammond.''

'':Go ahead.''

'':We've got a civilian here, Dr Karl Sanderson. He's been pressed into service.''

'':Understood make his evac a priority.''

Now with the green light, Stuart tapped into his com '':Doctor Sanderson.''

His head snapped up and he looked around. '':Who is this? How did you get this com code?''

'':I know you’ve been forced into this job. How would you like to get out of here, forever.''

He slumped '':I wouldn’t be safe anywhere on Earth.''

'':What about off world?''

'':My passport's been revoked.''

'':Smuggling one person off planet is pretty easy. Well, easier than smuggling a group anyway.''

'':You can do that?''

Stuart de-cloaked and offered his hand '':We can, but first we need to get you out of here.''

Dr. Sanderson shook it '':Easy enough, the newest IDEs are in workshop lambda. You could make a pretty big distraction with those.''

'':We'll head out as soon as we're finished here.''

They connected directly to the file server and copied everything before leaving behind several time bombs. They re-engaged their active camouflage and slipped out accompanied by Dr Sanderson. Workshop lambda was two levels below the server room; it also had a greater concentration of guards.

Sanderson surprised all of them by making himself into a distraction enabling them to quickly eliminate the guards. The way he kicked a few of the corpses proved that the man had his own reasons for wanting them dead. A quick check showed they had been tormenting the good Doctor since his interment began.

Workshop lambda was equal parts amazing and horrifying. There were hundreds of 4 meter mechs all standing in perfect little rows. The first production batch of the brand new Titan model IDE. This factory had to go.

'':Command, Hammond, you seeing this?''

'':Affirmative, Hammond. Intel confirmed. You have 14 mikes before Eclipse makes that place a crater.''

They had just finished powering up the IDEs when things went wrong. The nearby freight elevator came to life bringing a large group of off duty soldiers up from the next level. Their shift had just ended and they were still armed, mostly with light guns but a few with anti-IDE weapons.

'':Command can we get a hold on Eclipse?''

'':Negative, its already past PNR.''

'':Shit! We do *not* want to be here!''

Hammond's IDE rushed forward as he took the initiative, melee weapons making quick work of the anti-IDE guards. The main threat dealt with they all moved as the remaining guards opened fire on them. While annoying the small arms fire was far from dangerous to the IDEs. Especially as they displayed an interesting feature, hardlight shielding.

It wasn't nearly as powerful or efficient as the hardlight on Zharus but its existence was still worrying. It was a good thing the only copy of its plans was staying with him. They plowed through the remaining forces and restarted the freight elevator. Stuart fed a set of over-rides to the elevator safeties, they needed to be ''gone''.

They battered aside the doors and kicked on their lifters as the alarm sounded. They burned cavorite as they flew out the main gate they had scant seconds to make it to MSD. If they didn't. No, don't think about that just focus on getting there. There was a deafening roar behind them and Stuart risked a peak over his shoulder. There was a burning light overhead as a small sun plummeted toward the facility.They passed the MSD line painted on their HUDs and didn't stop, the further they got the better.

He knew what was coming and quickly looked away to protect his eyes from the blinding flash as the 5 and a half meter tungsten carbide rod made impact. The shock-wave was on them in less than a second. The displaced air tore whole trees from the ground and sent everything flying like ships in a hurricane. The IDEs crashed and bounced along the ground before slowly sliding half a klick to a stop.

Stuart was in pain '':Squad, sound off.'' he managed to groan.

They were all battered and bruised but everyone, even Dr Sanderson, had made it out alive and relatively intact. With some effort they managed to get their IDEs standing and clambered over a hill of trees, rock, and dirt to look back at the facility. It was gone, replaced by a massive jagged edged crater. There was a 400 meter ring around the crater, completely devoid of anything except scorched earth.

Stuart whistled appreciatively '':Damn, now *that's* how you destroy something.''

'':That's nothing. The original system used rods large enough to destroy '''''cities'''''.'' Buscemi said.

{{Separator|k}}

''Bavarian Alps, Europe, Earth, 2502''

Stuart straightened his "borrowed" gloves and pulled down his visor before checking again to make sure the uniform was clean of any stains. The uniform had belonged to a full borg security officer and barely fit Stuart's smaller frame. He stepped out of the security building as Holland finished stashing the stripped body of one of the former security officers. Hammond and Buscemi were already in position on the other side of the snow covered road.

It had been an interesting and harrowing 8 months working with Echo Squad. They were Knoxx's final group of Ghost operatives, once Echo was finished there would no more Earth trained Ghosts. They were a good squad, well trained and fun to be around, more than once they had dragged him out drinking or had him over for family celebrations.

Their mission this time was the rescue of a European Union researcher that the Terran Intelligence Agency had tasked with investigating something. Knoxx wanted to know what it was and get the woman safely on her way to Zharus where the rest of her family would be waiting. They had already completed their first objective, take over the security check point and pose as its guard detail.

'':Here they come.'' Holland transmitted as a small fully loaded, and wheeled, military skimmer came around the corner.

'':These disgues better work.'' Buscemi transmitted before signaling them to stop for inspection.

'':Two up front, two in back with the HVT between them. All lightly armed and very squishy.''

'':Roger that, drop 'em.''

Buscemi began speaking to the driver in rapid German, making general small talk as he checked the documentation on their tablet. The rest of squad quietly advanced on vehicle as they slipped combat knives into their hands. As Buscemi was handing back the tablet they struck, knives sinking through necks and striking the brain stem.

Stuart grimaced as he pulled the blade out and dumped the body onto the roadway. The steady snowfall would cover the body soon enough and they would be long gone before the next group came by in 4 hours. He settled in next to the HVT as Holland climbed into the driver seat.

'':It's alright Dr. Magnussen. General Knoxx sent us to get you out of here.''

She sagged with relief ''Thank god, I'm dumping the details of everything they've been having me do over to you now.''

'':Thank you, get comfortable it'll be a while before we get to the extraction point.''

They spent the next 40 minutes riding in silence as they kept a weather eye out for signs of trouble. When they got to the extraction point the sub-orbital was waiting for them, lifters primed and ready. They piled out weapons sweeping the surrounding forest as Hammond escorted Dr. Magnussen to the sub.

Stuart readied his weapon '':Everybody, quiet.'' There was silence on the radio. '':Where did all the noise go?''

The others readied their weapons and slowly backed up to the sub. It was too quiet; the only sound they could hear now was the low whine of the sub’s lifters. He was worried now. There was a brief flash of movement in the woods. He blanched as his implant identified it. Stalkers, they were the TIA equivalent of secret police.

Stuart didn’t hesitate, immediately opening fire. His gauss rifle’s hypersonic rounds tearing through the low quality stealth armor with ease. Through the trees he caught sight of a camouflaged troop transport, adjusting his fire angle before pulling a second trigger and firing a small rocket at it.

By now the others had started shooting as they retreated into the sub. Stalkers began pouring out into the surrounding clearing first 5, then 10, then 20. Their numbers just kept growing, zerg tactics overwhelm the enemy with superior numbers.

The situation was rapidly deteriorating, he had to to get to cover. As he moved he saw white and pain exploded across his left thigh before he threw himself behind the stolen skimmer for cover. He looked down and confirmed one of the Stalkers had gotten lucky and grazed him. High velocity round tearing a chunk out of his leg.

He pulled the pin on a smoke grenade and lobbed it over the skimmer. Shortly after it detonated he followed it up with a frag, capitalizing on the smokescreen and basic reasoning that the Stalkers would ignore it as another smoke. His suspicions were confirmed when its explosion was accompanied by screams of pain.

'':Tell Knoxx, I'm sorry.''

Hammond said'':We aren't leaving you behind.''

'':You don't have a choice. I'm not going anywhere with this bum leg, finish the mission.''

'':But.''

A round clipped the sub's ramp '':Go!''

With a roar the sub took off accelerating flat out away from the clearing. Stuart wiped out all the comm codes in his implants and destroyed any data that could lead the TIA back to Knoxx, Zharus, or anything else. He braced the rifle against his shoulder and struggled to pull himself upright. If he was going to die, then he was taking as many of them with him as he could.

Laying atop the hood he fired his remaining rocket at a nearby cluster of enemies, as always doing his best to ignore their pain. He emptied his first magazine and slipped behind the skimmer again ejecting the empty magazine and slamming in a full one. He lay on his stomach as he fired trying to make every shot count.

His weeks spent on the firing range paid off, each shot hitting and while not all were fatal they were certainly debilitating. He pulled the trigger again and the rifle clicked, empty. He threw his remaining grenade before rolling over and pulling himself into a sitting position before changing loading his last mag.

He looked up, seeing Stalkers exiting the woods in front of him. He opened fire, again each shot killing or mortally wounding an advancing foe before the rifle started clicking. He chucked it at someone's stomach making them double over in pain as he pulled his side arm from its holster on his right thigh and finishing the gasping man off.

Stuart got off another dozen shots before someone shot his left shoulder causing him to drop it in pain. That same soldier quickly advanced bending down to grab him only to get 18 centimeters of knife blade shoved and twisted into his throat. Stuart placed his final grenade on the ground next to his left hand, putting a finger through the pin's ring as the arm hung useless at his side.

He ripped the dieing man's knife from the sheath on his shoulder before pushing him aside. With the ease of long practice he spun the knife around to grip it by the blade before taking careful aim and hurling it at the nearest Stalker. He struggled to sit up further, right hand now firmly wrapped around his final grenade.

They had him surrounded, but they weren't shooting at him anymore. It confirmed what Stuart was thinking, they wanted him alive. They wouldn't get anything from his implants which meant they would resort to interrogation and torture. Stuart had no intention of going through that.

He gave a weak smile "Shel kek nem ron." He pulled the pin on the grenade and held it in front of him for all to see. Before he could drop it his hand was crushed by an iron grip keeping the safety lever on the grenade. He struggled with what little strength he had left before it was ripped from his hand and hurled into the woods as blood loss caught up to him and he passed out.

{{Separator|k}}

''Location Unknown, Date Unknown''

Tied to a chair there was little Stuart could do. He had grown thinner, his muscles atrophied from a combination of disuse and minor malnutrition. His wounds had been allowed to completely heal before they started the "interrogations". They had done something to screw up his internal chrono. He had no idea how long he had been there.

"Prisoner 24601." there was the simulated sound of rustling paper. "My my, you have been here a while haven't you?" a hand lifted his chin "You've given us nothing but shit answers." They were trying to break him, turn him to their side. "Let's try this again." Looking up he could see that the speaker was a blonde man in a clean black suit and tie. "Name?"

"Kris Kringle."

With a sigh the man punched him "Name." he said more insistently.

"Edmond...Dontes." Stuart wheezed.

He punched Stuart in the jaw "Name!" he yelled.

Stuart spit in his face "Inigo...Montoya."

There was a tiny thread keeping him sane. The others had gotten away. They were safe and soon enough the TIA would get sick of his bullshit and either kill him or, more likely, just dump him somewhere to die. If and when they did he would have a chance to live.

"I don't know who you think you're protecting. We shot down Dr. Magnussen's sub before it could even reach orbit."

His statement was accompanied by images and video projecting on the walls of small room. It couldn't be true, he'd seen them escape. He knew how easily digital video and images could be faked. It was a lie it had to be...but...what if it wasn't? That niggling little doubt finally snapped his thread, it just wasn't the _right_ thread.

The man frowned, clearly talking to someone on the comms. His frown deepened, clearly he was getting bad news. He turned his back on Stuart as he continued speaking on the comms. There were several minutes of silence before he huffed and turned back around pulling on a pair of gloves.

He drew his gun "It seems the time has come for us to be deprived of your...pleasant company, permanently." He crouched next to Stuart "This is your last chance to live. What is your name? Who do you work for?" silence "Well, I guess this is the end for you." As he started to pull back Stuart lunged for his neck.

He stared blankly at the dead agent on the floor. Oxygen deprivation had killed him long before he bled to death. Soon enough Stuart would be following him. The agent had managed to get off a handful of shots, a lucky one even managed to hit him.

Had it been hours or just minutes since all that had been done? Everything was getting blurry, going dark just like it had when he nearly bled out in Germany. His eyes sank closed as his breathing grew ragged. The sound from videos abruptly stopped as someone opened the door. He heard snatches of a rolling fluid language and felt a hand pressed to his neck.

There was a pause then more shouting as the first hand was replaced by a second. He fell as someone had cut the ropes that were binding him. He was carefully laid down on something soft, a stretcher? His eyes opened briefly and he saw one of the men. There was a prick on his neck and he started to fall asleep.

''Location Unknown, Date Unknown''

Stuart woke slowly to the steady beep of an EKG. A quick check confirmed that yes, he was still alive and no he was not restrained. He carefully pushed himself into a sitting position, his weakened muscles protesting a little at their sudden use. The room was simply furnished; bed, a few chairs, night stand and a lamp. With a moments hesitation he pressed the nurse's call button.

There was the sound of running in hallway and the door to his room flew open as the nurse answered the summons. When she saw him, up and awake, she shouted down the hallway in the same language he heard during his rescue. She waited for a response before crossing the room in 3 strides and beginning the basic check-up procedure.

She was just finishing when the door opened a second time and a second nurse walked in carrying a tray of food closely followed by someone else. He was tall, narrow shouldered. He was bald sporting a full beard and mustache. He was bald. His black beard and mustache were shot through with streaks of gray and his face was weathered from age and harsh living. His implant's facial recognition identified the man, Imran Zakaev.

He was clad simply in flecktarn camo pants, green brown shirt, long leather overcoat and heavy combat boots. He moved a chair next to the bed and sat down single arm resting casually in his lap. The second nurse spoke to him as she set down the food, he responded and both nurses left the room with a nod.

His gravely voice had only a hint of a Russian accent "You must be hungry. Please, eat, we can discuss business when you are finished."

Even though it was hospital food it was much better then the gruel he had been fed while in TIA custody. He was careful not to eat to quickly it would have been both rude and unhealthy. While he ate Zakhaev sat silently, likely speaking to people over a private comm channel.

"Thank you." Stuart said.

Zakhaev gave a wan smile "Your rescue was a happy accident. We've been hoping to find you ever since Alfonso told us of your capture."

"How long?"

"6 months, that's how long you were with."

"That’s how long it took them to break me."

Zakhaev nodded "Yes, but it wasn’t in the manner they were hoping for.”

“My chances of going home are still probably nil.”

He smirked “Actually, a ship will be arriving in 7 months. There will be an extraction team on board.”

“Oh...”

“Until then you’ll just have to find a way to keep busy.”

“If ya’ll are going to be running any ops I’d be happy to help.”

“Not until the doctors clear you, not even RO. I mean it.” Stuart hung his head “Hey,” Zakhaev put his hand his shoulder “You’ve literally been through hell. You need to ''recover'' before you do anything else.”

Zakhaev gave him a pat on the shoulder before leaving with the empty tray. Stuart sighed, maybe tomorrow he would finally check out Virtual Life. It seemed that everyone else on the planet used it for at least 1 thing so why not?

{{series bar
|series=Ghost's of Zharus
|previous=[[Ghosts: The Return|Ghosts: The Return]]
|next=}}

[[Category:Story]][[Category:Chimera]][[Category:Bear]][[Category:Tiger]][[Category:Anthropomorphic]][[Category:Dog]] [[Category:FreeRIDErs]] [[Category:Oddoneout]]

User:Oddoneout/Ghosts:Ghost Stories

2015-07-05T00:52:10Z

Oddoneout:

{{Universe|FreeRIDErs}}{{title
|name=Ghosts: Ghost Stories
|author=Oddoneout
|user=Oddoneout}}

Bobbie Maiuri was having a rough morning. Her daughter had gone out the night before with her niece, once nephew, and a group of ZPA agents. They had been brought home by the APD. Apparently Claire was in a fight of some sort, very one-sided from the sound of it, and the APD had decided she didn't need to spend the night in jail. She just wasn't supposed to de-Fuse or leave the property without supervision for the next 30 hours.

The man Claire attacked was a Cape Nord native who had been in town on business. Mosley said there were 2 reasons that he was very lucky to be alive. The first was that Claire being drunk caused a lack of finer control that could have landed him in the hospital for days. The second was that if Claire hadn't slammed him into the bar her cobra headed tail would have bitten him. She wouldn't say exactly what the snake was carrying in its fangs, just that it was guaranteed to be fatal, even to Integrates.

As soon as the APD had left Mel/Claire had gone to the backyard and sat down cross-legged. They hadn't moved since. When, Sam checked on them she said they were talking to someone on an Integrate secure comm line. Ajax said the fighting and brooding was not normal.

The doorbell rang and she went to answer it.

"Excuse me, is this the Maiuri residence?" There was a tiger Fuser at the door.

"Yes."

"I'm Tiger Sauer, with the ZPA." His voice reminded her of Harvey Keitel.

"Bobbie." she shook the offered hand.

"I have been led to believe you have some of my operatives here, is that correct?"

"It is. Won't you please come in?"

"Thank you very much." she closed the door "I've also been led to believe you know about Integrates is that correct?"

She nodded "Our daughter is Integrated, just came back to us a few days ago."

It took a second for Bobbie to realize, Tiger was also an Integrate. "You don’t have to stay in hardlight." he quirked a brow "I can tell by your body language. You aren't used to hiding."

He chuckled as he dropped the sherade. His black stripes doubled as faintly glowing tron lines. He was a lanky man, narrow in the shoulders and all arms and legs. As they walked she could see corded muscles rippling beneath his fur. Despite his desk job he made a point of keeping in shape.

Bobbie had done some research on her newest guest. Colonel Tiger Sauer, served in the North American Army during the Brush Wars. Emigrated to Zharus in 132 AL first settling in Nextus. During the Nextus-Sturmhaven War he was involved in the development and adoption of RIDEs for and by covert units, partnering with a TGR(m)-HMA himself. After the war he and his partner mustered out and joined the Zharus Planetary Authority and information about them became scarce.

"So, what went wrong?" He asked as sat on the couch with his agents, sans Claire and Melody.

"They got lucky." Ajax said "I know it sounds like an excuse Sir but it’s the truth. We were a thousand klicks out from the nearest entrance to that place. We got jumped by a group from the Loose Cannons."

Tiger frowned "I thought that might be the case."

Bobbie stood there gaping "Um... are you sure you shouldn't be in a secure room or something for this."

"I secured the entire property before I rang the doorbell and no one would believe you if you told them. How's Claire?"

Mosley smiled "She's doing much better. I guess all she really needed was to get drunk, spill her guts, and get in a pointless fight. Once she had a few drinks she spent half the night talking to me on a secure line."

"How much did she say?"

"Only where she really went and what went wrong, no real details though."

"Wait she didn't go to Proxima?" Bobbie asked.

"No, I'll see if I can't get her clearance to give you guys full disclosure. At least your story matches what she told me this morning."

"You called her?"

"She called me. Mengsk gave her what looks like a Manchurian program with some hidden features. I was able to destroy most of it but I want to make sure she's in the clear before Tassadar nukes him."

"So that asshole's finally getting spaced?" Mike asked.

Bobbie blanched; spacing was slang for throwing someone out of an airlock. Tiger shook his head "I don't know. Tassadar might decide spacing is too good for him. Now, where is Claire?"

In the backyard Dominic, formerly MRS agents Carl Yottes and Dominic, was about to relive a humilitaing and terrifing experience. He had been overjoyed when his hacking revealed that Sam was related to the Fuser who humilated him in both Nextus and Oz. He could get his revenge on them at the same time.

It had been so easy to hack that idiot from Cape Nord into doing exactly what he needed. All he had to do was put out an anonymous tip to the APD and wait for them to haul that Fuser to jail. He didn't stick around to watch as he had other preparations to make. Aloha belonged to the Munns and Integrates who shared their mind set of sticking with meat. If Dominic was going to pull this off he needed an air-tight exit plan.

He peaked around the corner of the house checking the backyard. Nice and empty just like it should be, this was going to be too easy. He was going to Integrate Sam's mother and when her father came back he'd Integrate him to. Sure, Fritz wouldn't approve if he found out but it was a small price to pay if it meant teaching some freak meatie a lesson.

He opened up his sensors to check inside the house again. They bounced off a transparent hardlight barrier now encapsulating the two story home. That wasn't there a second ago. Sam wasn't strong enough to create something like this, so who did? This wasn't in the plan. He turned to leave and bump into something solid.

"Da fuq?" the entire backyard was encased by a hardlight shield.

"Leaving so soon?" He wiped around, siting crosslegged in the middle of the backyard was Claire/Mel in Fuser. "You haven't been dismissed yet ''Corporal''."

He blanched "What did you just call me?"

"You will address your superior officer as Sir. As to your question, well it took me a while to remember y'all, Corporal Carl Yottes and HAA(m)-GRZ-012J Dominic of Nextus Material Recovey Services. I was in charge of a joint op about 5 years back, ZPA and MRS, you were assigned to my squad." he frowned "Still don't remember? I was in an AIDE, matte black."

The bottom dropped out of his stomach, now he remembered having pushed it to the very bottom hoping that embaressesment would never again come up. Carl was a Cape Nord native with an extensive Mancard and, as such, expected that they would be leading the assault. Instead they had placed under the command of a young waif of a Staff Sargent.

That was fine, not being in command meant fewer responsiblities. They were confident that the Sargent would place them at the head of the entry team. They thought wrong; instead their job was to breach the wall and defend the entry point. Carl had fumed at this indignity. He was a Man for crying out loud.

When he requested (demanded) that he lead the assault he found himself re-assigned to the perimeter instead. When their target fled he almost let them get away. When questioned about it he had foolish responded that a true Man doesn't attack a defeated opponent. He wanted the Sargent to prove his Manhood.

The next 2 minutes were the most humiliating and painful of his life. His opponent, using an old AIDE, danced around his strikes and easily landing his own. They had to replace 35% of his plating, along with their hands.

"Sargent Maiuri." he whispered.

Thus named Claire gave a cold smile "Actually it's Lieutant now. Reports said you went AWOL 2 years back, guess that's a lie." the smile turned to a frown "It also seems you've forgotten the lesson I taught you. How about a refresher?"

Dominic was frozen, it had been 4 years ''and'' he had Integrated. There was no way he would lose a second time. The part of him that was Carl pointed out that it was that same attitude that had gotten pummeled in the first place. Whatever branch of the ZPA Claire nee Stuart was in they awarded merit at least partially based on how much ass you could kick.

With a snarl he leapt at the large Fuser, only to be met midway by a two fingered strike to his stomach. He doubled over boosting away with his lifters as he suppressed the urge to puke. He could hear a faint ringing in his ears, like he had stood too close to an explosion. The same ringing he heard when she struck him in Nextus. A quick check showed his lens were in no danger of failing.

He made himself invisible and prepared to strike. By the time he noticed her tail tracking him it was too late to avoid her. It was only because he did try that her arm grazed his shoulder instead of passing through it. The ringing in his ears abruptly stopped as most of his shoulder exploded. As he gaped at his severed arm he was very glad that he had already shut down his pain reception.

That hesitation was all the opening Claire/Mel needed. A pair of rapid strikes gave Dominic's left leg the same treatment. They de-Fused mid-leap, Mel pinning the Integrate to the ground as her jaws clamped around his head. Claire's tail lashed out fangs sinking deeply into the severed portion of the leg and tossing it down near his head. They stood there for a few seconds before he noticed the leg was beginning to dissolving.

"Nitric acid." Claire said in a bored tone.

He could practically ''feel'' the data flowing between the partners. They were on the cusp of Integration. If he tried to hack Mel, Claire would instantly know and she would kill him. If he tried to attack Claire, Mel would know before he could finish twitching and she would kill him. The fight had taken seconds and now he was completely trapped beaten by naked meat and a mech.

"Root." he didn't argue.

Claire wasted no time locking him out of everything except life support, consciousness, and basic senses. She could hand him over to someone else, maybe the Marshals would take him. She Fused up and sat down to wait. The others should be along shortly.

Tiger frowned when he saw Claire/Mel sitting next to an immobilized grizzly Integrate “I’m getting sloppy.”

She tapped Dominic's head "What are we going to do with him?"

He shrugged " I have no problem with turning him over to the Marshals."

She nodded "Did you bring Mel's kit?"

"Yeah, come around front and we'll get her squared away."

"Who was that guy anyway?" Ajax asked.

"Remember that smash and grab we pulled with MRS?"

"Yeah, wait was that?"

"Yup."

Ajax shrugged "Well, you can't fix stupid."

Claire/Mel nodded as they came around into the front yard they saw Tiger opening the trailer of a skimmer truck parked in the driveway. Mel slid off into Walker mode before they went up the ramp into the mobile maintenance bay. It was a little cramped with everyone inside, especially once Tiger closed it. Mel settled herself in the middle of the room before powering down.

"I'm glad you sent me Mel's updated specs. You did a good job bringing her up to Ghost-spec so all she really needs are the specialty items."

"Stealth plates?" Claire asked.

"We phased those out last year, not strong enough. These are top grade armor with coated SW's perfected stealth coating."

Claire gave a squeal, jumping up and down with joy. It was girliest thing any of them had every seen her do. Tiger just smiled as he started swapping out Mel's old plating.

Bobbie was very confused "I'm lost what's Ghost-spec?"

"Ghost-spec is like Mil-spec but better. On the official paperwork we're known as Task Force Stalker but we're called Ghosts. Always have been, even during the Brush Wars."

"Um, are you sure we should be hearing this. I mean we're civilians."

He shrugged " You guys have seen enough that you deserve full disclosure. I was just a squad leader in the original but ended up running it before we were disbanded at the end of the war. After moving out here it became my Task Force during the Nextus-Sturmhaven War. I kept that one small, a single platoon, but that was all we really needed. Top brass wanted to go public with us and our achievements, I wouldn't let 'em. Especially since they had been all hush hush with the RIDE program"

"What about weapons?" Claire asked.

Tiger frowned "We'll get to that now hush." Claire wilted a bit as he began installing other equipment "Now where was I? Right Nextus, we carried out stealth, counter-stealth, and military/industrial espionage. When the war came to an end we signed on to work infiltration for the ZPA. We've expanded over the years to counter-intelligence and added espionage back into our responsibilities. Along with monitoring the global political situation."

"Including Integrates." Sam said.

His muzzle twitched into a smile "Obviously, we steer clear of politics in general. The ZPA focus on keeping the planet as whole safe from other threats."

"Like?"

"Earth." Claire growled, literally.

Tiger gave her a nod "Keep it brief, I'll pass them some of your memories."

"My real mission was to conduct espionage and sabotage on Earth. It was going to be a 5 year mission but someone tipped off the Terran Intelligence Agency."

"You think it was that Mengsk guy you and Heather were talking about?"

Tiger grimaced "The only reason I haven't done anything is because Tassadar wants names and I think he wants the first crack at him."

Ajax grunted "I think ''every'' Ghost wants a crack at him Sir."

Mike/Aug nodded and Mosley looked positively murderous "No arguments here. Bastard wanted to have me ''studied'' ,no points for guessing what he meant by ''that''."

Tiger nodded as he woke Mel up "Now, on the subject of weapons." he led them over to a crate.

Claire gasped; inside the crate was a gun in matte grey. It was large but still small enough to be used in or out of Fuser. Its barrel was mounted beneath a rectangular cooling unit topped by square cooling fins. The stock's for end had lightening holes and a rail that connected to its battery housing. Mounted atop the gun was a boxy scope sitting in front of 5 angled cylinders the last directly above the trigger and pistol grip. It was practically a work of art.

She grunted as she carefully lifted it out "Its heavier than I thought it'd be." she braced it against her shoulder and did a few quick draws.

He smiled "It's called the Mark 14 Variable Plasma Rifle."

Mel giggled "What happened to Vipers 1 thru 13?" Claire asked with a smile.

"Hardy har har. It has 2 configurations. First is your standard assault weapon with selective fire; burst or fully automatic. Configuration 2 is Anti-mat/HPC support, single shot only. It can also be powered from an external source, just have to toggle the feed."

Stamped on the top of the stock was the serial number LN2. “The tech boys insisted you receive the first one. Its based on schematics you brought back. I’ve also got the codes so you can fabb replacement parts and geist missiles since Mel has the hard-points and firmware for them. Now before you all go running off I need to make Sam a proper DIN, shouldn't take long."

In short order Sam had removed her DIN and was letting Tiger scan the port on the back of her hand. In the space of a few minutes he had a new DIN for her. In minutes Tiger had made a DIN that was orders of magnitude above what any Enclave Technomancer could. Then there was the comm laser he attached it to. Only a centimeter in diameter but it had more power than her old unit.

Once Tiger confirmed its function with a hand shake she received a data packet. It was Claire's memories, not everything but, it was all neatly indexed. She would have to watch them later or they'd miss the raid.

{{Separator|k}}

Sam was about ready to panic. They had ten minutes to get to the meeting point, which was 20 minutes away. Claire had them running full speed out of the safe zone. They didn’t make it very far before she had them all stop.

“Everyone’s geared up right?” Claire asked.

Ajax and Mosley both wore light plated mail armor and carried a shield and sword. Mike/Aug wore lamellar armor made of small rectangular plates and carried a slim rapier. Like he Sam he used a mix of melee and magical combat. Mel didn’t wear any armor but had a wide range of high level AoE spells both offensive and defensive. There was a round of confirmation.

“Good, I’m not technically supposed to do this but I doubt they’ll care too much.” She pulled up a menu.

“Do what?” Mike/Aug asked.

She made a few selections “This.”

There was a flash, indicating they had teleported. The forest they had been standing in was replaced by a high ceilinged rock tunnel. Sam looked around and recognized the markers for the last safe zone of the 74th floor dungeon. Claire didn’t wait for them to ask questions before leading them the rest of the way to the boss chamber.

It was the largest raid group Sam had ever seen, let alone been a part of. Over 70 players, more once she remembered that RIDEs had their own accounts. They had almost 2 dozen known Integrates and probably at least another 5 that were staying hidden. Of all the teams there they were the only one unaligned with a guild. It took a few more minutes to get everyone gathered then the raid leader gave a speech about staying with your team and how xp and drops would be divided.

As she looked around Sam felt out of place with her team, even though she could tentatively call them her friends. The Ghosts were so at ease, like they weren’t about to walk into the jaws of virtual death. Ajax and Mosley were joking with Claire about things that had happened on previous raids and missions. Mike/Aug was talking about game mechanics with Mel. It was a reminder to her that she still knew next to nothing about her cousin anymore.

The massive doors creaked open and the group streamed inside the amphitheater sized room. When the first player stepped inside the whole place lit up revealing the boss of the 74th floor. It was 3 meters of headless dark purple plate armor. It stood there, its sword embedded in the floor. Its name and HP appeared; Crom the Dulahan Lord, he had 5 HP bars.

"I know what you're thinking Sam," Mel said "but the bosses down here are on a different scale."

"Then why are you the only people unFused?"

Before she could press the issue the battle began in earnest. A dozen large black dogs poured out from caves lining the walls, Fairy Hounds. Their main job was to help keep the busy so the main teams could focus on Crom.

"Remember your number."

Sam remembered she was 6. Mike/Aug were 5, Mosley 4, Ajax 3, Mel 2, and Claire 1. Mosley said it was to make it easier to do callouts and give give commands. One syllable did take less time to produce.

"3, 4 we need to group then together for 2. 5 and 6 you're on support."

Sam did her best to anticipate her friends providing heals and buffs whenever she could. Mike/Aug was doing much the same with his debuffs. She admired the ease with which the others worked together. Mel, Ajax and Mosley did their best to corral the Fairy Hounds. Whenever 2 were close enough Mel would hit them with one of her spells.

A few times one of the Hounds would make a break for it only to be cut off and driven back by her saber or Mike/Aug's rapier. If it weren't for the constant strain Sam would almost have called it easy. ''Then again she I am working for real soldiers.'' She thought wryly.

Under Claire's calm, almost lazy, direction they eliminated all of the Fairy Hounds in about 45 minutes. They kept their guard up, they didn't know if or when the Hounds might respawn. Sam was already starting to feel a little drained. Who knew a raid would be so tiring, Claire had prevent what would have been her first one.

Taking a deep breath She risked a glance over at the main battle. It wasn't going nearly as well as theirs had. Crom had already defeated a quarter of the main raid group and they had only just finished taking out his first HP bar.

Claire frowned, Mel sighed "They didn't listen to us." They all looked at her. "If we don’t hurry the whole raid is going to fall apart.”

“Why?”

“Crom is just as capable of memorizing patterns as we are. If we don’t hurry he’ll screw us when he decides to counter attack by breaking ''their'' rotation pattern apart.”

It took a few minutes to get their team worked into the rotation. Unfortunately they were only able to spend another 10 minutes chipping away at Crom's HP. Despite their team's best efforts Mel’s prediction still came painfully true.

"Hit the deck!" Mel shouted.

Years of rough housing with her cousins came back to her as Sam went limp and dropped to the ground. Crom lashed out at them mid rotation, his blade knocking everyone to the ground with varying amounts of damage. She looked around as another handful of players died.

Sam quickly recovered scrambling back to her feet with the rest of her team. Thanks to Mel quick warning they were the only team that wasn't caught flat-footed by Crom's next swing. Mosley and Ajax locked shields preventing him from killing another batch of downed players.

Claire was still on her hands and knees. She looked around at the other downed players and had a flash of panic. They had to do something or the raid would fall apart and they would all end up dead. But what could they do alone? Mel met her panicked eyes with her own calm ones and at that moment something passed between them.

Claire surged to her feet heading towards Mel.

"5, 6 the wounded! 3, 4 stall him!"

She knew when she reached Mel there would be no turning back. She gave the fuse command. They weren't alone anymore, they hadn't been alone for almost 3 months. They had each other.

"Half my heart to make you whole," one of them said

"My strength to purify your weakness." The other finished.

Fused in both worlds she abandoned the use of her beloved menu in favor of the more efficient thought commands. She raised her left hand and launched a salvo of spells at Crom. He reeled back, breastplate derezzing as they destroyed it.

She swiped their left hand across the hilt of their blade and came away, it came away grasping a second. She blurred as they crossed the distance catching his blade's overhead strike in a double block. With a yank she forced his blade up and away. Her twin blades ignited into the blue white glow of special skill.

"This is the Black Blade, Laevateinn." Everyone was staring at her. Laevateinn was one of a kind, dropped for the first player to kill Surtr. The more you killed with it, the higher its damage became. If you used its special the damage modifier was reset to 0. A small price to pay if it meant saving lives. Her two halves in agreement she verbalized the command "Dual Sonic."

She was in motion again slashing at Crom's pale exposed flesh. She ducked a swing and viciously attacked the opening in his guard. But he was just as unforgiving. They trade blows hers landing more than his. He forced an opening and tried another overhead strike which she caught between her blades.

She didn't just bellow. She roared and yanked her swords apart. His blade shattering as the damage overwhelmed it. He hesitated for a microsecond, the AI unsure of what to do. That was all the time she needed. She rushed him and cut clean through with Laevateinn, shattering him into countless points of light.

A massive banner appeared in the air declaring her victorious. She staggered back Laevateinn vanishing from her left hand, its skill complete. She collapsed onto her butt, tired and aching. As her team gathered round she gave a weak smile.

"I feel terrible. Just gonna log out, maybe get some shut eye."

"Take my bed." Ajax said.

She nodded closing her eyes and opening them in the real. She felt like shit as she trudged up the stairs to the guest room Ajax was using. She kicked the door closed behind her before collapsing on the bed. Her wings splayed out to catch the sunlight filtering through the blinds. Maybe she would feel better when she woke.

Back in Oz there was little speculation about why Claire and Mel had logged out. Mike/Aug, Ajax, Sam and Mosley led the way down the staircase into the first town on the 75th floor. The other players treated them with anything from jovial friendship to thinly veiled disgust, mostly from the closet Inties.

Sam was relieved when they finally picked an Inn and logged out. Thanks to Claire/Mel the raid hadn't taken nearly as long as it should have. ''Then again if they hadn't Fused the raid would have been over even sooner.'' Sam thought wryly.

She stretched and went into the kitchen were Tiger was talking to her mom. She ignored them as she made a beeline for the fridge and the crunchy dill pickles inside. Enclave life had always chafed her the wrong way. It was good to be back in civilization ''and'' out in the open, at least with her family.

Mosley wandered in and sat down at the table joining Bobbie and Tiger's discussion about something computer related. Sam tuned them out as she walked back into the family room. Ajax had gone somewhere while Mike and Aug had deFused and were talking about sports. She Went up to her room and lay down on her bed before starting to watch Claire's memories.

{{Separator|k}}

''Earth Orbit, 2501 AD''

Stuart took a deep calming breath. He did his best to ignore the warning klaxons blaring in his ears as he finished overriding the shuttle's emergency systems. This was going to be tricky, the stolen IDE he had in the cargo hold wasn't properly rated for-entry. There was a shout as a full cyborg rounded the corner, gun drawn. It was quickly silenced as Stuart's combat knife, also stolen, buried itself in his head.

He tugged it free as he ran past, the gun would just slow him down at this point. He sprinted down to the cargo hold making quick work of additional armed interference along the way. He slid into his IDE and ran the start up sequence. Automated systems aboard the ship announced the impending failure of its hull.

It took him a few minutes to get in position behind his chosen bulkhead before the alarm on his chrono beeped at him. He braced himself and fired into the engineering deck. There was a half second of silence. Then everything went white as the ship's tokamak exploded. Stuart had a fraction of a second to think he might have made a mistake before blacking out.

Consciousness was slow to return and painful when it did. His head pounded in time with the rhythmic beeping of an EKG machine. So he was in a medical facility of some kind, not good. Past that he could hear a couple of voices talking quietly off to one side. The voices stopped and one of them came closer.

"Relax," the voice sounded like Ron Pearlman "you're safe here." Stuart struggled to open his eyes. "That's it nice and slow, there we go."

The man standing next to his bed was dressed in army fatigues. He was short, broad shoulder and in excellent physical condition despite his apparent age. What was left of his grey hair was cut into a perfect flat top. He had a wry half smile on his wrinkled face as he adjusted the bed to sit Stuart up.

He extended a hand "Helluva stunt you pulled up there kid. General Alphonso Knoxx, of the former North American Army."

This was like meeting a celebrity. General Knoxx was the founder and leader of Task Force Stalker during the brush wars on Earth. Every Ghost had heard stories about this man. General Knoxx waited patiently as Stuart slowly reached out and shook it.

"It's an honor sir, Staff Sargent Stuart Maiuri, Zharus Planetary Authority."

He chuckled "One of Tiger's new Ghosts eh?"

"Yes, Sir." Stuart smiled weakly "I'm afraid my infiltration might have been compromised."

The other man laughed "Its a distinct possibility. Colonel John Carter, we've managed to rig the IDE to show that you died when the ship exploded. We moved quickly enough that we were able to destroy the actual time data. You were only dead for 2.7 seconds."

"Still, without a body it will only be a matter of time before someone else starts looking into it." Knoxx said "This location is secure for now but we need to start arranging for your extraction, Earth is no longer safe for you."

"You should be on your feet in a few days but you'll still need to rest a little longer." John said.

Stuart nodded "What about my mission?"

"Plenty of time for that later. It'll take time for our message to reach Tiger and then we have to wait for him to respond. So for now rest, recover and start trying to figure out who tipped off the TIA."

{{Separator|k}}

''Atlantic Coast, South America, Earth, 2502 AD''

Everything was black. Stuart must have had his eyes closed. A few minutes passed before a transmission came in on a secure line.

'':This is Fuego. We've acquired transport, stand by.''

Stuart opened his eyes. He was surrounded by a thick heavy rain forest. It was pouring down rain but his stealth suit was sealed against water penetration. Now that his eyes were open he could hear the rain as well, must have dozed off. The clearing ahead of him rippled outward as a small craft descended on quiet lifters.

'':Roger that Fuego, I have eyes on, over._ Stuart transmitted.''

The tail ramp lowered and 4 figures quickly slipped out of it and over to the treeline. As quickly as it had come the craft lifted off and flew away. Like him they were all dressed in stealth suits, their active camouflage making them invisible to the naked eye. His VISR system painted them as moving green outlines and tagged each with a name.

'':We have 10 minutes to get inside Black Zone.'' Stuart transmitted.

'':Short window, let's move.'' Stuart's HUD identified the speaker as Hammond.

They quickly headed deeper into the forest soon spotting a pair of IDEs patrolling in the distance. It was time to put General Knoxx's gift into action. Stuart used his new command neural implant to check into their local comm traffic. It was just the usual chatter between friends but they were constantly checking in with the base which meant killing them would just sound the alarm that much faster.

They skirted around the IDEs heading farther north before cutting back to the west again. They crested a hill and caught sight of their target facility. Above ground it was a massive complex of squat buildings but below the surface it opened up into a series of large R & D labs.

That factory was their target, get in, figure out what they’re making, steal data, and get out. He was also tasked with capturing or destroying any existing prototypes. The hard part would be getting back out after the alarm was raised. Stuart had no doubt that the facility personnel wouldn't hesitate to kill them if they were discovered.

They made short work of a group of guards that were lounging around. They waited a few seconds as Stuart's implant fed authorization codes to the vault door. There was a hiss as the cylindrical door rotated open allowing them to slip into the facility proper.

They passed through a decontamination airlock before entering one of the deserted side areas moving swiftly and silently to the local security station. They waited outside its vault door as Stuart's implant went to work once again. As soon as the opening was wide enough they tossed in a mix of smoke grenades and short range jammers. They waited for a 3 count before entering themselves and easily eliminating the disoriented soldiers inside.

In the blink of an eye Stuart had full control of the facility's local security systems. It was child’s play to rig the system on a loop, no back up would be coming for the defenders in this area. They changed the codes on their way out, every extra second was important.

They stuck to the side passages as they made their way deeper into the facility with minimal, almost nonexistent, resistance. The combination of their stealth gear and Stuart’s implant probably played a part in that. Their next stop was the server room which they would ''liberate'' of all its information.

They ran into a problem when they got there. The server room had single civilian technician inside. Civilians were non-combatants and therefore off limits. To make matters worse he had fully prosthetic body so they couldn’t just knock him out. As he turned facial recognition identified him as Doctor Karl Sanderson, an expert on cybernetics and data security who had been shanghaied into service.

'':Command, Hammond.''

'':Go ahead.''

'':We've got a civilian here, Dr Karl Sanderson. He's been pressed into service.''

'':Understood make his evac a priority.''

Now with the green light, Stuart tapped into his com '':Doctor Sanderson.''

His head snapped up and he looked around. '':Who is this? How did you get this com code?''

'':I know you’ve been forced into this job. How would you like to get out of here, forever.''

He slumped '':I wouldn’t be safe anywhere on Earth.''

'':What about off world?''

'':My passport's been revoked.''

'':Smuggling one person off planet is pretty easy. Well, easier than smuggling a group anyway.''

'':You can do that?''

Stuart de-cloaked and offered his hand '':We can, but first we need to get you out of here.''

Dr. Sanderson shook it '':Easy enough, the newest IDEs are in workshop lambda. You could make a pretty big distraction with those.''

'':We'll head out as soon as we're finished here.''

They connected directly to the file server and copied everything before leaving behind several time bombs. They re-engaged their active camouflage and slipped out accompanied by Dr Sanderson. Workshop lambda was two levels below the server room; it also had a greater concentration of guards.

Sanderson surprised all of them by making himself into a distraction enabling them to quickly eliminate the guards. The way he kicked a few of the corpses proved that the man had his own reasons for wanting them dead. A quick check showed they had been tormenting the good Doctor since his interment began.

Workshop lambda was equal parts amazing and horrifying. There were hundreds of 4 meter mechs all standing in perfect little rows. The first production batch of the brand new Titan model IDE. This factory had to go.

'':Command, Hammond, you seeing this?''

'':Affirmative, Hammond. Intel confirmed. You have 14 mikes before Eclipse makes that place a crater.''

They had just finished powering up the IDEs when things went wrong. The nearby freight elevator came to life bringing a large group of off duty soldiers up from the next level. Their shift had just ended and they were still armed, mostly with light guns but a few with anti-IDE weapons.

'':Command can we get a hold on Eclipse?''

'':Negative, its already past PNR.''

'':Shit! We do *not* want to be here!''

Hammond's IDE rushed forward as he took the initiative, melee weapons making quick work of the anti-IDE guards. The main threat dealt with they all moved as the remaining guards opened fire on them. While annoying the small arms fire was far from dangerous to the IDEs. Especially as they displayed an interesting feature, hardlight shielding.

It wasn't nearly as powerful or efficient as the hardlight on Zharus but its existence was still worrying. It was a good thing the only copy of its plans was staying with him. They plowed through the remaining forces and restarted the freight elevator. Stuart fed a set of over-rides to the elevator safeties, they needed to be ''gone''.

They battered aside the doors and kicked on their lifters as the alarm sounded. They burned cavorite as they flew out the main gate they had scant seconds to make it to MSD. If they didn't. No, don't think about that just focus on getting there. There was a deafening roar behind them and Stuart risked a peak over his shoulder. There was a burning light overhead as a small sun plummeted toward the facility.They passed the MSD line painted on their HUDs and didn't stop, the further they got the better.

He knew what was coming and quickly looked away to protect his eyes from the blinding flash as the 5 and a half meter tungsten carbide rod made impact. The shock-wave was on them in less than a second. The displaced air tore whole trees from the ground and sent everything flying like ships in a hurricane. The IDEs crashed and bounced along the ground before slowly sliding half a klick to a stop.

Stuart was in pain '':Squad, sound off.'' he managed to groan.

They were all battered and bruised but everyone, even Dr Sanderson, had made it out alive and relatively intact. With some effort they managed to get their IDEs standing and clambered over a hill of trees, rock, and dirt to look back at the facility. It was gone, replaced by a massive jagged edged crater. There was a 400 meter ring around the crater, completely devoid of anything except scorched earth.

Stuart whistled appreciatively '':Damn, now *that's* how you destroy something.''

'':That's nothing. The original system used rods large enough to destroy '''''cities'''''.'' Buscemi said.

{{Separator|k}}

''Bavarian Alps, Europe, Earth, 2502''

Stuart straightened his "borrowed" gloves and pulled down his visor before checking again to make sure the uniform was clean of any stains. The uniform had belonged to a full borg security officer and barely fit Stuart's smaller frame. He stepped out of the security building as Holland finished stashing the stripped body of one of the former security officers. Hammond and Buscemi were already in position on the other side of the snow covered road.

It had been an interesting and harrowing 8 months working with Echo Squad. They were Knoxx's final group of Ghost operatives, once Echo was finished there would no more Earth trained Ghosts. They were a good squad, well trained and fun to be around, more than once they had dragged him out drinking or had him over for family celebrations.

Their mission this time was the rescue of a European Union researcher that the Terran Intelligence Agency had tasked with investigating something. Knoxx wanted to know what it was and get the woman safely on her way to Zharus where the rest of her family would be waiting. They had already completed their first objective, take over the security check point and pose as its guard detail.

'':Here they come.'' Holland transmitted as a small fully loaded, and wheeled, military skimmer came around the corner.

'':These disgues better work.'' Buscemi transmitted before signaling them to stop for inspection.

'':Two up front, two in back with the HVT between them. All lightly armed and very squishy.''

'':Roger that, drop 'em.''

Buscemi began speaking to the driver in rapid German, making general small talk as he checked the documentation on their tablet. The rest of squad quietly advanced on vehicle as they slipped combat knives into their hands. As Buscemi was handing back the tablet they struck, knives sinking through necks and striking the brain stem.

Stuart grimaced as he pulled the blade out and dumped the body onto the roadway. The steady snowfall would cover the body soon enough and they would be long gone before the next group came by in 4 hours. He settled in next to the HVT as Holland climbed into the driver seat.

'':It's alright Dr. Magnussen. General Knoxx sent us to get you out of here.''

She sagged with relief ''Thank god, I'm dumping the details of everything they've been having me do over to you now.''

'':Thank you, get comfortable it'll be a while before we get to the extraction point.''

They spent the next 40 minutes riding in silence as they kept a weather eye out for signs of trouble. When they got to the extraction point the sub-orbital was waiting for them, lifters primed and ready. They piled out weapons sweeping the surrounding forest as Hammond escorted Dr. Magnussen to the sub.

Stuart readied his weapon '':Everybody, quiet.'' There was silence on the radio. '':Where did all the noise go?''

The others readied their weapons and slowly backed up to the sub. It was too quiet; the only sound they could hear now was the low whine of the sub’s lifters. He was worried now. There was a brief flash of movement in the woods. He blanched as his implant identified it. Stalkers, they were the TIA equivalent of secret police.

Stuart didn’t hesitate, immediately opening fire. His gauss rifle’s hypersonic rounds tearing through the low quality stealth armor with ease. Through the trees he caught sight of a camouflaged troop transport, adjusting his fire angle before pulling a second trigger and firing a small rocket at it.

By now the others had started shooting as they retreated into the sub. Stalkers began pouring out into the surrounding clearing first 5, then 10, then 20. Their numbers just kept growing, zerg tactics overwhelm the enemy with superior numbers.

The situation was rapidly deteriorating, he had to to get to cover. As he moved he saw white and pain exploded across his left thigh before he threw himself behind the stolen skimmer for cover. He looked down and confirmed one of the Stalkers had gotten lucky and grazed him. High velocity round tearing a chunk out of his leg.

He pulled the pin on a smoke grenade and lobbed it over the skimmer. Shortly after it detonated he followed it up with a frag, capitalizing on the smokescreen and basic reasoning that the Stalkers would ignore it as another smoke. His suspicions were confirmed when its explosion was accompanied by screams of pain.

'':Tell Knoxx, I'm sorry.''

Hammond said'':We aren't leaving you behind.''

'':You don't have a choice. I'm not going anywhere with this bum leg, finish the mission.''

'':But.''

A round clipped the sub's ramp '':Go!''

With a roar the sub took off accelerating flat out away from the clearing. Stuart wiped out all the comm codes in his implants and destroyed any data that could lead the TIA back to Knoxx, Zharus, or anything else. He braced the rifle against his shoulder and struggled to pull himself upright. If he was going to die, then he was taking as many of them with him as he could.

Laying atop the hood he fired his remaining rocket at a nearby cluster of enemies, as always doing his best to ignore their pain. He emptied his first magazine and slipped behind the skimmer again ejecting the empty magazine and slamming in a full one. He lay on his stomach as he fired trying to make every shot count.

His weeks spent on the firing range paid off, each shot hitting and while not all were fatal they were certainly debilitating. He pulled the trigger again and the rifle clicked, empty. He threw his remaining grenade before rolling over and pulling himself into a sitting position before changing loading his last mag.

He looked up, seeing Stalkers exiting the woods in front of him. He opened fire, again each shot killing or mortally wounding an advancing foe before the rifle started clicking. He chucked it at someone's stomach making them double over in pain as he pulled his side arm from its holster on his right thigh and finishing the gasping man off.

Stuart got off another dozen shots before someone shot his left shoulder causing him to drop it in pain. That same soldier quickly advanced bending down to grab him only to get 18 centimeters of knife blade shoved and twisted into his throat. Stuart placed his final grenade on the ground next to his left hand, putting a finger through the pin's ring as the arm hung useless at his side.

He ripped the dieing man's knife from the sheath on his shoulder before pushing him aside. With the ease of long practice he spun the knife around to grip it by the blade before taking careful aim and hurling it at the nearest Stalker. He struggled to sit up further, right hand now firmly wrapped around his final grenade.

They had him surrounded, but they weren't shooting at him anymore. It confirmed what Stuart was thinking, they wanted him alive. They wouldn't get anything from his implants which meant they would resort to interrogation and torture. Stuart had no intention of going through that.

He gave a weak smile "Shel kek nem ron." He pulled the pin on the grenade and held it in front of him for all to see. Before he could drop it his hand was crushed by an iron grip keeping the safety lever on the grenade. He struggled with what little strength he had left before it was ripped from his hand and hurled into the woods as blood loss caught up to him and he passed out.

{{Separator|k}}

''Location Unknown, Date Unknown''

Tied to a chair there was little Stuart could do. He had grown thinner, his muscles atrophied from a combination of disuse and minor malnutrition. His wounds had been allowed to completely heal before they started the "interrogations". They had done something to screw up his internal chrono. He had no idea how long he had been there.

"Prisoner 24601." there was the simulated sound of rustling paper. "My my, you have been here a while haven't you?" a hand lifted his chin "You've given us nothing but shit answers." They were trying to break him, turn him to their side. "Let's try this again." Looking up he could see that the speaker was a blonde man in a clean black suit and tie. "Name?"

"Kris Kringle."

With a sigh the man punched him "Name." he said more insistently.

"Edmond...Dontes." Stuart wheezed.

He punched Stuart in the jaw "Name!" he yelled.

Stuart spit in his face "Inigo...Montoya."

There was a tiny thread keeping him sane. The others had gotten away. They were safe and soon enough the TIA would get sick of his bullshit and either kill him or, more likely, just dump him somewhere to die. If and when they did he would have a chance to live.

"I don't know who you think you're protecting. We shot down Dr. Magnussen's sub before it could even reach orbit."

His statement was accompanied by images and video projecting on the walls of small room. It couldn't be true, he'd seen them escape. He knew how easily digital video and images could be faked. It was a lie it had to be...but...what if it wasn't? That niggling little doubt finally snapped his thread, it just wasn't the _right_ thread.

The man frowned, clearly talking to someone on the comms. His frown deepened, clearly he was getting bad news. He turned his back on Stuart as he continued speaking on the comms. There were several minutes of silence before he huffed and turned back around pulling on a pair of gloves.

He drew his gun "It seems the time has come for us to be deprived of your...pleasant company, permanently." He crouched next to Stuart "This is your last chance to live. What is your name? Who do you work for?" silence "Well, I guess this is the end for you." As he started to pull back Stuart lunged for his neck.

He stared blankly at the dead agent on the floor. Oxygen deprivation had killed him long before he bled to death. Soon enough Stuart would be following him. The agent had managed to get off a handful of shots, a lucky one even managed to hit him.

Had it been hours or just minutes since all that had been done? Everything was getting blurry, going dark just like it had when he nearly bled out in Germany. His eyes sank closed as his breathing grew ragged. The sound from videos abruptly stopped as someone opened the door. He heard snatches of a rolling fluid language and felt a hand pressed to his neck.

There was a pause then more shouting as the first hand was replaced by a second. He fell as someone had cut the ropes that were binding him. He was carefully laid down on something soft, a stretcher? His eyes opened briefly and he saw one of the men. There was a prick on his neck and he started to fall asleep.

''Location Unknown, Date Unknown''

Stuart woke slowly to the steady beep of an EKG. A quick check confirmed that yes, he was still alive and no he was not restrained. He carefully pushed himself into a sitting position, his weakened muscles protesting a little at their sudden use. The room was simply furnished; bed, a few chairs, night stand and a lamp. With a moments hesitation he pressed the nurse's call button.

There was the sound of running in hallway and the door to his room flew open as the nurse answered the summons. When she saw him, up and awake, she shouted down the hallway in the same language he heard during his rescue. She waited for a response before crossing the room in 3 strides and beginning the basic check-up procedure.

She was just finishing when the door opened a second time and a second nurse walked in carrying a tray of food closely followed by someone else. He was tall, narrow shouldered. He was bald sporting a full beard and mustache. He was bald. His black beard and mustache were shot through with streaks of gray and his face was weathered from age and harsh living. His implant's facial recognition identified the man, Imran Zakaev.

He was clad simply in flecktarn camo pants, green brown shirt, long leather overcoat and heavy combat boots. He moved a chair next to the bed and sat down single arm resting casually in his lap. The second nurse spoke to him as she set down the food, he responded and both nurses left the room with a nod.

His gravely voice had only a hint of a Russian accent "You must be hungry. Please, eat, we can discuss business when you are finished."

Even though it was hospital food it was much better then the gruel he had been fed while in TIA custody. He was careful not to eat to quickly it would have been both rude and unhealthy. While he ate Zakhaev sat silently, likely speaking to people over a private comm channel.

"Thank you." Stuart said.

Zakhaev gave a wan smile "Your rescue was a happy accident. We've been hoping to find you ever since Alfonso told us of your capture."

"How long?"

"6 months, that's how long you were with."

"That’s how long it took them to break me."

Zakhaev nodded "Yes, but it wasn’t in the manner they were hoping for.”

“My chances of going home are still probably nil.”

He smirked “Actually, a ship will be arriving in 7 months. There will be an extraction team on board.”

“Oh...”

“Until then you’ll just have to find a way to keep busy.”

“If ya’ll are going to be running any ops I’d be happy to help.”

“Not until the doctors clear you, not even RO. I mean it.” Stuart hung his head “Hey,” Zakhaev put his hand his shoulder “You’ve literally been through hell. You need to ''recover'' before you do anything else.”

Zakhaev gave him a pat on the shoulder before leaving with the empty tray. Stuart sighed, maybe tomorrow he would finally check out Virtual Life. It seemed that everyone else on the planet used it for at least 1 thing so why not?

{{series bar
|series=Ghost's of Zharus
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[[Category:Story]][[Category:Chimera]][[Category:Bear]][[Category:Tiger]][[Category:Anthropomorphic]][[Category:Dog]] [[Category:FreeRIDErs]] [[Category:Oddoneout]]

User:Oddoneout/Ghosts:Ghost Stories

2015-07-04T23:46:37Z

Oddoneout: Overdue editt

{{Universe|FreeRIDErs}}{{title
|name=Ghosts: Ghost Stories
|author=Oddoneout
|user=Oddoneout}}

Bobbie Maiuri was having a rough morning. Her daughter had gone out the night before with her niece, once nephew, and a group of ZPA agents. They had been brought home by the APD. Apparently Claire was in a fight of some sort, very one-sided from the sound of it, and the APD had decided she didn't need to spend the night in jail. She just wasn't supposed to de-Fuse or leave the property without supervision for the next 30 hours.

The man Claire attacked was a Cape Nord native who had been in town on business. Mosley said there were 2 reasons that he was very lucky to be alive. The first was that Claire being drunk caused a lack of finer control that could have landed him in the hospital for days. The second was that if Claire hadn't slammed him into the bar her cobra headed tail would have bitten him. She wouldn't say exactly what the snake was carrying in its fangs, just that it was guaranteed to be fatal, even to Integrates.

As soon as the APD had left Mel/Claire had gone to the backyard and sat down cross-legged. They hadn't moved since. When, Sam checked on them she said they were talking to someone on an Integrate secure comm line. Ajax said the fighting and brooding was not normal.

The doorbell rang and she went to answer it.

"Excuse me, is this the Maiuri residence?" There was a tiger Fuser at the door.

"Yes."

"I'm Tiger Sauer, with the ZPA." His voice reminded her of Harvey Keitel.

"Bobbie." she shook the offered hand.

"I have been led to believe you have some of my operatives here, is that correct?"

"It is. Won't you please come in?"

"Thank you very much." she closed the door "I've also been led to believe you know about Integrates is that correct?"

She nodded "Our daughter is Integrated, just came back to us a few days ago."

It took a second for Bobbie to realize, Tiger was also an Integrate. "You don’t have to stay in hardlight." he quirked a brow "I can tell by your body language. You aren't used to hiding."

He chuckled as he dropped the sherade. His black stripes doubled as faintly glowing tron lines. He was a lanky man, narrow in the shoulders and all arms and legs. As they walked she could see corded muscles rippling beneath his fur. Despite his desk job he made a point of keeping in shape.

Bobbie had done some research on her newest guest. Colonel Tiger Sauer, served in the North American Army during the Brush Wars. Emigrated to Zharus in 132 AL first settling in Nextus. During the Nextus-Sturmhaven War he was involved in the development and adoption of RIDEs for and by covert units, partnering with a TGR(m)-HMA himself. After the war he and his partner mustered out and joined the Zharus Planetary Authority and information about them became scarce.

"So, what went wrong?" He asked as sat on the couch with his agents, sans Claire and Melody.

"They got lucky." Ajax said "I know it sounds like an excuse Sir but it’s the truth. We were a thousand klicks out from the nearest entrance to that place. We got jumped by a group from the Loose Cannons."

Tiger frowned "I thought that might be the case."

Bobbie stood there gaping "Um... are you sure you shouldn't be in a secure room or something for this."

"I secured the entire property before I rang the doorbell and no one would believe you if you told them. How's Claire?"

Mosley smiled "She's doing much better. I guess all she really needed was to get drunk, spill her guts, and get in a pointless fight. Once she had a few drinks she spent half the night talking to me on a secure line."

"How much did she say?"

"Only where she really went and what went wrong, no real details though."

"Wait she didn't go to Proxima?" Bobbie asked.

"No, I'll see if I can't get her clearance to give you guys full disclosure. At least your story matches what she told me this morning."

"You called her?"

"She called me. Mengsk gave her a Manchurian program with some hidden features. I was able to destroy most of it but I want to make sure she's in the clear before Tassadar nukes him."

"So that asshole's finally getting spaced?" Mike asked.

Bobbie blanched; spacing was slang for throwing someone out of an airlock. Tiger shook his head "I don't know. Tassadar might decide spacing is too good for him. Now, where is Claire?"

In the backyard Dominic, formerly MRS agents Carl Yottes and Dominic, was about to relive a humilitaing and terrifing experience. He had been overjoyed when his hacking revealed that Sam was related to the Fuser who humilated him in both Nextus and Oz. He could get his revenge on them at the same time.

It had been so easy to hack that idiot from Cape Nord into doing exactly what he needed. All he had to do was put out an anonymous tip to the APD and wait for them to haul that Fuser to jail. He didn't stick around to watch as he had other preparations to make. Aloha belonged to the Munns and Integrates who shared their mind set of sticking with meat. If Dominic was going to pull this off he needed an air-tight exit plan.

He peaked around the corner of the house checking the backyard. Nice and empty just like it should be, this was going to be too easy. He was going to Integrate Sam's mother and when her father came back he'd Integrate him to. Sure, Fritz wouldn't approve if he found out but it was a small price to pay if it meant teaching some freak meatie a lesson.

He opened up his sensors to check inside the house again. They bounced off a transparent hardlight barrier now encapsulating the two story home. That wasn't there a second ago. Sam wasn't strong enough to create something like this, so who did? This wasn't in the plan. He turned to leave and bump into something solid.

"Da fuq?" the entire backyard was encased by a hardlight shield.

"Leaving so soon?" He wiped around, siting crosslegged in the middle of the backyard was Claire/Mel in Fuser. "You haven't been dismissed yet ''Corporal''."

He blanched "What did you just call me?"

"You will address your superior officer as Sir. As to your question, well it took me a while to remember y'all, Corporal Carl Yottes and HAA(m)-GRZ-012J Dominic of Nextus Material Recovey Services. I was in charge of a joint op about 5 years back, ZPA and MRS, you were assigned to my squad." he frowned "Still don't remember? I was in an AIDE, matte black."

The bottom dropped out of his stomach, now he remembered having pushed it to the very bottom hoping that embaressesment would never again come up. Carl was a Cape Nord native with an extensive Mancard and, as such, expected that they would be leading the assault. Instead they had placed under the command of a young waif of a Staff Sargent.

That was fine, not being in command meant fewer responsiblities. They were confident that the Sargent would place them at the head of the entry team. They thought wrong; instead their job was to breach the wall and defend the entry point. Carl had fumed at this indignity. He was a Man for crying out loud.

When he requested (demanded) that he lead the assault he found himself re-assigned to the perimeter instead. When their target fled he almost let them get away. When questioned about it he had foolish responded that a true Man doesn't attack a defeated opponent. He wanted the Sargent to prove his Manhood.

The next 2 minutes were the most humiliating and painful of his life. His opponent, using an old AIDE, danced around his strikes and easily landing his own. They had to replace 35% of his plating, along with their hands.

"Sargent Maiuri." he whispered.

Thus named Claire gave a cold smile "Actually it's Lieutant now. Reports said you went AWOL 2 years back, guess that's a lie." the smile turned to a frown "It also seems you've forgotten the lesson I taught you. How about a refresher?"

Dominic was frozen, it had been 4 years ''and'' he had Integrated. There was no way he would lose a second time. The part of him that was Carl pointed out that it was that same attitude that had gotten pummeled in the first place. Whatever branch of the ZPA Claire nee Stuart was in they awarded merit at least partially based on how much ass you could kick.

With a snarl he leapt at the large Fuser, only to be met midway by a two fingered strike to his stomach. He doubled over boosting away with his lifters as he suppressed the urge to puke. He could hear a faint ringing in his ears, like he had stood too close to an explosion. The same ringing he heard when she struck him in Nextus. A quick check showed his lens were in no danger of failing.

He made himself invisible and prepared to strike. By the time he noticed her tail tracking him it was too late to avoid her. It was only because he did try that her arm grazed his shoulder instead of passing through it. The ringing in his ears abruptly stopped as most of his shoulder exploded. As he gaped at his severed arm he was very glad that he had already shut down his pain reception.

That hesitation was all the opening Claire/Mel needed. A pair of rapid strikes gave Dominic's left leg the same treatment. They de-Fused mid-leap, Mel pinning the Integrate to the ground as her jaws clamped around his head. Claire's tail lashed out fangs sinking deeply into the severed portion of the leg and tossing it down near his head. They stood there for a few seconds before he noticed the leg was beginning to dissolving.

"Nitric acid." Claire said in a bored tone.

He could practically ''feel'' the data flowing between the partners. They were on the cusp of Integration. If he tried to hack Mel, Claire would instantly know and she would kill him. If he tried to attack Claire, Mel would know before he could finish twitching and she would kill him. The fight had taken seconds and now he was completely trapped beaten by naked meat and a mech.

"Root." he didn't argue.

Claire wasted no time locking him out of everything except life support, consciousness, and basic senses. She could hand him over to someone else, maybe the Marshals would take him. She Fused up and sat down to wait. The others should be along shortly.

Tiger frowned when he saw Claire/Mel sitting next to an immobilized grizzly Integrate “I’m getting sloppy.”

She tapped Dominic's head "What are we going to do with him?"

He shrugged " I have no problem with turning him over to the Marshals."

She nodded "Did you bring Mel's kit?"

"Yeah, come around front and we'll get her squared away."

"Who was that guy anyway?" Ajax asked.

"Remember that smash and grab we pulled with MRS?"

"Yeah, wait was that?"

"Yup."

Ajax shrugged "Well, you can't fix stupid."

Claire/Mel nodded as they came around into the front yard they saw Tiger opening the trailer of a skimmer truck parked in the driveway. Mel slid off into Walker mode before they went up the ramp into the mobile maintenance bay. It was a little cramped with everyone inside, especially once Tiger closed it. Mel settled herself in the middle of the room before powering down.

"I'm glad you sent me Mel's updated specs. You did a good job bringing her up to Ghost-spec so all she really needs are the specialty items."

"Stealth plates?" Claire asked.

"We phased those out last year, not strong enough. These are top grade armor with coated SW's perfected stealth coating."

Claire gave a squeal, jumping up and down with joy. It was girliest thing any of them had every seen her do. Tiger just smiled as he started swapping out Mel's old plating.

Bobbie was very confused "I'm lost what's Ghost-spec?"

"Ghost-spec is like Mil-spec but better. On the official paperwork we're known as Task Force Stalker but we're called Ghosts. Always have been, even during the Brush Wars."

"Um, are you sure we should be hearing this. I mean we're civilians."

He shrugged " You guys have seen enough that you deserve full disclosure. I was just a squad leader in the original but ended up running it before we were disbanded at the end of the war. After moving out here it became my Task Force during the Nextus-Sturmhaven War. I kept that one small, a single platoon, but that was all we really needed. Top brass wanted to go public with us and our achievements, I wouldn't let 'em. Especially since they had been all hush hush with the RIDE program"

"What about weapons?" Claire asked.

Tiger frowned "We'll get to that now hush." Claire wilted a bit as he began installing other equipment "Now where was I? Right Nextus, we carried out stealth, counter-stealth, and military/industrial espionage. When the war came to an end we signed on to work infiltration for the ZPA. We've expanded over the years to counter-intelligence and added espionage back into our responsibilities. Along with monitoring the global political situation."

"Including Integrates." Sam said.

His muzzle twitched into a smile "Obviously, we steer clear of politics in general. The ZPA focus on keeping the planet as whole safe from other threats."

"Like?"

"Earth." Claire growled, literally.

Tiger gave her a nod "Keep it brief, I'll pass them some of your memories."

"My real mission was to conduct espionage and sabotage on Earth. It was going to be a 5 year mission but someone tipped off the Terran Intelligence Agency."

"You think it was that Mengsk guy you and Heather were talking about?"

Tiger grimaced "The only reason I haven't done anything is because Tassadar wants names and I think he wants the first crack at him."

Ajax grunted "I think ''every'' Ghost wants a crack at him Sir."

Mike/Aug nodded and Mosley looked positively murderous "No arguments here. Bastard wanted to have me ''studied'' ,no points for guessing what he meant by ''that''."

Tiger nodded as he woke Mel up "Now, on the subject of weapons." he led them over to a crate.

Claire gasped; inside the crate was a gun in matte grey. It was large but still small enough to be used in or out of Fuser. Its barrel was mounted beneath a rectangular cooling unit topped by square cooling fins. The stock's for end had lightening holes and a rail that connected to its battery housing. Mounted atop the gun was a boxy scope sitting in front of 5 angled cylinders the last directly above the trigger and pistol grip. It was practically a work of art.

She grunted as she carefully lifted it out "Its heavier than I thought it'd be." she braced it against her shoulder and did a few quick draws.

He smiled "It's called the Mark 14 Variable Plasma Rifle."

Mel giggled "What happened to Vipers 1 thru 13?" Claire asked with a smile.

"Hardy har har. It has 2 configurations. First is your standard assault weapon with selective fire; burst or fully automatic. Configuration 2 is Anti-mat/HPC support, single shot only. It can also be powered from an external source, just have to toggle the feed."

Stamped on the top of the stock was the serial number LN2. “The tech boys insisted you receive the first one. Its based on schematics you brought back. I’ve also got the codes so you can fabb replacement parts and geist missiles since Mel has the hard-points and firmware for them. Now before you all go running off I need to make Sam a proper DIN, shouldn't take long."

In short order Sam had removed her DIN and was letting Tiger scan the port on the back of her hand. In the space of a few minutes he had a new DIN for her. In minutes Tiger had made a DIN that was orders of magnitude above what any Enclave Technomancer could. Then there was the comm laser he attached it to. Only a centimeter in diameter but it had more power than her old unit.

Once Tiger confirmed its function with a hand shake she received a data packet. It was Claire's memories, not everything but, it was all neatly indexed. She would have to watch them later or they'd miss the raid.

{{Separator|k}}

Sam was about ready to panic. They had ten minutes to get to the meeting point, which was 20 minutes away. Claire had them running full speed out of the safe zone. They didn’t make it very far before she had them all stop.

“Everyone’s geared up right?” Claire asked.

Ajax and Mosley both wore light plated mail armor and carried a shield and sword. Mike/Aug wore lamellar armor made of small rectangular plates and carried a slim rapier. Like he Sam he used a mix of melee and magical combat. Mel didn’t wear any armor but had a wide range of high level AoE spells both offensive and defensive. There was a round of confirmation.

“Good, I’m not technically supposed to do this but I doubt they’ll care too much.” She pulled up a menu.

“Do what?” Mike/Aug asked.

She made a few selections “This.”

There was a flash, indicating they had teleported. The forest they had been standing in was replaced by a high ceilinged rock tunnel. Sam looked around and recognized the markers for the last safe zone of the 74th floor dungeon. Claire didn’t wait for them to ask questions before leading them the rest of the way to the boss chamber.

It was the largest raid group Sam had ever seen, let alone been a part of. Over 70 players, more once she remembered that RIDEs had their own accounts. They had almost 2 dozen known Integrates and probably at least another 5 that were staying hidden. Of all the teams there they were the only one unaligned with a guild. It took a few more minutes to get everyone gathered then the raid leader gave a speech about staying with your team and how xp and drops would be divided.

As she looked around Sam felt out of place with her team, even though she could tentatively call them her friends. The Ghosts were so at ease, like they weren’t about to walk into the jaws of virtual death. Ajax and Mosley were joking with Claire about things that had happened on previous raids and missions. Mike/Aug was talking about game mechanics with Mel. It was a reminder to her that she still knew next to nothing about her cousin anymore.

The massive doors creaked open and the group streamed inside the amphitheater sized room. When the first player stepped inside the whole place lit up revealing the boss of the 74th floor. It was 3 meters of headless dark purple plate armor. It stood there, its sword embedded in the floor. Its name and HP appeared; Crom the Dulahan Lord, he had 5 HP bars.

"I know what you're thinking Sam," Mel said "but the bosses down here are on a different scale."

"Then why are you the only people unFused?"

Before she could press the issue the battle began in earnest. A dozen large black dogs poured out from caves lining the walls, Fairy Hounds. Their main job was to help keep the busy so the main teams could focus on Crom.

"Remember your number."

Sam remembered she was 6. Mike/Aug were 5, Mosley 4, Ajax 3, Mel 2, and Claire 1. Mosley said it was to make it easier to do callouts and give give commands. One syllable did take less time to produce.

"3, 4 we need to group then together for 2. 5 and 6 you're on support."

Sam did her best to anticipate her friends providing heals and buffs whenever she could. Mike/Aug was doing much the same with his debuffs. She admired the ease with which the others worked together. Mel, Ajax and Mosley did their best to corral the Fairy Hounds. Whenever 2 were close enough Mel would hit them with one of her spells.

A few times one of the Hounds would make a break for it only to be cut off and driven back by her saber or Mike/Aug's rapier. If it weren't for the constant strain Sam would almost have called it easy. ''Then again she I am working for real soldiers.'' She thought wryly.

Under Claire's calm, almost lazy, direction they eliminated all of the Fairy Hounds in about 45 minutes. They kept their guard up, they didn't know if or when the Hounds might respawn. Sam was already starting to feel a little drained. Who knew a raid would be so tiring, Claire had prevent what would have been her first one.

Taking a deep breath She risked a glance over at the main battle. It wasn't going nearly as well as theirs had. Crom had already defeated a quarter of the main raid group and they had only just finished taking out his first HP bar.

Claire frowned, Mel sighed "They didn't listen to us." They all looked at her. "If we don’t hurry the whole raid is going to fall apart.”

“Why?”

“Crom is just as capable of memorizing patterns as we are. If we don’t hurry he’ll screw us when he decides to counter attack by breaking ''their'' rotation pattern apart.”

It took a few minutes to get their team worked into the rotation. Unfortunately they were only able to spend another 10 minutes chipping away at Crom's HP. Despite their team's best efforts Mel’s prediction still came painfully true.

"Hit the deck!" Mel shouted.

Years of rough housing with her cousins came back to her as Sam went limp and dropped to the ground. Crom lashed out at them mid rotation, his blade knocking everyone to the ground with varying amounts of damage. She looked around as another handful of players died.

Sam quickly recovered scrambling back to her feet with the rest of her team. Thanks to Mel quick warning they were the only team that wasn't caught flat-footed by Crom's next swing. Mosley and Ajax locked shields preventing him from killing another batch of downed players.

Claire was still on her hands and knees. She looked around at the other downed players and had a flash of panic. They had to do something or the raid would fall apart and they would all end up dead. But what could they do alone? Mel met her panicked eyes with her own calm ones and at that moment something passed between them.

Claire surged to her feet heading towards Mel.

"5, 6 the wounded! 3, 4 stall him!"

She knew when she reached Mel there would be no turning back. She gave the fuse command. They weren't alone anymore, they hadn't been alone for almost 3 months. They had each other.

"Half my heart to make you whole," one of them said

"My strength to purify your weakness." The other finished.

Fused in both worlds she abandoned the use of her beloved menu in favor of the more efficient thought commands. She raised her left hand and launched a salvo of spells at Crom. He reeled back, breastplate derezzing as they destroyed it.

She swiped their left hand across the hilt of their blade and came away, it came away grasping a second. She blurred as they crossed the distance catching his blade's overhead strike in a double block. With a yank she forced his blade up and away. Her twin blades ignited into the blue white glow of special skill.

"This is the Black Blade, Laevateinn." Everyone was staring at her. Laevateinn was one of a kind, dropped for the first player to kill Surtr. The more you killed with it, the higher its damage became. If you used its special the damage modifier was reset to 0. A small price to pay if it meant saving lives. Her two halves in agreement she verbalized the command "Dual Sonic."

She was in motion again slashing at Crom's pale exposed flesh. She ducked a swing and viciously attacked the opening in his guard. But he was just as unforgiving. They trade blows hers landing more than his. He forced an opening and tried another overhead strike which she caught between her blades.

She didn't just bellow. She roared and yanked her swords apart. His blade shattering as the damage overwhelmed it. He hesitated for a microsecond, the AI unsure of what to do. That was all the time she needed. She rushed him and cut clean through with Laevateinn, shattering him into countless points of light.

A massive banner appeared in the air declaring her victorious. She staggered back Laevateinn vanishing from her left hand, its skill complete. She collapsed onto her butt, tired and aching. As her team gathered round she gave a weak smile.

"I feel terrible. Just gonna log out, maybe get some shut eye."

"Take my bed." Ajax said.

She nodded closing her eyes and opening them in the real. She felt like shit as she trudged up the stairs to the guest room Ajax was using. She kicked the door closed behind her before collapsing on the bed. Her wings splayed out to catch the sunlight filtering through the blinds. Maybe she would feel better when she woke.

Back in Oz there was little speculation about why Claire and Mel had logged out. Mike/Aug, Ajax, Sam and Mosley led the way down the staircase into the first town on the 75th floor. The other players treated them with anything from jovial friendship to thinly veiled disgust, mostly from the closet Inties.

Sam was relieved when they finally picked an Inn and logged out. Thanks to Claire/Mel the raid hadn't taken nearly as long as it should have. ''Then again if they hadn't Fused the raid would have been over even sooner.'' Sam thought wryly.

She stretched and went into the kitchen were Tiger was talking to her mom. She ignored them as she made a beeline for the fridge and the crunchy dill pickles inside. Enclave life had always chafed her the wrong way. It was good to be back in civilization ''and'' out in the open, at least with her family.

Mosley wandered in and sat down at the table joining Bobbie and Tiger's discussion about something computer related. Sam tuned them out as she walked back into the family room. Ajax had gone somewhere while Mike and Aug had deFused and were talking about sports. She Went up to her room and lay down on her bed before starting to watch Claire's memories.

{{Separator|k}}

''Earth Orbit, 2501 AD''

Stuart took a deep calming breath. He did his best to ignore the warning klaxons blaring in his ears as he finished overriding the shuttle's emergency systems. This was going to be tricky, the stolen IDE he had in the cargo hold wasn't properly rated for-entry. There was a shout as a full cyborg rounded the corner, gun drawn. It was quickly silenced as Stuart's combat knife, also stolen, buried itself in his head.

He tugged it free as he ran past, the gun would just slow him down at this point. He sprinted down to the cargo hold making quick work of additional armed interference along the way. He slid into his IDE and ran the start up sequence. Automated systems aboard the ship announced the impending failure of its hull.

It took him a few minutes to get in position behind his chosen bulkhead before the alarm on his chrono beeped at him. He braced himself and fired into the engineering deck. There was a half second of silence. Then everything went white as the ship's tokamak exploded. Stuart had a fraction of a second to think he might have made a mistake before blacking out.

Consciousness was slow to return and painful when it did. His head pounded in time with the rhythmic beeping of an EKG machine. So he was in a medical facility of some kind, not good. Past that he could hear a couple of voices talking quietly off to one side. The voices stopped and one of them came closer.

"Relax," the voice sounded like Ron Pearlman "you're safe here." Stuart struggled to open his eyes. "That's it nice and slow, there we go."

The man standing next to his bed was dressed in army fatigues. He was short, broad shoulder and in excellent physical condition despite his apparent age. What was left of his grey hair was cut into a perfect flat top. He had a wry half smile on his wrinkled face as he adjusted the bed to sit Stuart up.

He extended a hand "Helluva stunt you pulled up there kid. General Alphonso Knoxx, of the former North American Army."

This was like meeting a celebrity. General Knoxx was the founder and leader of Task Force Stalker during the brush wars on Earth. Every Ghost had heard stories about this man. General Knoxx waited patiently as Stuart slowly reached out and shook it.

"It's an honor sir, Staff Sargent Stuart Maiuri, Zharus Planetary Authority."

He chuckled "One of Tiger's new Ghosts eh?"

"Yes, Sir." Stuart smiled weakly "I'm afraid my infiltration might have been compromised."

The other man laughed "Its a distinct possibility. Colonel John Carter, we've managed to rig the IDE to show that you died when the ship exploded. We moved quickly enough that we were able to destroy the actual time data. You were only dead for 2.7 seconds."

"Still, without a body it will only be a matter of time before someone else starts looking into it." Knoxx said "This location is secure for now but we need to start arranging for your extraction, Earth is no longer safe for you."

"You should be on your feet in a few days but you'll still need to rest a little longer." John said.

Stuart nodded "What about my mission?"

"Plenty of time for that later. It'll take time for our message to reach Tiger and then we have to wait for him to respond. So for now rest, recover and start trying to figure out who tipped off the TIA."

{{Separator|k}}

''Atlantic Coast, South America, Earth, 2502 AD''

Everything was black. Stuart must have had his eyes closed. A few minutes passed before a transmission came in on a secure line.

'':This is Fuego. We've acquired transport, stand by.''

Stuart opened his eyes. He was surrounded by a thick heavy rain forest. It was pouring down rain but his stealth suit was sealed against water penetration. Now that his eyes were open he could hear the rain as well, must have dozed off. The clearing ahead of him rippled outward as a small craft descended on quiet lifters.

'':Roger that Fuego, I have eyes on, over._ Stuart transmitted.''

The tail ramp lowered and 4 figures quickly slipped out of it and over to the treeline. As quickly as it had come the craft lifted off and flew away. Like him they were all dressed in stealth suits, their active camouflage making them invisible to the naked eye. His VISR system painted them as moving green outlines and tagged each with a name.

'':We have 10 minutes to get inside Black Zone.'' Stuart transmitted.

'':Short window, let's move.'' Stuart's HUD identified the speaker as Hammond.

They quickly headed deeper into the forest soon spotting a pair of IDEs patrolling in the distance. It was time to put General Knoxx's gift into action. Stuart used his new command neural implant to check into their local comm traffic. It was just the usual chatter between friends but they were constantly checking in with the base which meant killing them would just sound the alarm that much faster.

They skirted around the IDEs heading farther north before cutting back to the west again. They crested a hill and caught sight of their target facility. Above ground it was a massive complex of squat buildings but below the surface it opened up into a series of large R & D labs.

That factory was their target, get in, figure out what they’re making, steal data, and get out. He was also tasked with capturing or destroying any existing prototypes. The hard part would be getting back out after the alarm was raised. Stuart had no doubt that the facility personnel wouldn't hesitate to kill them if they were discovered.

They made short work of a group of guards that were lounging around. They waited a few seconds as Stuart's implant fed authorization codes to the vault door. There was a hiss as the cylindrical door rotated open allowing them to slip into the facility proper.

They passed through a decontamination airlock before entering one of the deserted side areas moving swiftly and silently to the local security station. They waited outside its vault door as Stuart's implant went to work once again. As soon as the opening was wide enough they tossed in a mix of smoke grenades and short range jammers. They waited for a 3 count before entering themselves and easily eliminating the disoriented soldiers inside.

In the blink of an eye Stuart had full control of the facility's local security systems. It was child’s play to rig the system on a loop, no back up would be coming for the defenders in this area. They changed the codes on their way out, every extra second was important.

They stuck to the side passages as they made their way deeper into the facility with minimal, almost nonexistent, resistance. The combination of their stealth gear and Stuart’s implant probably played a part in that. Their next stop was the server room which they would ''liberate'' of all its information.

They ran into a problem when they got there. The server room had single civilian technician inside. Civilians were non-combatants and therefore off limits. To make matters worse he had fully prosthetic body so they couldn’t just knock him out. As he turned facial recognition identified him as Doctor Karl Sanderson, an expert on cybernetics and data security who had been shanghaied into service.

'':Command, Hammond.''

'':Go ahead.''

'':We've got a civilian here, Dr Karl Sanderson. He's been pressed into service.''

'':Understood make his evac a priority.''

Now with the green light, Stuart tapped into his com '':Doctor Sanderson.''

His head snapped up and he looked around. '':Who is this? How did you get this com code?''

'':I know you’ve been forced into this job. How would you like to get out of here, forever.''

He slumped '':I wouldn’t be safe anywhere on Earth.''

'':What about off world?''

'':My passport's been revoked.''

'':Smuggling one person off planet is pretty easy. Well, easier than smuggling a group anyway.''

'':You can do that?''

Stuart de-cloaked and offered his hand '':We can, but first we need to get you out of here.''

Dr. Sanderson shook it '':Easy enough, the newest IDEs are in workshop lambda. You could make a pretty big distraction with those.''

'':We'll head out as soon as we're finished here.''

They connected directly to the file server and copied everything before leaving behind several time bombs. They re-engaged their active camouflage and slipped out accompanied by Dr Sanderson. Workshop lambda was two levels below the server room; it also had a greater concentration of guards.

Sanderson surprised all of them by making himself into a distraction enabling them to quickly eliminate the guards. The way he kicked a few of the corpses proved that the man had his own reasons for wanting them dead. A quick check showed they had been tormenting the good Doctor since his interment began.

Workshop lambda was equal parts amazing and horrifying. There were hundreds of 4 meter mechs all standing in perfect little rows. The first production batch of the brand new Titan model IDE. This factory had to go.

'':Command, Hammond, you seeing this?''

'':Affirmative, Hammond. Intel confirmed. You have 14 mikes before Eclipse makes that place a crater.''

They had just finished powering up the IDEs when things went wrong. The nearby freight elevator came to life bringing a large group of off duty soldiers up from the next level. Their shift had just ended and they were still armed, mostly with light guns but a few with anti-IDE weapons.

'':Command can we get a hold on Eclipse?''

'':Negative, its already past PNR.''

'':Shit! We do *not* want to be here!''

Hammond's IDE rushed forward as he took the initiative, melee weapons making quick work of the anti-IDE guards. The main threat dealt with they all moved as the remaining guards opened fire on them. While annoying the small arms fire was far from dangerous to the IDEs. Especially as they displayed an interesting feature, hardlight shielding.

It wasn't nearly as powerful or efficient as the hardlight on Zharus but its existence was still worrying. It was a good thing the only copy of its plans was staying with him. They plowed through the remaining forces and restarted the freight elevator. Stuart fed a set of over-rides to the elevator safeties, they needed to be ''gone''.

They battered aside the doors and kicked on their lifters as the alarm sounded. They burned cavorite as they flew out the main gate they had scant seconds to make it to MSD. If they didn't. No, don't think about that just focus on getting there. There was a deafening roar behind them and Stuart risked a peak over his shoulder. There was a burning light overhead as a small sun plummeted toward the facility.They passed the MSD line painted on their HUDs and didn't stop, the further they got the better.

He knew what was coming and quickly looked away to protect his eyes from the blinding flash as the 5 and a half meter tungsten carbide rod made impact. The shock-wave was on them in less than a second. The displaced air tore whole trees from the ground and sent everything flying like ships in a hurricane. The IDEs crashed and bounced along the ground before slowly sliding half a klick to a stop.

Stuart was in pain '':Squad, sound off.'' he managed to groan.

They were all battered and bruised but everyone, even Dr Sanderson, had made it out alive and relatively intact. With some effort they managed to get their IDEs standing and clambered over a hill of trees, rock, and dirt to look back at the facility. It was gone, replaced by a massive jagged edged crater. There was a 400 meter ring around the crater, completely devoid of anything except scorched earth.

Stuart whistled appreciatively '':Damn, now *that's* how you destroy something.''

'':That's nothing. The original system used rods large enough to destroy '''''cities'''''.'' Buscemi said.

{{Separator|k}}

''Bavarian Alps, Europe, Earth, 2502''

Stuart straightened his "borrowed" gloves and pulled down his visor before checking again to make sure the uniform was clean of any stains. The uniform had belonged to a full borg security officer and barely fit Stuart's smaller frame. He stepped out of the security building as Holland finished stashing the stripped body of one of the former security officers. Hammond and Buscemi were already in position on the other side of the snow covered road.

It had been an interesting and harrowing 8 months working with Echo Squad. They were Knoxx's final group of Ghost operatives, once Echo was finished there would no more Earth trained Ghosts. They were a good squad, well trained and fun to be around, more than once they had dragged him out drinking or had him over for family celebrations.

Their mission this time was the rescue of a European Union researcher that the Terran Intelligence Agency had tasked with investigating something. Knoxx wanted to know what it was and get the woman safely on her way to Zharus where the rest of her family would be waiting. They had already completed their first objective, take over the security check point and pose as its guard detail.

'':Here they come.'' Holland transmitted as a small fully loaded, and wheeled, military skimmer came around the corner.

'':These disgues better work.'' Buscemi transmitted before signaling them to stop for inspection.

'':Two up front, two in back with the HVT between them. All lightly armed and very squishy.''

'':Roger that, drop 'em.''

Buscemi began speaking to the driver in rapid German, making general small talk as he checked the documentation on their tablet. The rest of squad quietly advanced on vehicle as they slipped combat knives into their hands. As Buscemi was handing back the tablet they struck, knives sinking through necks and striking the brain stem.

Stuart grimaced as he pulled the blade out and dumped the body onto the roadway. The steady snowfall would cover the body soon enough and they would be long gone before the next group came by in 4 hours. He settled in next to the HVT as Holland climbed into the driver seat.

'':It's alright Dr. Magnussen. General Knoxx sent us to get you out of here.''

She sagged with relief ''Thank god, I'm dumping the details of everything they've been having me do over to you now.''

'':Thank you, get comfortable it'll be a while before we get to the extraction point.''

They spent the next 40 minutes riding in silence as they kept a weather eye out for signs of trouble. When they got to the extraction point the sub-orbital was waiting for them, lifters primed and ready. They piled out weapons sweeping the surrounding forest as Hammond escorted Dr. Magnussen to the sub.

Stuart readied his weapon '':Everybody, quiet.'' There was silence on the radio. '':Where did all the noise go?''

The others readied their weapons and slowly backed up to the sub. It was too quiet; the only sound they could hear now was the low whine of the sub’s lifters. He was worried now. There was a brief flash of movement in the woods. He blanched as his implant identified it. Stalkers, they were the TIA equivalent of secret police.

Stuart didn’t hesitate, immediately opening fire. His gauss rifle’s hypersonic rounds tearing through the low quality stealth armor with ease. Through the trees he caught sight of a camouflaged troop transport, adjusting his fire angle before pulling a second trigger and firing a small rocket at it.

By now the others had started shooting as they retreated into the sub. Stalkers began pouring out into the surrounding clearing first 5, then 10, then 20. Their numbers just kept growing, zerg tactics overwhelm the enemy with superior numbers.

The situation was rapidly deteriorating, he had to to get to cover. As he moved he saw white and pain exploded across his left thigh before he threw himself behind the stolen skimmer for cover. He looked down and confirmed one of the Stalkers had gotten lucky and grazed him. High velocity round tearing a chunk out of his leg.

He pulled the pin on a smoke grenade and lobbed it over the skimmer. Shortly after it detonated he followed it up with a frag, capitalizing on the smokescreen and basic reasoning that the Stalkers would ignore it as another smoke. His suspicions were confirmed when its explosion was accompanied by screams of pain.

'':Tell Knoxx, I'm sorry.''

Hammond said'':We aren't leaving you behind.''

'':You don't have a choice. I'm not going anywhere with this bum leg, finish the mission.''

'':But.''

A round clipped the sub's ramp '':Go!''

With a roar the sub took off accelerating flat out away from the clearing. Stuart wiped out all the comm codes in his implants and destroyed any data that could lead the TIA back to Knoxx, Zharus, or anything else. He braced the rifle against his shoulder and struggled to pull himself upright. If he was going to die, then he was taking as many of them with him as he could.

Laying atop the hood he fired his remaining rocket at a nearby cluster of enemies, as always doing his best to ignore their pain. He emptied his first magazine and slipped behind the skimmer again ejecting the empty magazine and slamming in a full one. He lay on his stomach as he fired trying to make every shot count.

His weeks spent on the firing range paid off, each shot hitting and while not all were fatal they were certainly debilitating. He pulled the trigger again and the rifle clicked, empty. He threw his remaining grenade before rolling over and pulling himself into a sitting position before changing loading his last mag.

He looked up, seeing Stalkers exiting the woods in front of him. He opened fire, again each shot killing or mortally wounding an advancing foe before the rifle started clicking. He chucked it at someone's stomach making them double over in pain as he pulled his side arm from its holster on his right thigh and finishing the gasping man off.

Stuart got off another dozen shots before someone shot his left shoulder causing him to drop it in pain. That same soldier quickly advanced bending down to grab him only to get 18 centimeters of knife blade shoved and twisted into his throat. Stuart placed his final grenade on the ground next to his left hand, putting a finger through the pin's ring as the arm hung useless at his side.

He ripped the dieing man's knife from the sheath on his shoulder before pushing him aside. With the ease of long practice he spun the knife around to grip it by the blade before taking careful aim and hurling it at the nearest Stalker. He struggled to sit up further, right hand now firmly wrapped around his final grenade.

They had him surrounded, but they weren't shooting at him anymore. It confirmed what Stuart was thinking, they wanted him alive. They wouldn't get anything from his implants which meant they would resort to interrogation and torture. Stuart had no intention of going through that.

He gave a weak smile "Shel kek nem ron." He pulled the pin on the grenade and held it in front of him for all to see. Before he could drop it his hand was crushed by an iron grip keeping the safety lever on the grenade. He struggled with what little strength he had left before it was ripped from his hand and hurled into the woods as blood loss caught up to him and he passed out.

{{Separator|k}}

''Location Unknown, Date Unknown''

Tied to a chair there was little Stuart could do. He had grown thinner, his muscles atrophied from a combination of disuse and minor malnutrition. His wounds had been allowed to completely heal before they started the "interrogations". They had done something to screw up his internal chrono. He had no idea how long he had been there.

"Prisoner 24601." there was the simulated sound of rustling paper. "My my, you have been here a while haven't you?" a hand lifted his chin "You've given us nothing but shit answers." They were trying to break him, turn him to their side. "Let's try this again." Looking up he could see that the speaker was a blonde man in a clean black suit and tie. "Name?"

"Kris Kringle."

With a sigh the man punched him "Name." he said more insistently.

"Edmond...Dontes." Stuart wheezed.

He punched Stuart in the jaw "Name!" he yelled.

Stuart spit in his face "Inigo...Montoya."

There was a tiny thread keeping him sane. The others had gotten away. They were safe and soon enough the TIA would get sick of his bullshit and either kill him or, more likely, just dump him somewhere to die. If and when they did he would have a chance to live.

"I don't know who you think you're protecting. We shot down Dr. Magnussen's sub before it could even reach orbit."

His statement was accompanied by images and video projecting on the walls of small room. It couldn't be true, he'd seen them escape. He knew how easily digital video and images could be faked. It was a lie it had to be...but...what if it wasn't? That niggling little doubt finally snapped his thread, it just wasn't the _right_ thread.

The man frowned, clearly talking to someone on the comms. His frown deepened, clearly he was getting bad news. He turned his back on Stuart as he continued speaking on the comms. There were several minutes of silence before he huffed and turned back around pulling on a pair of gloves.

He drew his gun "It seems the time has come for us to be deprived of your...pleasant company, permanently." He crouched next to Stuart "This is your last chance to live. What is your name? Who do you work for?" silence "Well, I guess this is the end for you." As he started to pull back Stuart lunged for his neck.

He stared blankly at the dead agent on the floor. Oxygen deprivation had killed him long before he bled to death. Soon enough Stuart would be following him. The agent had managed to get off a handful of shots, a lucky one even managed to hit him.

Had it been hours or just minutes since all that had been done? Everything was getting blurry, going dark just like it had when he nearly bled out in Germany. His eyes sank closed as his breathing grew ragged. The sound from videos abruptly stopped as someone opened the door. He heard snatches of a rolling fluid language and felt a hand pressed to his neck.

There was a pause then more shouting as the first hand was replaced by a second. He fell as someone had cut the ropes that were binding him. He was carefully laid down on something soft, a stretcher? His eyes opened briefly and he saw one of the men. There was a prick on his neck and he started to fall asleep.

''Location Unknown, Date Unknown''

Stuart woke slowly to the steady beep of an EKG. A quick check confirmed that yes, he was still alive and no he was not restrained. He carefully pushed himself into a sitting position, his weakened muscles protesting a little at their sudden use. The room was simply furnished; bed, a few chairs, night stand and a lamp. With a moments hesitation he pressed the nurse's call button.

There was the sound of running in hallway and the door to his room flew open as the nurse answered the summons. When she saw him, up and awake, she shouted down the hallway in the same language he heard during his rescue. She waited for a response before crossing the room in 3 strides and beginning the basic check-up procedure.

She was just finishing when the door opened a second time and a second nurse walked in carrying a tray of food closely followed by someone else. He was tall, narrow shouldered. He was bald sporting a full beard and mustache. He was bald. His black beard and mustache were shot through with streaks of gray and his face was weathered from age and harsh living. His implant's facial recognition identified the man, Imran Zakaev.

He was clad simply in flecktarn camo pants, green brown shirt, long leather overcoat and heavy combat boots. He moved a chair next to the bed and sat down single arm resting casually in his lap. The second nurse spoke to him as she set down the food, he responded and both nurses left the room with a nod.

His gravely voice had only a hint of a Russian accent "You must be hungry. Please, eat, we can discuss business when you are finished."

Even though it was hospital food it was much better then the gruel he had been fed while in TIA custody. He was careful not to eat to quickly it would have been both rude and unhealthy. While he ate Zakhaev sat silently, likely speaking to people over a private comm channel.

"Thank you." Stuart said.

Zakhaev gave a wan smile "Your rescue was a happy accident. We've been hoping to find you ever since Alfonso told us of your capture."

"How long?"

"6 months, that's how long you were with."

"That’s how long it took them to break me."

Zakhaev nodded "Yes, but it wasn’t in the manner they were hoping for.”

“My chances of going home are still probably nil.”

He smirked “Actually, a ship will be arriving in 7 months. There will be an extraction team on board.”

“Oh...”

“Until then you’ll just have to find a way to keep busy.”

“If ya’ll are going to be running any ops I’d be happy to help.”

“Not until the doctors clear you, not even RO. I mean it.” Stuart hung his head “Hey,” Zakhaev put his hand his shoulder “You’ve literally been through hell. You need to ''recover'' before you do anything else.”

Zakhaev gave him a pat on the shoulder before leaving with the empty tray. Stuart sighed, maybe tomorrow he would finally check out Virtual Life. It seemed that everyone else on the planet used it for at least 1 thing so why not?

{{series bar
|series=Ghost's of Zharus
|previous=[[Ghosts: The Return|Ghosts: The Return]]
|next=}}

[[Category:Story]][[Category:Chimera]][[Category:Bear]][[Category:Tiger]][[Category:Anthropomorphic]][[Category:Dog]] [[Category:FreeRIDErs]] [[Category:Oddoneout]]

User:Oddoneout/Ghosts:Ghost Stories

2014-07-20T03:03:46Z

Oddoneout:

{{Universe|FreeRIDErs}}{{title
|name=Ghosts: Ghost Stories
|author=Oddoneout
|user=Oddoneout}}

Bobbie Maiuri was having a rough morning. Her daughter had gone out the night before with her niece, once nephew, and a group of ZPA agents. They had been brought home by the APD. Apparently Claire was in a fight of some sort, very one-sided from the sound of it, and the APD had decided she didn't need to spend the night in jail. She just wasn't supposed to de-Fuse or leave the property without supervision for the next 30 hours.

The man Claire attacked was a Cape Nord native who had been in town on business. Mosley said there were 2 reasons that he was very lucky to be alive. The first was that Claire being drunk caused a lack of finer control that could have landed him in the hospital for days. The second was that if Claire hadn't slammed him into the bar her cobra headed tail would have bitten him. She wouldn't say exactly what the snake was carrying in its fangs, just that it was guaranteed to be fatal, even to Integrates.

As soon as the APD had left Mel/Claire had gone to the backyard and sat down cross-legged. They hadn't moved since. When, Sam checked on them she said they were talking to someone on an Integrate secure comm line. Ajax said the fighting and brooding was not normal.

"Excuse me, is this the Maiuri residence?" There was a tiger Fuser at the door.

"Yes."

"I'm Tiger Sauer, with the ZPA." His voice reminded her of Harvey Keitel.

"Bobbie." she shook the offered hand.

"I have been led to believe you have some of my operatives here, is that correct?"

"It is. Won't you please come in?"

"Thank you very much." she closed the door "I've also been led to believe you know about Integrates is that correct?"

She nodded "Our daughter is Integrated, just came back to us a few days ago."

It took a second for Bobbie to realize, Tiger was also an Integrate. "You don’t have to stay in hardlight." he quirked a brow "I can tell by your body language. You aren't used to hiding."

He chuckled as he dropped the sherade. His black stripes doubled as faintly glowing tron lines. He was a lanky man, narrow in the shoulders and all arms and legs. As they walked she could see corded muscles rippling beneath his fur. Despite his desk job he made a point of keeping in shape.

Bobbie had done some research on her newest guest. Colonel Tiger Sauer, served in the North American Army during the Brush Wars. Emigrated to Zharus in 132 AL first settlingin Nextus. During the Nextus-Sturmhaven War he was involved in the development and adoption of RIDEs for and by covert units, partnering with a TGR(m)-HMA himself. After the war he and his partner mustered out and joined the Zharus Planetary Authority and information about them became scarce.

"So, what went wrong?" He asked as sat on the couch.

"They got lucky." Ajax said "I know it sounds like an excuse Sir but it’s the truth. We were a thousand klicks out from the nearest entrance to that place. We got jumped by a group from the Loose Cannons."

Tiger frowned "I thought that might be the case."

Bobbie stood there gaping "Um... are you sure you shouldn't be in a secure room or something for this."

"I secured the entire property before I rang the doorbell and no one would believe you if you told them. How's Claire?"

Mosley smiled "She's doing much better. I guess all she really needed was to get drunk, spill her guts, and get in a pointless fight. Once she had a few drinks she spent half the night talking to me on a secure line."

"How much did she say?"

"Only where she really went and what went wrong, no real details though."

"Wait she didn't go to Proxima?" Bobbie asked.

"No, I'll see if I can't get her clearance to give you guys full disclosure. At least your story matches what she told me this morning."

"You called her?"

"She called me. Mengsk gave her a Manchurian program with some hidden features. I was able to destroy most of it but I want to make sure she's in the clear before Tassadar nukes him."

"So that asshole's finally getting spaced?" Mike asked.

Bobbie blanched; spacing was slang for throwing someone out of an airlock. Tiger shook his head "I don't know. Tassadar might decide spacing is too good for him. Now, where is Claire?"

In the backyard Dominic, formerly MRS agents Carl Yottes and Dominic, was about to relive a humilitaing and terrifing experience. He had been overjoyed when his hacking revealed that Sam was related to the Fuser who humilated him in both Nextus and Oz. He could get his revenge on them at the same time.

It had been so easy to hack that idiot from Cape Nord into doing exactly what he needed. All he had to do was put out an anonymous tip to the APD and wait for them to haul that Fuser to jail. He didn't stick around to watch as he had other preparations to make. Aloha belonged to the Munns and Integrates who shared their mind set of sticking with meat. If Dominic was going to pull this off he needed an air-tight exit plan.

He peaked around the corner of the house checking the backyard. Nice and empty just like it should be, this was going to be too easy. He was going to Integrate Sam's mother and when her father came back he'd Integrate him to. Sure, Fritz wouldn't approve if he found out but it was a small price to pay if it meant teaching some freak meatie a lesson.

He opened up his sensors to check inside the house again. They bounced off a transparent hardlight barrier now encapsulating the two story home. That wasn't there a second ago. Sam wasn't strong enough to create something like this, so who did? This wasn't in the plan. He turned to leave and bump into something solid.

"Da fuq?" the entire backyard was encased by a hardlight shield.

"Leaving so soon?" He wiped around, siting crosslegged in the middle of the backyard was Claire/Mel in Fuser. "You haven't been dismissed yet ''Corporal''."

He blanched "What did you just call me?"

"You will address your superior officer as Sir. As to your question, well it took me a while to remember y'all, Corporal Carl Yottes and HAA(m)-GRZ-012J Dominic of Nextus Material Recovey Services. I was in charge of a joint op about 5 years back, ZPA and MRS, you were assigned to my squad." he frowned "Still don't remember? I was in an AIDE, matte black."

The bottom dropped out of his stomach, now he remembered having pushed it to the very bottom hoping that embaressesment would never again come up. Carl was a Cape Nord native with an extensive Mancard and, as such, expected that they would be leading the assault. Instead they had placed under the command of a young waif of a Staff Sargent.

That was fine, not being in command meant fewer responsiblities. They were confident that the Sargent would place them at the head of the entry team. They thought wrong; instead their job was to breach the wall and defend the entry point. Carl had fumed at this indignity. He was a Man for crying out loud.

When he requested (demanded) that he lead the assault he found himself re-assigned to the perimeter instead. When their target fled he almost let them get away. When questioned about it he had foolish responded that a true Man doesn't attack a defeated opponent. He wanted the Sargent to prove his Manhood.

The next 2 minutes were the most humiliating and painful of his life. His opponent, using an old AIDE, danced around his strikes and easily landing his own. They had to replace 35% of his plating, along with their hands.

"Sargent Maiuri." he whispered.

Thus named Claire gave a cold smile "Actually it's Lieutant now. Reports said you went AWOL 2 years back, guess that's a lie." the smile turned to a frown "It also seems you've forgotten the lesson I taught you. How about a refresher?"

Dominic was frozen, it had been 4 years ''and'' he had Integrated. There was no way he would lose a second time. The part of him that was Carl pointed out that it was that same attitude that had gotten pummeled in the first place. Whatever branch of the ZPA Claire nee Stuart was in they awarded merit at least partially based on how much ass you could kick.

With a snarl he leapt at the large Fuser, only to be met midway by a two fingered strike to his stomach. He doubled over boosting away with his lifters as he suppressed the urge to puke. He could hear a faint ringing in his ears, like he had stood too close to an explosion. The same ringing he heard when she struck him in Nextus. A quick check showed his lens were in no danger of failing.

He made himself invisible and prepared to strike. By the time he noticed her tail tracking him it was too late to avoid her strike. It was only because he did try that her arm grazed his shoulder instead of passing through it. The ringing in his ears abruptly stopped as most of his shoulder exploded. As he gaped at his severed arm he was very glad that he had already shut down his pain reception.

That hesitation was all the opening Claire/Mel needed. A pair of rapid strikes gave Dominic's left leg the same treatment. They de-Fused mid-leap, Mel pinning the Integrate to the ground as her jaws clamped around his head. Claire's tail lashed out fangs sinking deeply into the severed portion of the leg and tossing it down near his head. They stood there for a few seconds before he noticed the leg was beginning to dissolving.

"Nitric acid." Claire said in a bored tone.

He could practically ''feel'' the data flowing between the partners. They were on the cusp of Integration. If he tried to hack Mel, Claire would instantly know and she would kill him. If he tried to attack Claire, Mel would know before he could finish twitching and she would kill him. The fight had taken seconds and now he was completely trapped beaten by naked meat and a mech.

"Root." he didn't argue.

Claire wasted no time locking him out of everything except life support, consciousness, and basic senses. She could hand him over to someone else, maybe the Marshals would take him. She Fused up and sat down to wait. The others should be along shortly.

Tiger frowned when he saw Claire/Mel sitting next to an immobilized grizzly Integrate “I’m getting sloppy.”

She tapped Dominic's head "What are we going to do with him?"

He shrugged " I have no problem with turning him over to the Marshals."

She nodded "Did you bring Mel's kit?"

"Yeah, come around front and we'll get her squared away."

"Who was that guy anyway?" Ajax asked.

"Remember that smash and grab we pulled with MRS?"

"Yeah, wait was that?"

"Yup."

Ajax shrugged "Well, you can't fix stupid."

Claire/Mel nodded as they came around into the front yard they saw Tiger opening the trailer of a skimmer truck parked in the driveway. Mel slid off into Walker mode before they went up the ramp into the mobile maintenance bay. It was a little cramped with everyone inside, especially once Tiger closed it. Mel settled herself in the middle of the room before powering down.

"I'm glad you sent me Mel's updated specs. You did a good job bringing her up to Ghost-spec so all she really needs are the specialty items."

"Stealth plates?" Claire asked.

"We phased those out last year, not strong enough. These are top grade armor with coated SW's perfected stealth coating."

Claire gave a squeal, jumping up and down with joy. It was girliest thing any of them had every seen her do. Tiger just smiled as he started swapping out Mel's old plating.

Bobbie was very confused "I'm lost what's Ghost-spec?"

"Ghost-spec is like Mil-spec but better. On the official paperwork we're known as Task Force Stalker but we're called Ghosts. Always have been, even during the Brush Wars."

"Um, are you sure we should be hearing this. I mean we're civilians."

He shrugged " You guys have seen enough that you deserve full disclosure. I was just a squad leader in the original but ended up running it before we were disbanded at the end of the war. After moving out here It became my Task Force during the Nextus-Sturmhaven War. I kept that one small, a single platoon, but that was all we really needed. Top brass wanted to go public with us and our achievements, I wouldn't let 'em. Especially since they had been all hush hush with the RIDE program"

"What about weapons?" Claire asked.

Tiger frowned "We'll get to that now hush." Claire wilted a bit as he began installing other equipment "Now where was I? Right Nextus, we carried out stealth, counter-stealth, and military/industrial espionage. When the war came to an end we signed on to work infiltration for the ZPA. We've expanded over the years to counter-intelligence and added espionage back into our responsibilities. Along with monitoring the global political situation."

"Including Integrates." Sam said.

His muzzle twitched into a smile "Obviously, we steer clear of politics in general. The ZPA focus on keeping the planet as whole safe from other threats."

"Like?"

"Earth." Claire growled, literally.

Tiger gave her a nod "Keep it brief, I'll pass them some of your memories."

"My real mission was to conduct espionage and sabotage on Earth. It was going to be a 5 year mission but someone tipped off the Terran Intelligence Agency."

"You think it was that Mengsk guy you and Heather were talking about?"

Tiger grimaced "Think? Ha, we ''know'' it was him. The only reason I haven't done anything is because Tassadar wants names and I think he wants the first crack at him."

Ajax grunted "I think ''every'' Ghost wants a crack at him Sir."

Mike/Aug nodded and Mosley looked positively murderous "No arguments here.Bastard wanted to have me ''studied'' after my Integration." She shuddered. "No points for guessing what he meant by ''that''."

Tiger nodded as he woke Mel up "Now, on the subject of weapons." he led them over to a crate.

Claire gasped; inside the crate was a gun in matte grey. It was large but still small enough to be used in or out of Fuser. Its barrel was mounted beneath a rectangular cooling unit topped by square cooling fins. The stock's for end had lightening holes and a rail that connected to its battery housing. Mounted atop the gun was a boxy scope sitting in front of 5 angled cylinders the last directly above the trigger and pistol grip. It was practically a work of art.

She grunted as she carefully lifted it out "Its heavier than I thought it'd be." she braced it against her shoulder and did a few quick draws.

He smiled "It's called the Mark 14 Variable Plasma Rifle."

Mel giggled "What happened to Vipers 1 thru 13?" Claire asked with a smile.

"Hardy har har. It has 2 configurations. Basic is your standard assault weapon with selective fire; burst or fully automatic. Configuration 2 is Anti-mat/HPC support, single shot only. It can also be powered from an external source, just have to toggle the feed."

Stamped on the top of the stock was the serial number LN2. “The tech boys insisted you receive the first one. Its based on schematics you brought back. I’ve also got the codes so you can fabb replacement parts and geist missiles since Mel has the hard-points and firmware for them. Now before you all go running off I need to make Sam a proper DIN, shouldn't take long."

In short order Sam had removed her DIN and was letting Tiger scan the port on the back of her hand. In the space of a few minutes he had a new DIN for her. In minutes Tiger had made a DIN that was orders of magnitude above what any Enclave Technomancer could. Then there was the comm laser he attached it to. Only a centimeter in diameter but it had more power than her old unit.

Once Tiger confirmed its function with a hand shake she received a data packet. It was Claire's memories, not everything but, it was all neatly indexed. She would have to watch them later or they'd miss the raid.

{{Separator|k}}

Sam was about ready to panic. They had ten minutes to get to the meeting point, which was 20 minutes away. Claire had them running full speed out of the safe zone. They didn’t make it very far before she had them all stop.

“Everyone’s geared up right?” Claire asked.

Ajax and Mosley both wore light plated mail armor and carried a shield and sword. Mike/Aug wore lamellar armor made of small rectangular plates and carried a slim rapier. Like he Sam he used a mix of melee and magical combat. Mel didn’t wear any armor but had a wide range of high level AoE spells both offensive and defensive. There was a round of confirmation.

“Good, I’m not technically supposed to do this but I doubt they’ll care too much.” She pulled up a menu.

“Do what?” Mike/Aug asked.

She made a few selections “This.”

There was a flash, indicating they had teleported. The forest they had been standing in was replaced by a high ceilinged rock tunnel. Sam looked around and recognized the markers for the last safe zone of the 74th floor dungeon. Claire didn’t wait for them to ask questions before leading them the rest of the way to the boss chamber.

It was the largest raid group Sam had ever seen, let alone been a part of. Over 70 players, more once she remembered that RIDEs had their own accounts. They had almost 2 dozen known Integrates and probably at least another 5 that were staying hidden. Of all the teams there they were the only one unaligned with a guild. It took a few more minutes to get everyone gathered then the raid leader gave a speech about staying with your team and how xp and drops would be divided.

As she looked around Sam felt out of place with her team, even though she could tentatively call them her friends. The Ghosts were so at ease, like they weren’t about to walk into the jaws of virtual death. Ajax and Mosley were joking with Claire about things that had happened on previous raids and missions. Mike/Aug was talking about game mechanics with Mel. It was a reminder to her that she still knew next to nothing about her cousin anymore.

The massive doors creaked open and the group streamed inside the amphitheater sized room. When the first player stepped inside the whole place lit up revealing the boss of the 74th floor. It was 3 meters of headless dark purple plate armor. It stood there, its sword embedded in the floor. Its name and HP appeared; Crom the Dulahan Lord, he had 5 HP bars.

"I know what you're thinking Sam," Mel said "but the bosses down here are on a different scale."

"Then why are you the only people unFused?"

Before she could press the issue the battle began in earnest. A dozen large black dogs poured out from caves lining the walls, Fairy Hounds. Their main job was to help keep the busy so the main teams could focus on Crom.

"Remember your number."

Sam remembered she was 6. Mike/Aug were 5, Mosley 4, Ajax 3, Mel 2, and Claire 1. Mosley said it was to make it easier to do callouts and give give commands. One syllable did take less time to produce.

"3, 4 we need to group then together for 2. 5 and 6 you're on support."

Sam did her best to anticipate her friends providing heals and buffs whenever she could. Mike/Aug was doing much the same with his debuffs. She admired the ease with which the others worked together. Mel, Ajax and Mosley did their best to corral the Fairy Hounds. Whenever 2 were close enough Mel would hit them with one of her spells.

A few times one of the Hounds would make a break for it only to be cut off and driven back by her saber or Mike/Aug's rapier. If it weren't for the constant strain Sam would almost have called it easy. ''Then again she I am working for real soldiers.'' She thought wryly.

Under Claire's calm, almost lazy, direction they eliminated all of the Fairy Hounds in about 45 minutes. They kept their guard up, they didn't know if or when the Hounds might respawn. Sam was already starting to feel a little drained. Who knew a raid would be so tiring, Claire had prevent what would have been her first one.

Taking a deep breath She risked a glance over at the main battle. It wasn't going nearly as well as theirs had. Crom had already defeated a quarter of the main raid group and they had only just finished taking out his first HP bar.

Claire frowned, Mel sighed "They didn't listen to us." They all looked at her. "If we don’t hurry the whole raid is going to fall apart.”

“Why?”

“Crom is just as capable of memorizing patterns as we are. If we don’t hurry he’ll screw us when he decides to counter attack by breaking ''their'' rotation pattern apart.”

It took a few minutes to get their team worked into the rotation. Unfortunately they were only able to spend another 10 minutes chipping away at Crom's HP. Despite their team's best efforts Mel’s prediction still came painfully true.

"Hit the deck!" Mel shouted.

Years of rough housing with her cousins came back to her as Sam went limp and dropped to the ground. Crom lashed out at them mid rotation, his blade knocking everyone to the ground with varying amounts of damage. She looked around as another handful of players died.

Sam quickly recovered scrambling back to her feet with the rest of her team. Thanks to Mel quick warning they were the only team that wasn't caught flat-footed by Crom's next swing. Mosley and Ajax locked shields preventing him from killing another batch of downed players.

Claire was still on her hands and knees. She looked around at the other downed players and had a flash of panic. They had to do something or the raid would fall apart and they would all end up dead. But what could they do alone? Mel met her panicked eyes with her own calm ones and at that moment something passed between them.

Claire surged to her feet heading towards Mel.

"5, 6 the wounded! 3, 4 stall him!"

She knew when she reached Mel there would be no turning back. She gave the Fuse command. They weren't alone anymore, they hadn't been alone for almost 3 months. They had each other.

"Half my heart to make you whole," one of them said

"My strength to purify your weakness." The other finished.

Fused in both worlds she abandoned the use of their beloved menu in favor of the more efficient thought commands. She raised their left hand and launched a salvo of spells at Crom. He reeled back, breastplate derezzing as they destroyed it.

She swiped their left hand across the hilt of their blade and came away, it came away grasping a second. She blurred as they crossed the distance catching his blade's overhead strike in a double block. With a yank she forced his blade up and away. Her twin blades ignited into the blue white glow of special skill.

"This is the Black Blade,Laevateinn." Everyone was staring at her. Laevateinn was one of a kind, dropped for the first player to kill Surtr. The more you killed with it, the higher its damage became. If you used its special the damage modifier was reset to 0. A small price to pay if it meant saving lives. Her two halves in agreement she verbalized the command "Dual Sonic."

She was in motion again slashing at Crom's pale exposed flesh. She ducked a swing and viciously attacked the opening in his guard. But he was just as unforgiving. They trade blows hers landing more than his. He forced an opening and tried another overhead strike which She caught between their blades.

She didn't just bellow. She roared as she yanked their swords apart. His blade shattering as the damage overwhelmed it. He hesitated for a microsecond, the AI unsure of what to do. That was all the time she needed. She rushed him and cut clean through with Laevateinn, shattering him into countless points of light.

A massive banner appeared in the air declaring her victorious. She staggered back Laevateinn vanishing from her left hand, its skill complete. She collapsed onto her butt, tired and head aching. As her team gathered round she gave a weak smile.

"I feel terrible. Just gonna log out, maybe get some shut eye."

"Take my bed." Ajax said.

She nodded closing her eyes and opening them in the real. She felt like shit as she trudged up the stairs to the guest room Ajax was using. She kicked the door closed behind her before collapsing on the bed. Her wings splayed out to catch the sunlight filtering through the blinds. Maybe she would feel better when she woke.

Back in Oz there was little speculation about why Claire and Mel had logged out. Mike/Aug, Ajax, Sam and Mosley led the way down the staircase into the first town on the 75th floor. The other players treated them with anything from jovial friendship to thinly veiled disgust, mostly from the closet Inties.

Sam was relieved when they finally picked an Inn and logged out. Thanks to Claire/Mel the raid hadn't taken nearly as long as it should have. ''Then again if they hadn't Fused the raid would have been over even sooner.'' Sam thought wryly.

She stretched and went into the kitchen were Tiger was talking to her mom. She ignored them as she made a beeline for the fridge and the crunchy dill pickles inside. Enclave life had always chafed her the wrong way. It was good to be back in civilization ''and'' out in the open, at least with her family.

Mosley wandered in and sat down at the table joining Bobbie and Tiger's discussion about something computer related. Sam tuned them out as she walked back into the family room. Ajax had gone somewhere while Mike and Aug had deFused and were talking about sports. She Went up to her room and lay down on her bed before starting to watch Claire's memories.

{{Separator|k}}

''Earth Orbit, 2501 AD''

Stuart took a deep calming breath. He did his best to ignore the warning klaxons blaring in his ears as he finished overriding the shuttle's emergency systems. This was going to be tricky, the stolen IDE he had in the cargo hold wasn't properly rated for-entry. There was a shout as a full cyborg rounded the corner, gun drawn. It was quickly silenced as Stuart's combat knife, also stolen, buried itself in his head.

He tugged it free as he ran past, the gun would just slow him down at this point. He sprinted down to the cargo hold making quick work of additional armed interference along the way. He slid into his IDE and ran the start up sequence. Automated systems aboard the ship announced the impending failure of its hull.

It took him a few minutes to get in position behind his chosen bulkhead before the alarm on his chrono beeped at him. He braced himself and fired into the engineering deck. There was a half second of silence. Then everything went white as the ship's tokamak exploded. Stuart had a fraction of a second to think he might have made a mistake before blacking out.

Consciousness was slow to return and painful when it did. His head pounded in time with the rhythmic beeping of an EKG machine. So he was in a medical facility of some kind, not good. Past that he could hear a couple of voices talking quietly off to one side. The voices stopped and one of them came closer.

"Relax," the voice sounded like Ron Pearlman "you're safe here." Stuart struggled to open his eyes. "That's it nice and slow, there we go."

The man standing next to his bed was dressed in army fatigues. He was short, broad shoulder and in excellent physical condition despite his apparent age. What was left of his grey hair was cut into a perfect flat top. He had a wry half smile on his wrinkled face as he adjusted the bed to sit Stuart up.

He extended a hand "Helluva stunt you pulled up there kid. General Alphonso Knoxx, of the former North American Army."

This was like meeting a celebrity. General Knoxx was the founder and leader of Task Force Stalker during the brush wars on Earth. Every Ghost had heard stories about this man. General Knoxx waited patiently as Stuart slowly reached out and shook it.

"It's an honor sir, Staff Sargent Stuart Maiuri, Zharus Planetary Authority."

He chuckled "One of Tiger's new Ghosts eh?"

"Yes, Sir." Stuart smiled weakly "I'm afraid my infiltration might have been compromised."

The other man laughed "Its a distinct possibility. Colonel John Carter, we've managed to rig the IDE to show that you died when the ship exploded. We moved quickly enough that we were able to destroy the actual time data. You were only dead for 2.7 seconds."

"Still, without a body it will only be a matter of time before someone else starts looking into it." Knoxx said "This location is secure for now but we need to start arranging for your extraction, Earth is no longer safe for you."

"You should be on your feet in a few days but you'll still need to rest a little longer." John said.

Stuart nodded "What about my mission?"

"Plenty of time for that later. It'll take time for our message to reach Tiger and then we have to wait for him to respond. So for now rest, recover and start trying to figure out who tipped off the TIA."

{{Separator|k}}

''Atlantic Coast, South America, Earth, 2502 AD''

Everything was black. Stuart must have had his eyes closed. A few minutes passed before a transmission came in on a secure line.

'':This is Fuego. We've acquired transport, stand by.''

Stuart opened his eyes. He was surrounded by a thick heavy rain forest. It was pouring down rain but his stealth suit was sealed against water penetration. Now that his eyes were open he could hear the rain as well, must have dozed off. The clearing ahead of him rippled outward as a small craft descended on quiet lifters.

'':Roger that Fuego, I have eyes on, over._ Stuart transmitted.''

The tail ramp lowered and 4 figures quickly slipped out of it and over to the treeline. As quickly as it had come the craft lifted off and flew away. Like him they were all dressed in stealth suits, their active camouflage making them invisible to the naked eye. His VISR system painted them as moving green outlines and tagged each with a name.

'':We have 10 minutes to get inside Black Zone.'' Stuart transmitted.

'':Short window, let's move.'' Stuart's HUD identified the speaker as Hammond.

They quickly headed deeper into the forest soon spotting a pair of IDEs patrolling in the distance. It was time to put General Knoxx's gift into action. Stuart used his new command neural implant to check into their local comm traffic. It was just the usual chatter between friends but they were constantly checking in with the base which meant killing them would just sound the alarm that much faster.

They skirted around the IDEs heading farther north before cutting back to the west again. They crested a hill and caught sight of their target facility. Above ground it was a massive complex of squat buildings but below the surface it opened up into a series of large R & D labs.

That factory was their target, get in, figure out what they’re making, steal data, and get out. He was also tasked with capturing or destroying any existing prototypes. The hard part would be getting back out after the alarm was raised. Stuart had no doubt that the facility personnel wouldn't hesitate to kill them if they were discovered.

They made short work of a group of guards that were lounging around. They waited a few seconds as Stuart's implant fed authorization codes to the vault door. There was a hiss as the cylindrical door rotated open allowing them to slip into the facility proper.

They passed through a decontamination airlock before entering one of the deserted side areas moving swiftly and silently to the local security station. They waited outside its vault door as Stuart's implant went to work once again. As soon as the opening was wide enough they tossed in a mix of smoke grenades and short range jammers. They waited for a 3 count before entering themselves and easily eliminating the disoriented soldiers inside.

In the blink of an eye Stuart had full control of the facility's local security systems. It was child’s play to rig the system on a loop, no back up would be coming for the defenders in this area. They changed the codes on their way out, every extra second was important.

They stuck to the side passages as they made their way deeper into the facility with minimal, almost nonexistent, resistance. The combination of their stealth gear and Stuart’s implant probably played a part in that. Their next stop was the server room which they would ''liberate'' of all its information.

They ran into a problem when they got there. The server room had single civilian technician inside. Civilians were non-combatants and therefore off limits. To make matters worse he had fully prosthetic body so they couldn’t just knock him out. As he turned facial recognition identified him as Doctor Karl Sanderson, an expert on cybernetics and data security who had been shanghaied into service.

'':Command, Hammond.''

'':Go ahead.''

'':We've got a civilian here, Dr Karl Sanderson. He's been pressed into service.''

'':Understood make his evac a priority.''

Now with the green light, Stuart tapped into his com '':Doctor Sanderson.''

His head snapped up and he looked around. '':Who is this? How did you get this com code?''

'':I know you’ve been forced into this job. How would you like to get out of here, forever.''

He slumped _:I wouldn’t be safe anywhere on Earth._

'':What about off world?''

'':My passport's been revoked.''

'':Smuggling one person off planet is pretty easy. Well, easier than smuggling a group anyway.''

'':You can do that?''

Stuart de-cloaked and offered his hand '':We can, but first we need to get you out of here.''

Dr. Sanderson shook it '':Easy enough, the newest IDEs are in workshop lambda. You could make a pretty big distraction with those.''

'':We'll head out as soon as we're finished here.''

They connected directly to the file server and copied everything before leaving behind several time bombs. They re-engaged their active camouflage and slipped out accompanied by Dr Sanderson. Workshop lambda was two levels below the server room; it also had a greater concentration of guards.

Sanderson surprised all of them by making himself into a distraction enabling them to quickly eliminate the guards. The way he kicked a few of the corpses proved that the man had his own reasons for wanting them dead. A quick check showed they had been tormenting the good Doctor since his interment began.

Workshop lambda was equal parts amazing and horrifying. There were hundreds of 4 meter mechs all standing in perfect little rows. The first production batch of the brand new Titan model IDE. This factory had to go.

'':Command, Hammond, you seeing this?''

'':Affirmative, Hammond. Intel confirmed. You have 14 mikes before Eclipse makes that place a crater.''

They had just finished powering up the IDEs when things went wrong. The nearby freight elevator came to life bringing a large group of off duty soldiers up from the next level. Their shift had just ended and they were still armed, mostly with light guns but a few with anti-IDE weapons.

'':Command can we get a hold on Eclipse?''

'':Negative, its already past PNR.''

'':Shit! We do *not* want to be here!''

Hammond's IDE rushed forward as he took the initiative, melee weapons making quick work of the anti-IDE guards. The main threat dealt with they all moved as the remaining guards opened fire on them. While annoying the small arms fire was far from dangerous to the IDEs. Especially as they displayed an interesting feature, hardlight shielding.

It wasn't nearly as powerful or efficient as the hardlight on Zharus but its existence was still worrying. It was a good thing the only copy of its plans was staying with him. They plowed through the remaining forces and restarted the freight elevator. Stuart fed a set of over-rides to the elevator safeties, they needed to be ''gone''.

They battered aside the doors and kicked on their lifters as the alarm sounded. They burned cavorite as they flew out the main gate they had scant seconds to make it to MSD. If they didn't. No, don't think about that just focus on getting there. There was a deafening roar behind them and Stuart risked a peak over his shoulder. There was a burning light overhead as a small sun plummeted toward the facility.They passed the MSD line painted on their HUDs and didn't stop, the further they got the better.

He knew what was coming and quickly looked away to protect his eyes from the blinding flash as the 5 and a half meter tungsten carbide rod made impact. The shock-wave was on them in less than a second. The displaced air tore whole trees from the ground and sent everything flying like ships in a hurricane. The IDEs crashed and bounced along the ground before slowly sliding half a klick to a stop.

Stuart was in pain '':Squad, sound off.'' he managed to groan.

They were all battered and bruised but everyone, even Dr Sanderson, had made it out alive and relatively intact. With some effort they managed to get their IDEs standing and clambered over a hill of trees, rock, and dirt to look back at the facility. It was gone, replaced by a massive jagged edged crater. There was a 400 meter ring around the crater, completely devoid of anything except scorched earth.

Stuart whistled appreciatively '':Damn, now *that's* how you destroy something.''

'':That's nothing. The original system used rods large enough to destroy '''''cities'''''.'' Buscemi said.

{{Separator|k}}

''Bavarian Alps, Europe, Earth, 2502''

Stuart straightened his "borrowed" gloves and pulled down his visor before checking again to make sure the uniform was clean of any stains. The uniform had belonged to a full borg security officer and barely fit Stuart's smaller frame. He stepped out of the security building as Holland finished stashing the stripped body of one of the former security officers. Hammond and Buscemi were already in position on the other side of the snow covered road.

It had been an interesting and harrowing 8 months working with Echo Squad. They were Knoxx's final group of Ghost operatives, once Echo was finished there would no more Earth trained Ghosts. They were a good squad, well trained and fun to be around, more than once they had dragged him out drinking or had him over for family celebrations.

Their mission this time was the rescue of a European Union researcher that the Terran Intelligence Agency had tasked with investigating something. Knoxx wanted to know what it was and get the woman safely on her way to Zharus where the rest of her family would be waiting. They had already completed their first objective, take over the security check point and pose as its guard detail.

'':Here they come.'' Holland transmitted as a small fully loaded, and wheeled, military skimmer came around the corner.

'':These disgues better work.'' Buscemi transmitted before signaling them to stop for inspection.

'':Two up front, two in back with the HVT between them. All lightly armed and very squishy.''

'':Roger that, drop 'em.''

Buscemi began speaking to the driver in rapid German, making general small talk as he checked the documentation on their tablet. The rest of squad quietly advanced on vehicle as the slipped combat knives into their hands. As Buscemi was handing back the tablet they struck, knives sinking through necks and striking the brain stem.

Stuart grimaced as he pulled the blade out and dumped the body onto the roadway. The steady snowfall would cover the body soon enough and they would be long gone before the next group came by in 4 hours. He settled in next to the HVT as Holland climbed into the driver seat.

'':It's alright Dr. Magnussen. General Knoxx sent us to get you out of here.''

She sagged with relief ''Thank god, I'm dumping the details of everything they've been having me do over to you now.''

'':Thank you, get comfortable it'll be a while before we get to the extraction point.''

They spent the next 40 minutes riding in silence as they kept a weather eye out for signs of trouble. When they got to the extraction point the sub-orbital was waiting for them, lifters primed and ready. They piled out weapons sweeping the surrounding forest as Hammond escorted Dr. Magnussen to the sub.

Stuart readied his weapon '':Everybody, quiet.'' There was silence on the radio. '':Where did all the noise go?''

The others readied their weapons and slowly backed up to the sub. It was too quiet; the only sound they could hear now was the low whine of the sub’s lifters. He was worried now. There was a brief flash of movement in the woods. He blanched as his implant identified it. Stalkers, they were the TIA equivalent of secret police.

Stuart didn’t hesitate, immediately opening fire. His gauss rifle’s hypersonic rounds tearing through the low quality stealth armor with ease. Through the trees he caught sight of a camouflaged troop transport, adjusting his fire angle before pulling a second trigger and firing a small rocket at it.

By now the others had started shooting as they retreated into the sub. Stalkers began pouring out into the surrounding clearing first 5, then 10, then 20. Their numbers just kept growing, zerg tactics overwhelm the enemy with superior numbers.

The situation was rapidly deteriorating, he had to to get to cover. As he moved he saw white and pain exploded across his left thigh before he threw himself behind the stolen skimmer for cover. He looked down and confirmed one of the Stalkers had gotten lucky and grazed him. High velocity round tearing a chunk out of his leg.

He pulled the pin on a smoke grenade and lobbed it over the skimmer. Shortly after it detonated he followed it up with a frag, capitalizing on the smokescreen and basic reasoning that the Stalkers would ignore it as another smoke. His suspicions were confirmed when its explosion was accompanied by screams of pain.

'':Tell Knoxx, I'm sorry.''

Hammond said'':We aren't leaving you behind.''

'':You don't have a choice. I'm not going anywhere with this bum leg, finish the mission.''

'':But.''

A round clipped the sub's ramp '':Go!''

With a roar the sub took off accelerating flat out away from the clearing. Stuart wiped out all the comm codes in his implants and destroyed any data that could lead the TIA back to Knoxx, Zharus, or anything else. He braced the rifle against his shoulder and struggled to pull himself upright. If he was going to die, then he was taking as many of them with him as he could.

Laying atop the hood he fired his remaining rocket at a nearby cluster of enemies, as always doing his best to ignore their pain. He emptied his first magazine and slipped behind the skimmer again ejecting the empty magazine and slamming in a full one. He lay on his stomach as he fired trying to make every shot count.

His weeks spent on the firing range paid off, each shot hitting and while not all were fatal they were certainly debilitating. He pulled the trigger again and the rifle clicked, empty. He threw his remaining grenade before rolling over and pulling himself into a sitting position before changing loading his last mag.

He looked up, seeing Stalkers exiting the woods in front of him. He opened fire, again each shot killing or mortally wounding an advancing foe before the rifle started clicking. He chucked it at someone's stomach making them double over in pain as he pulled his side arm from its holster on his right thigh and finishing the gasping man off.

Stuart got off another dozen shots before someone shot his left shoulder causing him to drop it in pain. That same soldier quickly advanced bending down to grab him only to get 18 centimeters of knife blade shoved and twisted into his throat. Stuart placed his final grenade on the ground next to his left hand, putting a finger through the pin's ring as the arm hung useless at his side.

He ripped the dieing man's knife from the sheath on his shoulder before pushing him aside. With the ease of long practice he spun the knife around to grip it by the blade before taking careful aim and hurling it at the nearest Stalker. He struggled to sit up further, right hand now firmly wrapped around his final grenade.

They had him surrounded, but they weren't shooting at him anymore. It confirmed what Stuart was thinking, they wanted him alive. They wouldn't get anything from his implants which meant they would resort to interrogation and torture. Stuart had no intention of going through that.

He gave a weak smile "Shel kek nem ron." He pulled the pin on the grenade and held it in front of him for all to see. Before he could drop it his hand was crushed by an iron grip keeping the safety lever on the grenade. He struggled with what little strength he had left before it was ripped from his hand and hurled into the woods as blood loss caught up to him and he passed out.

{{Separator|k}}

''Location Unknown, Date Unknown''

Tied to a chair there was little Stuart could do. He had grown thinner, his muscles atrophied from a combination of disuse and minor malnutrition. His wounds had been allowed to completely heal before they started the "interrogations". They had done something to screw up his internal chrono. He had no idea how long he had been there.

"Prisoner 24601." there was the simulated sound of rustling paper. "My my, you have been here a while haven't you?" a hand lifted his chin "You've given us nothing but shit answers." They were trying to break him, turn him to their side. "Let's try this again." Looking up he could see that the speaker was a blonde man in a clean black suit and tie. "Name?"

"Kris Kringle."

With a sigh the man punched him "Name." he said more insistently.

"Edmond...Dontes." Stuart wheezed.

He punched Stuart in the jaw "Name!" he yelled.

Stuart spit in his face "Inigo...Montoya."

There was a tiny thread keeping him sane. The others had gotten away. They were safe and soon enough the TIA would get sick of his bullshit and either kill him or, more likely, just dump him somewhere to die. If and when they did he would have a chance to live.

"I don't know who you think you're protecting. We shot down Dr. Magnussen's sub before it could even reach orbit."

His statement was accompanied by images and video projecting on the walls of small room. It couldn't be true, he'd seen them escape. He knew how easily digital video and images could be faked. It was a lie it had to be...but...what if it wasn't? That niggling little doubt finally snapped his thread, it just wasn't the _right_ thread.

The man frowned, clearly talking to someone on the comms. His frown deepened, clearly he was getting bad news. He turned his back on Stuart as he continued speaking on the comms. There were several minutes of silence before he huffed and turned back around pulling on a pair of gloves.

He drew his gun "It seems the time has come for us to be deprived of your...pleasant company, permanently." He crouched next to Stuart "This is your last chance to live. What is your name? Who do you work for?" silence "Well, I guess this is the end for you." As he started to pull back Stuart lunged for his neck.

He stared blankly at the dead agent on the floor. Oxygen deprivation had killed him long before he bled to death. Soon enough Stuart would be following him. The agent had managed to get off a handful of shots, a lucky one even managed to hit him.

Had it been hours or just minutes since all that had been done? Everything was getting blurry, going dark just like it had when he nearly bled out in Germany. His eyes sank closed as his breathing grew ragged. The sound from videos abruptly stopped as someone opened the door. He heard snatches of a rolling fluid language and felt a hand pressed to his neck.

There was a pause then more shouting as the first hand was replaced by a second. He fell as someone had cut the ropes that were binding him. He was carefully laid down on something soft, a stretcher? His eyes opened briefly and he saw one of the men. There was a prick on his neck and he started to fall asleep.

''Location Unknown, Date Unknown''

Stuart woke slowly to the steady beep of an EKG. A quick check confirmed that yes, he was still alive and no he was not restrained. He carefully pushed himself into a sitting position, his weakened muscles protesting a little at their sudden use. The room was simply furnished; bed, a few chairs, night stand and a lamp. With a moments hesitation he pressed the nurse's call button.

There was the sound of running in hallway and the door to his room flew open as the nurse answered the summons. When she saw him, up and awake, she shouted down the hallway in the same language he heard during his rescue. She waited for a response before crossing the room in 3 strides and beginning the basic check-up procedure.

She was just finishing when the door opened a second time and a second nurse walked in carrying a tray of food closely followed by someone else. He was tall, narrow shouldered. He was bald sporting a full beard and mustache. He was bald. His black beard and mustache were shot through with streaks of gray and his face was weathered from age and harsh living. His implant's facial recognition identified the man, Imran Zakaev.

He was clad simply in flecktarn camo pants, green brown shirt, long leather overcoat and heavy combat boots. He moved a chair next to the bed and sat down single arm resting casually in his lap. The second nurse spoke to him as she set down the food, he responded and both nurses left the room with a nod.

His gravely voice had only a hint of a Russian accent "You must be hungry. Please, eat, we can discuss business when you are finished."

Even though it was hospital food it was much better then the gruel he had been fed while in TIA custody. He was careful not to eat to quickly it would have been both rude and unhealthy. While he ate Zakhaev sat silently, likely speaking to people over a private comm channel.

"Thank you." Stuart said.

Zakhaev gave a wan smile "Your rescue was a happy accident. We've been hoping to find you ever since Alfonso told us of your capture."

"How long?"

"6 months, that's how long you were with."

"That’s how long it took them to break me."

Zakhaev nodded "Yes, but it wasn’t in the manner they were hoping for.”

“My chances of going home are still probably nil.”

He smirked “Actually, a ship will be arriving in 7 months. There will be an extraction team on board.”

“Oh...”

“Until then you’ll just have to find a way to keep busy.”

“If ya’ll are going to be running any ops I’d be happy to help.”

“Not until the doctors clear you, not even RO. I mean it.” Stuart hung his head “Hey,” Zakhaev put his hand his shoulder “You’ve literally been through hell. You need to ''recover'' before you do anything else.”

Zakhaev gave him a pat on the shoulder before leaving with the empty tray. Stuart sighed, maybe tomorrow he would finally check out Virtual Life. It seemed that everyone else on the planet used it for at least 1 thing so why not?

{{series bar
|series=Ghost's of Zharus
|previous=[[Ghosts: The Return|Ghosts: The Return]]
|next=}}

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User:Oddoneout/Ghosts:Ghost Stories

2014-07-18T02:59:45Z

Oddoneout: various spelling fixes and editing area that sounded awkward

{{Universe|FreeRIDErs}}{{title
|name=Ghosts: Ghost Stories
|author=Oddoneout
|user=Oddoneout}}

Bobbie Maiuri was having a rough morning. Her daughter had gone out the night before with her niece, once nephew, and a group of ZPA agents. They had been brought home by the APD. Apparently Claire was in a fight of some sort, very one-sided from the sound of it, and the APD had decided she didn't need to spend the night in jail. She just wasn't supposed to de-Fuse or leave the property without supervision for the next 30 hours.

The man Claire attacked was a Cape Nord native who had been in town on business. Mosley said there were 2 reasons that he was very lucky to be alive. The first was that Claire being drunk caused a lack of finer control that could have landed him in the hospital for days. The second was that if Claire hadn't slammed him into the bar her cobra headed tail would have bitten him. She wouldn't say exactly what the snake was carrying in its fangs, just that it was guaranteed to be fatal, even to Integrates.

As soon as the APD had left Mel/Claire had gone to the backyard and sat down cross-legged. They hadn't moved since. When, Sam checked on them she said they were talking to someone on an Integrate secure comm line. Ajax said the fighting and brooding was not normal.

"Excuse me, is this the Maiuri residence?" There was a tiger Fuser at the door.

"Yes."

"I'm Tiger Sauer, with the ZPA." His voice reminded her of Harvey Keitel.

"Bobbie." she shook the offered hand.

"I have been led to believe you have some of my operatives here, is that correct?"

"It is. Won't you please come in?"

"Thank you very much." she closed the door "I've also been led to believe you know about Integrates is that correct?"

She nodded "Our daughter is Integrated, just came back to us a few days ago."

It took a second for Bobbie to realize, Tiger was also an Integrate. "You don’t have to stay in hardlight." he quirked a brow "I can tell by your body language. You aren't used to hiding."

He chuckled as he dropped the sherade. His black stripes doubled as faintly glowing tron lines. He was a lanky man, narrow in the shoulders and all arms and legs. As they walked she could see corded muscles rippling beneath his fur. Despite his desk job he made a point of keeping in shape.

Bobbie had done some research on her newest guest. Colonel Tiger Sauer, served in the North American Army during the Brush Wars. Emigrated to Zharus in 132 AL first settlingin Nextus. During the Nextus-Sturmhaven War he was involved in the development and adoption of RIDEs for and by covert units, partnering with a TGR(m)-HMA himself. After the war he and his partner mustered out and joined the Zharus Planetary Authority and information about them became scarce.

"So, what went wrong?" He asked as sat on the couch.

"They got lucky." Ajax said "I know it sounds like an excuse Sir but it’s the truth. We were a thousand klicks out from the nearest entrance to that place and one of the locals stumbled across us. Her description matched Quinoa Steader; sorry to say she's on the edge of a slippery slope."

Tiger nodded "I thought that might be the case. Scuttlebutt said she was moving out to the Towers Enclave, just thought we had more time before she left."

Bobbie stood there gaping "Um... are you sure you shouldn't be in a secure room or something for this."

"I secured the entire property before I rang the doorbell and no one would believe you if you told them. How's Claire?"

Mosley smiled "She's doing much better. I guess all she really needed was to get drunk, spill her guts, and get in a pointless fight. Once she had a few drinks she spent half the night talking to me on a secure line."

"How much did she say?"

"Only where she really went and what went wrong, no real details though."

"Wait she didn't go to Proxima?" Bobbie asked.

"No, I'll see if I can't get her clearance to give you guys full disclosure. At least your story matches what she told me this morning."

"You called her?"

"She called me. Mengsk gave her a Manchurian program with some hidden features. I was able to destroy most of it but I want to make sure she's in the clear before Tassadar nukes him."

"So that asshole's finally getting spaced?" Mike asked.

Bobbie blanched; spacing was slang for throwing someone out of an airlock. Tiger shook his head "I don't know. Tassadar might decide spacing is too good for him. Now, where is Claire?"

In the backyard Dominic, formerly MRS agents Carl Yottes and Dominic, was about to relive a humilitaing and terrifing experience. He had been overjoyed when his hacking revealed that Sam was related to the Fuser who humilated him in both Nextus and Oz. He could get his revenge on them at the same time.

It had been so easy to hack that idiot from Cape Nord into doing exactly what he needed. All he had to do was put out an anonymous tip to the APD and wait for them to haul that Fuser to jail. He didn't stick around to watch as he had other preparations to make. Aloha belonged to the Munns and Integrates who shared their mind set of sticking with meat. If Dominic was going to pull this off he needed an air-tight exit plan.

He peaked around the corner of the house checking the backyard. Nice and empty just like it should be, this was going to be too easy. He was going to Integrate Sam's mother and when her father came back he'd Integrate him to. Sure, Fritz wouldn't approve if he found out but it was a small price to pay if it meant teaching some freak meatie a lesson.

He opened up his sensors to check inside the house again. They bounced off a transparent hardlight barrier now encapsulating the two story home. That wasn't there a second ago. Sam wasn't strong enough to create something like this, so who did? This wasn't in the plan. He turned to leave and bump into something solid.

"Da fuq?" the entire backyard was encased by a hardlight shield.

"Leaving so soon?" He wiped around, siting crosslegged in the middle of the backyard was Claire/Mel in Fuser. "You haven't been dismissed yet ''Corporal''."

He blanched "What did you just call me?"

"You will address your superior officer as Sir. As to your question, well it took me a while to remember y'all, Corporal Carl Yottes and HAA(m)-GRZ-012J Dominic of Nextus Material Recovey Services. I was in charge of a joint op about 5 years back, ZPA and MRS, you were assigned to my squad." he frowned "Still don't remember? I was in an AIDE, matte black."

The bottom dropped out of his stomach, now he remembered having pushed it to the very bottom hoping that embaressesment would never again come up. Carl was a Cape Nord native with an extensive Mancard and, as such, expected that they would be leading the assault. Instead they had placed under the command of a young waif of a Staff Sargent.

That was fine, not being in command meant fewer responsiblities. They were confident that the Sargent would place them at the head of the entry team. They thought wrong; instead their job was to breach the wall and defend the entry point. Carl had fumed at this indignity. He was a Man for crying out loud.

When he requested (demanded) that he lead the assault he found himself re-assigned to the perimeter instead. When their target fled he almost let them get away. When questioned about it he had foolish responded that a true Man doesn't attack a defeated opponent. He wanted the Sargent to prove his Manhood.

The next 2 minutes were the most humiliating and painful of his life. His opponent, using an old AIDE, danced around his strikes and easily landing his own. They had to replace 35% of his plating, along with their hands.

"Sargent Maiuri." he whispered.

Thus named Claire gave a cold smile "Actually it's Lieutant now. Reports said you went AWOL 2 years back, guess that's a lie." the smile turned to a frown "It also seems you've forgotten the lesson I taught you. How about a refresher?"

Dominic was frozen, it had been 4 years ''and'' he had Integrated. There was no way he would lose a second time. The part of him that was Carl pointed out that it was that same attitude that had gotten pummeled in the first place. Whatever branch of the ZPA Claire nee Stuart was in they awarded merit at least partially based on how much ass you could kick.

With a snarl he leapt at the large Fuser, only to be met midway by a two fingered strike to his stomach. He doubled over boosting away with his lifters as he suppressed the urge to puke. He could hear a faint ringing in his ears, like he had stood too close to an explosion. The same ringing he heard when she struck him in Nextus. A quick check showed his lens were in no danger of failing.

He made himself invisible and prepared to strike. By the time he noticed her tail tracking him it was too late to avoid her strike. It was only because he did try that her arm grazed his shoulder instead of passing through it. The ringing in his ears abruptly stopped as most of his shoulder exploded. As he gaped at his severed arm he was very glad that he had already shut down his pain reception.

That hesitation was all the opening Claire/Mel needed. A pair of rapid strikes gave Dominic's left leg the same treatment. They de-Fused mid-leap, Mel pinning the Integrate to the ground as her jaws clamped around his head. Claire's tail lashed out fangs sinking deeply into the severed portion of the leg and tossing it down near his head. They stood there for a few seconds before he noticed the leg was beginning to dissolving.

"Nitric acid." Claire said in a bored tone.

He could practically ''feel'' the data flowing between the partners. They were on the cusp of Integration. If he tried to hack Mel, Claire would instantly know and she would kill him. If he tried to attack Claire, Mel would know before he could finish twitching and she would kill him. The fight had taken seconds and now he was completely trapped beaten by naked meat and a mech.

"Root." he didn't argue.

Claire wasted no time locking him out of everything except life support, consciousness, and basic senses. She could hand him over to someone else, maybe the Marshals would take him. She Fused up and sat down to wait. The others should be along shortly.

Tiger frowned when he saw Claire/Mel sitting next to an immobilized grizzly Integrate “I’m getting sloppy.”

She tapped Dominic's head "What are we going to do with him?"

He shrugged " I have no problem with turning him over to the Marshals."

She nodded "Did you bring Mel's kit?"

"Yeah, come around front and we'll get her squared away."

"Who was that guy anyway?" Ajax asked.

"Remember that smash and grab we pulled with MRS?"

"Yeah, wait was that?"

"Yup."

Ajax shrugged "Well, you can't fix stupid."

Claire/Mel nodded as they came around into the front yard they saw Tiger opening the trailer of a skimmer truck parked in the driveway. Mel slid off into Walker mode before they went up the ramp into the mobile maintenance bay. It was a little cramped with everyone inside, especially once Tiger closed it. Mel settled herself in the middle of the room before powering down.

"I'm glad you sent me Mel's updated specs. You did a good job bringing her up to Ghost-spec so all she really needs are the specialty items."

"Stealth plates?" Claire asked.

"We phased those out last year, not strong enough. These are top grade armor with coated SW's perfected stealth coating."

Claire gave a squeal, jumping up and down with joy. It was girliest thing any of them had every seen her do. Tiger just smiled as he started swapping out Mel's old plating.

Bobbie was very confused "I'm lost what's Ghost-spec?"

"Ghost-spec is like Mil-spec but better. On the official paperwork we're known as Task Force Stalker but we're called Ghosts. Always have been, even during the Brush Wars."

"Um, are you sure we should be hearing this. I mean we're civilians."

He shrugged " You guys have seen enough that you deserve full disclosure. I was just a squad leader in the original but ended up running it before we were disbanded at the end of the war. After moving out here It became my Task Force during the Nextus-Sturmhaven War. I kept that one small, a single platoon, but that was all we really needed. Top brass wanted to go public with us and our achievements, I wouldn't let 'em. Especially since they had been all hush hush with the RIDE program"

"What about weapons?" Claire asked.

Tiger frowned "We'll get to that now hush." Claire wilted a bit as he began installing other equipment "Now where was I? Right Nextus, we carried out stealth, counter-stealth, and military/industrial espionage. When the war came to an end we signed on to work infiltration for the ZPA. We've expanded over the years to counter-intelligence and added espionage back into our responsibilities. Along with monitoring the global political situation."

"Including Integrates." Sam said.

His muzzle twitched into a smile "Obviously, we steer clear of politics in general. The ZPA focus on keeping the planet as whole safe from other threats."

"Like?"

"Earth." Claire growled, literally.

Tiger gave her a nod "Keep it brief, I'll pass them some of your memories."

"My real mission was to conduct espionage and sabotage on Earth. It was going to be a 5 year mission but someone tipped off the Terran Intelligence Agency."

"You think it was that Mengsk guy you and Heather were talking about?"

Tiger grimaced "Think? Ha, we ''know'' it was him. The only reason I haven't done anything is because Tassadar wants names and I think he wants the first crack at him."

Ajax grunted "I think ''every'' Ghost wants a crack at him Sir."

Mike/Aug nodded and Mosley looked positively murderous "No arguments here.Bastard wanted to have me ''studied'' after my Integration." She shuddered. "No points for guessing what he meant by ''that''."

Tiger nodded as he woke Mel up "Now, on the subject of weapons." he led them over to a crate.

Claire gasped; inside the crate was a gun in matte grey. It was large but still small enough to be used in or out of Fuser. Its barrel was mounted beneath a rectangular cooling unit topped by square cooling fins. The stock's for end had lightening holes and a rail that connected to its battery housing. Mounted atop the gun was a boxy scope sitting in front of 5 angled cylinders the last directly above the trigger and pistol grip. It was practically a work of art.

She grunted as she carefully lifted it out "Its heavier than I thought it'd be." she braced it against her shoulder and did a few quick draws.

He smiled "It's called the Mark 14 Variable Plasma Rifle."

Mel giggled "What happened to Vipers 1 thru 13?" Claire asked with a smile.

"Hardy har har. It has 2 configurations. Basic is your standard assault weapon with selective fire; burst or fully automatic. Configuration 2 is Anti-mat/HPC support, single shot only. It can also be powered from an external source, just have to toggle the feed."

Stamped on the top of the stock was the serial number LN2. “The tech boys insisted you receive the first one. Its based on schematics you brought back. I’ve also got the codes so you can fabb replacement parts and geist missiles since Mel has the hard-points and firmware for them. Now before you all go running off I need to make Sam a proper DIN, shouldn't take long."

In short order Sam had removed her DIN and was letting Tiger scan the port on the back of her hand. In the space of a few minutes he had a new DIN for her. In minutes Tiger had made a DIN that was orders of magnitude above what any Enclave Technomancer could. Then there was the comm laser he attached it to. Only a centimeter in diameter but it had more power than her old unit.

Once Tiger confirmed its function with a hand shake she received a data packet. It was Claire's memories, not everything but, it was all neatly indexed. She would have to watch them later or they'd miss the raid.

{{Separator|k}}

Sam was about ready to panic. They had ten minutes to get to the meeting point, which was 20 minutes away. Claire had them running full speed out of the safe zone. They didn’t make it very far before she had them all stop.

“Everyone’s geared up right?” Claire asked.

Ajax and Mosley both wore light plated mail armor and carried a shield and sword. Mike/Aug wore lamellar armor made of small rectangular plates and carried a slim rapier. Like he Sam he used a mix of melee and magical combat. Mel didn’t wear any armor but had a wide range of high level AoE spells both offensive and defensive. There was a round of confirmation.

“Good, I’m not technically supposed to do this but I doubt they’ll care too much.” She pulled up a menu.

“Do what?” Mike/Aug asked.

She made a few selections “This.”

There was a flash, indicating they had teleported. The forest they had been standing in was replaced by a high ceilinged rock tunnel. Sam looked around and recognized the markers for the last safe zone of the 74th floor dungeon. Claire didn’t wait for them to ask questions before leading them the rest of the way to the boss chamber.

It was the largest raid group Sam had ever seen, let alone been a part of. Over 70 players, more once she remembered that RIDEs had their own accounts. They had almost 2 dozen known Integrates and probably at least another 5 that were staying hidden. Of all the teams there they were the only one unaligned with a guild. It took a few more minutes to get everyone gathered then the raid leader gave a speech about staying with your team and how xp and drops would be divided.

As she looked around Sam felt out of place with her team, even though she could tentatively call them her friends. The Ghosts were so at ease, like they weren’t about to walk into the jaws of virtual death. Ajax and Mosley were joking with Claire about things that had happened on previous raids and missions. Mike/Aug was talking about game mechanics with Mel. It was a reminder to her that she still knew next to nothing about her cousin anymore.

The massive doors creaked open and the group streamed inside the amphitheater sized room. When the first player stepped inside the whole place lit up revealing the boss of the 74th floor. It was 3 meters of headless dark purple plate armor. It stood there, its sword embedded in the floor. Its name and HP appeared; Crom the Dulahan Lord, he had 5 HP bars.

"I know what you're thinking Sam," Mel said "but the bosses down here are on a different scale."

"Then why are you the only people unFused?"

Before she could press the issue the battle began in earnest. A dozen large black dogs poured out from caves lining the walls, Fairy Hounds. Their main job was to help keep the busy so the main teams could focus on Crom.

"Remember your number."

Sam remembered she was 6. Mike/Aug were 5, Mosley 4, Ajax 3, Mel 2, and Claire 1. Mosley said it was to make it easier to do callouts and give give commands. One syllable did take less time to produce.

"3, 4 we need to group then together for 2. 5 and 6 you're on support."

Sam did her best to anticipate her friends providing heals and buffs whenever she could. Mike/Aug was doing much the same with his debuffs. She admired the ease with which the others worked together. Mel, Ajax and Mosley did their best to corral the Fairy Hounds. Whenever 2 were close enough Mel would hit them with one of her spells.

A few times one of the Hounds would make a break for it only to be cut off and driven back by her saber or Mike/Aug's rapier. If it weren't for the constant strain Sam would almost have called it easy. ''Then again she I am working for real soldiers.'' She thought wryly.

Under Claire's calm, almost lazy, direction they eliminated all of the Fairy Hounds in about 45 minutes. They kept their guard up, they didn't know if or when the Hounds might respawn. Sam was already starting to feel a little drained. Who knew a raid would be so tiring, Claire had prevent what would have been her first one.

Taking a deep breath She risked a glance over at the main battle. It wasn't going nearly as well as theirs had. Crom had already defeated a quarter of the main raid group and they had only just finished taking out his first HP bar.

Claire frowned, Mel sighed "They didn't listen to us." They all looked at her. "If we don’t hurry the whole raid is going to fall apart.”

“Why?”

“Crom is just as capable of memorizing patterns as we are. If we don’t hurry he’ll screw us when he decides to counter attack by breaking ''their'' rotation pattern apart.”

It took a few minutes to get their team worked into the rotation. Unfortunately they were only able to spend another 10 minutes chipping away at Crom's HP. Despite their team's best efforts Mel’s prediction still came painfully true.

"Hit the deck!" Mel shouted.

Years of rough housing with her cousins came back to her as Sam went limp and dropped to the ground. Crom lashed out at them mid rotation, his blade knocking everyone to the ground with varying amounts of damage. She looked around as another handful of players died.

Sam quickly recovered scrambling back to her feet with the rest of her team. Thanks to Mel quick warning they were the only team that wasn't caught flat-footed by Crom's next swing. Mosley and Ajax locked shields preventing him from killing another batch of downed players.

Claire was still on her hands and knees. She looked around at the other downed players and had a flash of panic. They had to do something or the raid would fall apart and they would all end up dead. But what could they do alone? Mel met her panicked eyes with her own calm ones and at that moment something passed between them.

Claire surged to her feet heading towards Mel.

"5, 6 the wounded! 3, 4 stall him!"

She knew when she reached Mel there would be no turning back. She gave the Fuse command. They weren't alone anymore, they hadn't been alone for almost 3 months. They had each other.

"Half my heart to make you whole," one of them said

"My strength to purify your weakness." The other finished.

Fused in both worlds she abandoned the use of their beloved menu in favor of the more efficient thought commands. She raised their left hand and launched a salvo of spells at Crom. He reeled back, breastplate derezzing as they destroyed it.

She swiped their left hand across the hilt of their blade and came away, it came away grasping a second. She blurred as they crossed the distance catching his blade's overhead strike in a double block. With a yank she forced his blade up and away. Her twin blades ignited into the blue white glow of special skill.

"This is the Black Blade,Laevateinn." Everyone was staring at her. Laevateinn was one of a kind, dropped for the first player to kill Surtr. The more you killed with it, the higher its damage became. If you used its special the damage modifier was reset to 0. A small price to pay if it meant saving lives. Her two halves in agreement she verbalized the command "Dual Sonic."

She was in motion again slashing at Crom's pale exposed flesh. She ducked a swing and viciously attacked the opening in his guard. But he was just as unforgiving. They trade blows hers landing more than his. He forced an opening and tried another overhead strike which She caught between their blades.

She didn't just bellow. She roared as she yanked their swords apart. His blade shattering as the damage overwhelmed it. He hesitated for a microsecond, the AI unsure of what to do. That was all the time she needed. She rushed him and cut clean through with Laevateinn, shattering him into countless points of light.

A massive banner appeared in the air declaring her victorious. She staggered back Laevateinn vanishing from her left hand, its skill complete. She collapsed onto her butt, tired and head aching. As her team gathered round she gave a weak smile.

"I feel terrible. Just gonna log out, maybe get some shut eye."

"Take my bed." Ajax said.

She nodded closing her eyes and opening them in the real. She felt like shit as she trudged up the stairs to the guest room Ajax was using. She kicked the door closed behind her before collapsing on the bed. Her wings splayed out to catch the sunlight filtering through the blinds. Maybe she would feel better when she woke.

Back in Oz there was little speculation about why Claire and Mel had logged out. Mike/Aug, Ajax, Sam and Mosley led the way down the staircase into the first town on the 75th floor. The other players treated them with anything from jovial friendship to thinly veiled disgust, mostly from the closet Inties.

Sam was relieved when they finally picked an Inn and logged out. Thanks to Claire/Mel the raid hadn't taken nearly as long as it should have. ''Then again if they hadn't Fused the raid would have been over even sooner.'' Sam thought wryly.

She stretched and went into the kitchen were Tiger was talking to her mom. She ignored them as she made a beeline for the fridge and the crunchy dill pickles inside. Enclave life had always chafed her the wrong way. It was good to be back in civilization ''and'' out in the open, at least with her family.

Mosley wandered in and sat down at the table joining Bobbie and Tiger's discussion about something computer related. Sam tuned them out as she walked back into the family room. Ajax had gone somewhere while Mike and Aug had deFused and were talking about sports. She Went up to her room and lay down on her bed before starting to watch Claire's memories.

{{Separator|k}}

''Earth Orbit, 2501 AD''

Stuart took a deep calming breath. He did his best to ignore the warning klaxons blaring in his ears as he finished overriding the shuttle's emergency systems. This was going to be tricky, the stolen IDE he had in the cargo hold wasn't properly rated for-entry. There was a shout as a full cyborg rounded the corner, gun drawn. It was quickly silenced as Stuart's combat knife, also stolen, buried itself in his head.

He tugged it free as he ran past, the gun would just slow him down at this point. He sprinted down to the cargo hold making quick work of additional armed interference along the way. He slid into his IDE and ran the start up sequence. Automated systems aboard the ship announced the impending failure of its hull.

It took him a few minutes to get in position behind his chosen bulkhead before the alarm on his chrono beeped at him. He braced himself and fired into the engineering deck. There was a half second of silence. Then everything went white as the ship's tokamak exploded. Stuart had a fraction of a second to think he might have made a mistake before blacking out.

Consciousness was slow to return and painful when it did. His head pounded in time with the rhythmic beeping of an EKG machine. So he was in a medical facility of some kind, not good. Past that he could hear a couple of voices talking quietly off to one side. The voices stopped and one of them came closer.

"Relax," the voice sounded like Ron Pearlman "you're safe here." Stuart struggled to open his eyes. "That's it nice and slow, there we go."

The man standing next to his bed was dressed in army fatigues. He was short, broad shoulder and in excellent physical condition despite his apparent age. What was left of his grey hair was cut into a perfect flat top. He had a wry half smile on his wrinkled face as he adjusted the bed to sit Stuart up.

He extended a hand "Helluva stunt you pulled up there kid. General Alphonso Knoxx, of the former North American Army."

This was like meeting a celebrity. General Knoxx was the founder and leader of Task Force Stalker during the brush wars on Earth. Every Ghost had heard stories about this man. General Knoxx waited patiently as Stuart slowly reached out and shook it.

"It's an honor sir, Staff Sargent Stuart Maiuri, Zharus Planetary Authority."

He chuckled "One of Tiger's new Ghosts eh?"

"Yes, Sir." Stuart smiled weakly "I'm afraid my infiltration might have been compromised."

The other man laughed "Its a distinct possibility. Colonel John Carter, we've managed to rig the IDE to show that you died when the ship exploded. We moved quickly enough that we were able to destroy the actual time data. You were only dead for 2.7 seconds."

"Still, without a body it will only be a matter of time before someone else starts looking into it." Knoxx said "This location is secure for now but we need to start arranging for your extraction, Earth is no longer safe for you."

"You should be on your feet in a few days but you'll still need to rest a little longer." John said.

Stuart nodded "What about my mission?"

"Plenty of time for that later. It'll take time for our message to reach Tiger and then we have to wait for him to respond. So for now rest, recover and start trying to figure out who tipped off the TIA."

{{Separator|k}}

''Atlantic Coast, South America, Earth, 2502 AD''

Everything was black. Stuart must have had his eyes closed. A few minutes passed before a transmission came in on a secure line.

'':This is Fuego. We've acquired transport, stand by.''

Stuart opened his eyes. He was surrounded by a thick heavy rain forest. It was pouring down rain but his stealth suit was sealed against water penetration. Now that his eyes were open he could hear the rain as well, must have dozed off. The clearing ahead of him rippled outward as a small craft descended on quiet lifters.

'':Roger that Fuego, I have eyes on, over._ Stuart transmitted.''

The tail ramp lowered and 4 figures quickly slipped out of it and over to the treeline. As quickly as it had come the craft lifted off and flew away. Like him they were all dressed in stealth suits, their active camouflage making them invisible to the naked eye. His VISR system painted them as moving green outlines and tagged each with a name.

'':We have 10 minutes to get inside Black Zone.'' Stuart transmitted.

'':Short window, let's move.'' Stuart's HUD identified the speaker as Hammond.

They quickly headed deeper into the forest soon spotting a pair of IDEs patrolling in the distance. It was time to put General Knoxx's gift into action. Stuart used his new command neural implant to check into their local comm traffic. It was just the usual chatter between friends but they were constantly checking in with the base which meant killing them would just sound the alarm that much faster.

They skirted around the IDEs heading farther north before cutting back to the west again. They crested a hill and caught sight of their target facility. Above ground it was a massive complex of squat buildings but below the surface it opened up into a series of large R & D labs.

That factory was their target, get in, figure out what they’re making, steal data, and get out. He was also tasked with capturing or destroying any existing prototypes. The hard part would be getting back out after the alarm was raised. Stuart had no doubt that the facility personnel wouldn't hesitate to kill them if they were discovered.

They made short work of a group of guards that were lounging around. They waited a few seconds as Stuart's implant fed authorization codes to the vault door. There was a hiss as the cylindrical door rotated open allowing them to slip into the facility proper.

They passed through a decontamination airlock before entering one of the deserted side areas moving swiftly and silently to the local security station. They waited outside its vault door as Stuart's implant went to work once again. As soon as the opening was wide enough they tossed in a mix of smoke grenades and short range jammers. They waited for a 3 count before entering themselves and easily eliminating the disoriented soldiers inside.

In the blink of an eye Stuart had full control of the facility's local security systems. It was child’s play to rig the system on a loop, no back up would be coming for the defenders in this area. They changed the codes on their way out, every extra second was important.

They stuck to the side passages as they made their way deeper into the facility with minimal, almost nonexistent, resistance. The combination of their stealth gear and Stuart’s implant probably played a part in that. Their next stop was the server room which they would ''liberate'' of all its information.

They ran into a problem when they got there. The server room had single civilian technician inside. Civilians were non-combatants and therefore off limits. To make matters worse he had fully prosthetic body so they couldn’t just knock him out. As he turned facial recognition identified him as Doctor Karl Sanderson, an expert on cybernetics and data security who had been shanghaied into service.

'':Command, Hammond.''

'':Go ahead.''

'':We've got a civilian here, Dr Karl Sanderson. He's been pressed into service.''

'':Understood make his evac a priority.''

Now with the green light, Stuart tapped into his com '':Doctor Sanderson.''

His head snapped up and he looked around. '':Who is this? How did you get this com code?''

'':I know you’ve been forced into this job. How would you like to get out of here, forever.''

He slumped _:I wouldn’t be safe anywhere on Earth._

'':What about off world?''

'':My passport's been revoked.''

'':Smuggling one person off planet is pretty easy. Well, easier than smuggling a group anyway.''

'':You can do that?''

Stuart de-cloaked and offered his hand '':We can, but first we need to get you out of here.''

Dr. Sanderson shook it '':Easy enough, the newest IDEs are in workshop lambda. You could make a pretty big distraction with those.''

'':We'll head out as soon as we're finished here.''

They connected directly to the file server and copied everything before leaving behind several time bombs. They re-engaged their active camouflage and slipped out accompanied by Dr Sanderson. Workshop lambda was two levels below the server room; it also had a greater concentration of guards.

Sanderson surprised all of them by making himself into a distraction enabling them to quickly eliminate the guards. The way he kicked a few of the corpses proved that the man had his own reasons for wanting them dead. A quick check showed they had been tormenting the good Doctor since his interment began.

Workshop lambda was equal parts amazing and horrifying. There were hundreds of 4 meter mechs all standing in perfect little rows. The first production batch of the brand new Titan model IDE. This factory had to go.

'':Command, Hammond, you seeing this?''

'':Affirmative, Hammond. Intel confirmed. You have 14 mikes before Eclipse makes that place a crater.''

They had just finished powering up the IDEs when things went wrong. The nearby freight elevator came to life bringing a large group of off duty soldiers up from the next level. Their shift had just ended and they were still armed, mostly with light guns but a few with anti-IDE weapons.

'':Command can we get a hold on Eclipse?''

'':Negative, its already past PNR.''

'':Shit! We do *not* want to be here!''

Hammond's IDE rushed forward as he took the initiative, melee weapons making quick work of the anti-IDE guards. The main threat dealt with they all moved as the remaining guards opened fire on them. While annoying the small arms fire was far from dangerous to the IDEs. Especially as they displayed an interesting feature, hardlight shielding.

It wasn't nearly as powerful or efficient as the hardlight on Zharus but its existence was still worrying. It was a good thing the only copy of its plans was staying with him. They plowed through the remaining forces and restarted the freight elevator. Stuart fed a set of over-rides to the elevator safeties, they needed to be ''gone''.

They battered aside the doors and kicked on their lifters as the alarm sounded. They burned cavorite as they flew out the main gate they had scant seconds to make it to MSD. If they didn't. No, don't think about that just focus on getting there. There was a deafening roar behind them and Stuart risked a peak over his shoulder. There was a burning light overhead as a small sun plummeted toward the facility.They passed the MSD line painted on their HUDs and didn't stop, the further they got the better.

He knew what was coming and quickly looked away to protect his eyes from the blinding flash as the 5 and a half meter tungsten carbide rod made impact. The shock-wave was on them in less than a second. The displaced air tore whole trees from the ground and sent everything flying like ships in a hurricane. The IDEs crashed and bounced along the ground before slowly sliding half a klick to a stop.

Stuart was in pain '':Squad, sound off.'' he managed to groan.

They were all battered and bruised but everyone, even Dr Sanderson, had made it out alive and relatively intact. With some effort they managed to get their IDEs standing and clambered over a hill of trees, rock, and dirt to look back at the facility. It was gone, replaced by a massive jagged edged crater. There was a 400 meter ring around the crater, completely devoid of anything except scorched earth.

Stuart whistled appreciatively '':Damn, now *that's* how you destroy something.''

'':That's nothing. The original system used rods large enough to destroy '''''cities'''''.'' Buscemi said.

{{Separator|k}}

''Bavarian Alps, Europe, Earth, 2502''

Stuart straightened his "borrowed" gloves and pulled down his visor before checking again to make sure the uniform was clean of any stains. The uniform had belonged to a full borg security officer and barely fit Stuart's smaller frame. He stepped out of the security building as Holland finished stashing the stripped body of one of the former security officers. Hammond and Buscemi were already in position on the other side of the snow covered road.

It had been an interesting and harrowing 8 months working with Echo Squad. They were Knoxx's final group of Ghost operatives, once Echo was finished there would no more Earth trained Ghosts. They were a good squad, well trained and fun to be around, more than once they had dragged him out drinking or had him over for family celebrations.

Their mission this time was the rescue of a European Union researcher that the Terran Intelligence Agency had tasked with investigating something. Knoxx wanted to know what it was and get the woman safely on her way to Zharus where the rest of her family would be waiting. They had already completed their first objective, take over the security check point and pose as its guard detail.

'':Here they come.'' Holland transmitted as a small fully loaded, and wheeled, military skimmer came around the corner.

'':These disgues better work.'' Buscemi transmitted before signaling them to stop for inspection.

'':Two up front, two in back with the HVT between them. All lightly armed and very squishy.''

'':Roger that, drop 'em.''

Buscemi began speaking to the driver in rapid German, making general small talk as he checked the documentation on their tablet. The rest of squad quietly advanced on vehicle as the slipped combat knives into their hands. As Buscemi was handing back the tablet they struck, knives sinking through necks and striking the brain stem.

Stuart grimaced as he pulled the blade out and dumped the body onto the roadway. The steady snowfall would cover the body soon enough and they would be long gone before the next group came by in 4 hours. He settled in next to the HVT as Holland climbed into the driver seat.

'':It's alright Dr. Magnussen. General Knoxx sent us to get you out of here.''

She sagged with relief ''Thank god, I'm dumping the details of everything they've been having me do over to you now.''

'':Thank you, get comfortable it'll be a while before we get to the extraction point.''

They spent the next 40 minutes riding in silence as they kept a weather eye out for signs of trouble. When they got to the extraction point the sub-orbital was waiting for them, lifters primed and ready. They piled out weapons sweeping the surrounding forest as Hammond escorted Dr. Magnussen to the sub.

Stuart readied his weapon '':Everybody, quiet.'' There was silence on the radio. '':Where did all the noise go?''

The others readied their weapons and slowly backed up to the sub. It was too quiet; the only sound they could hear now was the low whine of the sub’s lifters. He was worried now. There was a brief flash of movement in the woods. He blanched as his implant identified it. Stalkers, they were the TIA equivalent of secret police.

Stuart didn’t hesitate, immediately opening fire. His gauss rifle’s hypersonic rounds tearing through the low quality stealth armor with ease. Through the trees he caught sight of a camouflaged troop transport, adjusting his fire angle before pulling a second trigger and firing a small rocket at it.

By now the others had started shooting as they retreated into the sub. Stalkers began pouring out into the surrounding clearing first 5, then 10, then 20. Their numbers just kept growing, zerg tactics overwhelm the enemy with superior numbers.

The situation was rapidly deteriorating, he had to to get to cover. As he moved he saw white and pain exploded across his left thigh before he threw himself behind the stolen skimmer for cover. He looked down and confirmed one of the Stalkers had gotten lucky and grazed him. High velocity round tearing a chunk out of his leg.

He pulled the pin on a smoke grenade and lobbed it over the skimmer. Shortly after it detonated he followed it up with a frag, capitalizing on the smokescreen and basic reasoning that the Stalkers would ignore it as another smoke. His suspicions were confirmed when its explosion was accompanied by screams of pain.

'':Tell Knoxx, I'm sorry.''

Hammond said'':We aren't leaving you behind.''

'':You don't have a choice. I'm not going anywhere with this bum leg, finish the mission.''

'':But.''

A round clipped the sub's ramp '':Go!''

With a roar the sub took off accelerating flat out away from the clearing. Stuart wiped out all the comm codes in his implants and destroyed any data that could lead the TIA back to Knoxx, Zharus, or anything else. He braced the rifle against his shoulder and struggled to pull himself upright. If he was going to die, then he was taking as many of them with him as he could.

Laying atop the hood he fired his remaining rocket at a nearby cluster of enemies, as always doing his best to ignore their pain. He emptied his first magazine and slipped behind the skimmer again ejecting the empty magazine and slamming in a full one. He lay on his stomach as he fired trying to make every shot count.

His weeks spent on the firing range paid off, each shot hitting and while not all were fatal they were certainly debilitating. He pulled the trigger again and the rifle clicked, empty. He threw his remaining grenade before rolling over and pulling himself into a sitting position before changing loading his last mag.

He looked up, seeing Stalkers exiting the woods in front of him. He opened fire, again each shot killing or mortally wounding an advancing foe before the rifle started clicking. He chucked it at someone's stomach making them double over in pain as he pulled his side arm from its holster on his right thigh and finishing the gasping man off.

Stuart got off another dozen shots before someone shot his left shoulder causing him to drop it in pain. That same soldier quickly advanced bending down to grab him only to get 18 centimeters of knife blade shoved and twisted into his throat. Stuart placed his final grenade on the ground next to his left hand, putting a finger through the pin's ring as the arm hung useless at his side.

He ripped the dieing man's knife from the sheath on his shoulder before pushing him aside. With the ease of long practice he spun the knife around to grip it by the blade before taking careful aim and hurling it at the nearest Stalker. He struggled to sit up further, right hand now firmly wrapped around his final grenade.

They had him surrounded, but they weren't shooting at him anymore. It confirmed what Stuart was thinking, they wanted him alive. They wouldn't get anything from his implants which meant they would resort to interrogation and torture. Stuart had no intention of going through that.

He gave a weak smile "Shel kek nem ron." He pulled the pin on the grenade and held it in front of him for all to see. Before he could drop it his hand was crushed by an iron grip keeping the safety lever on the grenade. He struggled with what little strength he had left before it was ripped from his hand and hurled into the woods as blood loss caught up to him and he passed out.

{{Separator|k}}

''Location Unknown, Date Unknown''

Tied to a chair there was little Stuart could do. He had grown thinner, his muscles atrophied from a combination of disuse and minor malnutrition. His wounds had been allowed to completely heal before they started the "interrogations". They had done something to screw up his internal chrono. He had no idea how long he had been there.

"Prisoner 24601." there was the simulated sound of rustling paper. "My my, you have been here a while haven't you?" a hand lifted his chin "You've given us nothing but shit answers." They were trying to break him, turn him to their side. "Let's try this again." Looking up he could see that the speaker was a blonde man in a clean black suit and tie. "Name?"

"Kris Kringle."

With a sigh the man punched him "Name." he said more insistently.

"Edmond...Dontes." Stuart wheezed.

He punched Stuart in the jaw "Name!" he yelled.

Stuart spit in his face "Inigo...Montoya."

There was a tiny thread keeping him sane. The others had gotten away. They were safe and soon enough the TIA would get sick of his bullshit and either kill him or, more likely, just dump him somewhere to die. If and when they did he would have a chance to live.

"I don't know who you think you're protecting. We shot down Dr. Magnussen's sub before it could even reach orbit."

His statement was accompanied by images and video projecting on the walls of small room. It couldn't be true, he'd seen them escape. He knew how easily digital video and images could be faked. It was a lie it had to be...but...what if it wasn't? That niggling little doubt finally snapped his thread, it just wasn't the _right_ thread.

The man frowned, clearly talking to someone on the comms. His frown deepened, clearly he was getting bad news. He turned his back on Stuart as he continued speaking on the comms. There were several minutes of silence before he huffed and turned back around pulling on a pair of gloves.

He drew his gun "It seems the time has come for us to be deprived of your...pleasant company, permanently." He crouched next to Stuart "This is your last chance to live. What is your name? Who do you work for?" silence "Well, I guess this is the end for you." As he started to pull back Stuart lunged for his neck.

He stared blankly at the dead agent on the floor. Oxygen deprivation had killed him long before he bled to death. Soon enough Stuart would be following him. The agent had managed to get off a handful of shots, a lucky one even managed to hit him.

Had it been hours or just minutes since all that had been done? Everything was getting blurry, going dark just like it had when he nearly bled out in Germany. His eyes sank closed as his breathing grew ragged. The sound from videos abruptly stopped as someone opened the door. He heard snatches of a rolling fluid language and felt a hand pressed to his neck.

There was a pause then more shouting as the first hand was replaced by a second. He fell as someone had cut the ropes that were binding him. He was carefully laid down on something soft, a stretcher? His eyes opened briefly and he saw one of the men. There was a prick on his neck and he started to fall asleep.

''Location Unknown, Date Unknown''

Stuart woke slowly to the steady beep of an EKG. A quick check confirmed that yes, he was still alive and no he was not restrained. He carefully pushed himself into a sitting position, his weakened muscles protesting a little at their sudden use. The room was simply furnished; bed, a few chairs, night stand and a lamp. With a moments hesitation he pressed the nurse's call button.

There was the sound of running in hallway and the door to his room flew open as the nurse answered the summons. When she saw him, up and awake, she shouted down the hallway in the same language he heard during his rescue. She waited for a response before crossing the room in 3 strides and beginning the basic check-up procedure.

She was just finishing when the door opened a second time and a second nurse walked in carrying a tray of food closely followed by someone else. He was tall, narrow shouldered. He was bald sporting a full beard and mustache. He was bald. His black beard and mustache were shot through with streaks of gray and his face was weathered from age and harsh living. His implant's facial recognition identified the man, Imran Zakaev.

He was clad simply in flecktarn camo pants, green brown shirt, long leather overcoat and heavy combat boots. He moved a chair next to the bed and sat down single arm resting casually in his lap. The second nurse spoke to him as she set down the food, he responded and both nurses left the room with a nod.

His gravely voice had only a hint of a Russian accent "You must be hungry. Please, eat, we can discuss business when you are finished."

Even though it was hospital food it was much better then the gruel he had been fed while in TIA custody. He was careful not to eat to quickly it would have been both rude and unhealthy. While he ate Zakhaev sat silently, likely speaking to people over a private comm channel.

"Thank you." Stuart said.

Zakhaev gave a wan smile "Your rescue was a happy accident. We've been hoping to find you ever since Alfonso told us of your capture."

"How long?"

"6 months, that's how long you were with."

"That’s how long it took them to break me."

Zakhaev nodded "Yes, but it wasn’t in the manner they were hoping for.”

“My chances of going home are still probably nil.”

He smirked “Actually, a ship will be arriving in 7 months. There will be an extraction team on board.”

“Oh...”

“Until then you’ll just have to find a way to keep busy.”

“If ya’ll are going to be running any ops I’d be happy to help.”

“Not until the doctors clear you, not even RO. I mean it.” Stuart hung his head “Hey,” Zakhaev put his hand his shoulder “You’ve literally been through hell. You need to ''recover'' before you do anything else.”

Zakhaev gave him a pat on the shoulder before leaving with the empty tray. Stuart sighed, maybe tomorrow he would finally check out Virtual Life. It seemed that everyone else on the planet used it for at least 1 thing so why not?

{{series bar
|series=Ghost's of Zharus
|previous=[[Ghosts: The Return|Ghosts: The Return]]
|next=}}

[[Category:Story]][[Category:Chimera]][[Category:Bear]][[Category:Tiger]][[Category:Anthropomorphic]][[Category:Dog]] [[Category:FreeRIDErs]] [[Category:Oddoneout]]

User:Oddoneout/Ghosts: The Return

2014-04-05T01:44:59Z

Oddoneout:

{{Universe|FreeRIDErs}}{{title
|name=Ghosts: The Return
|author=Oddoneout
|user=Oddoneout}}

Sam couldn't believe it she was going to be late for the rendezvous. She couldn't help it that she lost track of time whenever she started navel gazing. Three months ago the young human woman named Samantha Maiuri had integrated with her Malti-Poo RIDE becoming a single techno-organic being. It was only a few hours later that she was snatched up and taken to an Enclave at the edge of the Dry Ocean. For her it was horrible, she wanted to go back to Aloha, top her friends and family. But she wouldn't, she didn't think they would all be able to accept what she had become. So she stayed away from them and slowly began to accept the idea that she was better off that way, after all they were just mech and meat. Now that she was away she was free to fully indulge her guilty pressure of playing MMORPGs.

Which is exactly what she was doing. She crested another hill as the grass have way to stone and the sky grew cloudy, ahead of her the Tower of Dusk reached high into the air. Oz was a fairly new MMO whose servers where run and maintained by a group of Integrates living in Aloha. They were 'very' strict about not letting people use their Intie powers to tip the game in their favor. The game was in a high fantasy setting with a special set of mechanics and to allow for mech and meat to play as a fusing pair. They could be separate when they needed or wanted to be but fusing provided its own advantages and disadvantages.

To everyone in the game Sam appeared as a black furred Malti-poo Fuser dressed in an ornate white and gold robe. Last month she had found a good group of fellow Intie players and joined their clan. Today was important because it was her first true raid boss. She was ecstatic and very glad she had put in the extra time to learn some decent offensive spells. As she jumped to clear a trench she caught sight of a RIDE and its partner before she was yanked downward into the trench.

"Slow down Sam. Let the mechie get beaten, then we'll have our run." The speaker was a heavily armored grizzly bear Integrate in Fuser disguise with a massive sword strapped to his back.

"Dominic's right," a hyena rouge spoke up "this should be good for a laugh if nothing else. It's practically impossible for an Intie to solo The Bone Hoard. There's no way a mechie can manage it even if they were fused."

"Especially with how they've got their settings done." another member spoke up drawing everyone's attention" They have their system assist and feedback canceler's turned off."

"How can anyone play like that? Even we have to use the system assist and without the canceler on things feel a little too real for most people to be comfortable."

"I had a cousin who played MMOs like that," Sam said "but he disappeared years ago."

Dominic asked the obvious question "Did he Integrate?"

She shook her head "I don't think so. He got a government job and we heard from him regularly for a few months. His last message said something about a new assignment, then nothing."

"Have you tried hacking?"

She nodded "His personnel file is there but it’s all dead ends."

He frowned "I'll put out some requests; someone has to know more about what happened to him."

A rattling announced the awakening of The Bone Hoard. The powerful raid boss burst from the ground, a giant serpentine skeleton one hundred meters long with dozens of pairs of legs and a wicked set of pincers. Red light shone from the empty sockets of its triangular head. Equally massive horns adorned its head. The HUD displayed five health bars and with her scanning skill Sam should have been able to see its level. Instead all she saw was a skull, anyone trying to fight it alone would spend more money than they would make, assuming they managed to kill it.

The person was instantly in motion covering the distance to the boss in a matter of seconds. One of its pincers shot forward only to be knocked aside and quickly severed by a plain looking black broadsword. He kept moving and severed the remaining pincer taking out the boss's main weapons and a portion of its first health bar in the process. The Bone Hoard's AI refused to let it settle into a pattern as it constantly adapted. Normally this would give it an enormous advantage, even against raid groups, but ultimately it's ability was rendered useless by one thing, speed. The solo player had been fast to begin with and only got faster as the battle moved into its second minute.

"Look at the HP," Dominic said "Do you see it?"

Sam nodded "Whenever he dodges he uses his free hand for some kind of unarmed DOT counterattack."

In the space of three minutes The Bone Hoard's HP had been cut down to only one and a half bars. It lashed out with one of its remaining legs throwing the swordsman off balance, disarming him with a quick follow up. He jumped away, he had to be fleeing either to rearm or to give up. He did neither, with a shout he charged straight at its head ducking under as it thrust forward in an attempt to swallow him. His right hand shot up and struck the bone plate under its mouth and The Bone Hoard shattered into glittering iridescent blue dust, killed by a single unFused and unassisted player in just over four minutes.

He slouched as he shook out his wrists. His RIDE retrieved the fallen sword. They seemed...subdued, disappointed, like things hadn't gone the way they were hoping. Dominic, as be fitting his status as raid leader, was the first to recover from the shock they had all received. He clambered out of the trench running towards and hailing the mystery duo. Sam followed after him a moment later.

"That was amazing! I've only ever heard of people soloing The Bone Hoard and they didn't do nearly as well as you just did." All true but why was he kissing up to mechie?

Now that Sam was closer she could see their mystery man was actually a mystery woman. She stood about a meter and a half tall. Her white blonde hair was in short pixie cut. The woman's broadsword was indeed the black color Sam had originally thought it was. Her RIDE tags were very unusual. She had a feline nose, the rounded ears of a lion, white fur, goat horns and a black cobra for a tail. Sam shuddered as both pairs of green eyes turned to look at her.

The woman's RIDE was easily the most bizarre mythical Sam had ever seen. She was easily the size of a large horse, marking her as a Heavy class RIDE. Her she had the body and head of a lion with the horns of a goat. Her white fur was the same as her partner's and her black cobra tail was staring intently at Dominic. A large pair of dark iridescent blue bird wings completed her appearance.

Finally the woman sighed "I was nine point three seconds off."

Her ride giggled “Aren’t you the one who’s always saying that it’s just a game Claire?”

Claire frowned “I know but the benchmark gives us a place to start looking.” She gestured and several windows appeared “The more important question is why y’all are here. This area is supposed to be closed off for maintenance. There was a game wide announcement yesterday.”

Dominic stiffened “Um, none of us were on yesterday.”

“They sent out a memo to everyone just in case, you should have gotten it as soon as you logged in.”

“We were all busy prepping for this raid. When I got on I came straight here, didn’t have time to check my messages and since you said this area is closed what are you doing here?”

“Obviously we’re here to perform the maintenance.” Her RIDE deadpanned

“Thank you Mel. Now, I’m going to need your player IDs.”

“So you can ban us?”

She laughed “I could ban you even without them but it’s not my job. I’ll pass the info on to one of the other GMs, they might have given y’all open access to this area. If they didn’t and think you need to be banned they’ll contact you so you can appeal your case.”

“Oh so it’s just that you’re lazy?”

“Yup, now that I can afford to be lazy I’ve gotten to the point where enabling God Mode is too much of a hassle. Easier just to go without and fight my way through. That’s also why I don’t use the assist and have the canceler disabled.” She frowned “But y’all already knew that didn’t you.”

Sam was suddenly nervous. Claire was clearly skilled IRL, how else could she beat a raid boss alone, and she somehow knew they had peeked at her settings. On top of that she was a GM and, Intie or not, could insta-ban them on a whim. Sam had read the message she was talking about and just assumed it was wrong or meant for non-Inties, in hindsight she realized she had just been fooling herself. She liked to think that she didn’t buy into the whole Integrates Ascendant thing at all. But seeing a human deftly manage what would be an extreme and time consuming challenge in mere minutes and then subtly hint that she ''knew'' exactly what they were. Half a dozen members of the raid team suddenly disconnected and Claire shook her head.

“Apparently you people buy into your own press ''way'' too much.” Mel said

“What did you do?” Dominic asked

“It’s not what we did but what they tried to do. Which was hack us. Claire and I have had extensive time to prep for a variety of things, one of the perks of having a forward thinking boss. As such we can easily shut you out when you try and hack us.”

“Hey boss, let’s just give them our IDs and go. No need to start a fight.” The speaker was a burgundy Allosaurus.

“You scared of mech and meat, Durendal?”

“When the flesh alone can kick that much ass? Hell yeah, I’m scared out of my scales right now. Besides Mel's right, this is just a game and it’s supposed to be for fun.” There was a quiet round of agreement “If the other GMs are willing to trust these two then we should too. Since they got the job they must be exceptionally skilled.”

Claire quirked a smile as she received several data packets “Roland Durendal, you named yourself after the paladin and his sword from the Matter of France?”

He shrugged “I used to study medieval literature as a hobby.”

“Claire,” Mel said “I’ve just finished submitting our report.”

She nodded “Good, unfortunately this is where we all part ways. To everyone who has transmitted their data, thank you for your cooperation. We’ll do our best to make sure you don’t get banned because of your raid leader. Please, direct any further questions to this com code.”

As the two logged out Sam came to a decision, she needed to move out of her Enclave and get away from the supremacy ideas that governed it. Another mage used a group teleport spell to bring them all back to a safe zone so they could all log out. When she opened her eyes in the real world Sam came to a second decision. Rather than another Enclave she would go back to her family, everyone had seen the now famous reunion footage of the Munn family with its long absent Integrate members. So for the first time in months she accessed her lifetime mailbox.

{{Separator|k}}

Claire Olivia Maiuri groaned as she got up from her cot and stretched after her marathon play session. Across the room Mel yawned as she carefully did the same, mindful of her wings. Their home was the cargo area of The Forward Unto Dawn. The Dawn was a D82-EST Darter, a single deck twenty meter sub-orbital, she bought after returning to Zharus proper just over three months ago. After five hard years her mission had finally ended and she had come home to Zharus.

At the time he had been Stuart Miles Maiuri, a person he no longer wanted to be. Luckily his bonus and hazard pay had made him a small fortune. If he was careful he would never have to work again. Because his dad had worked for Nextux RIDEWorks all his life, the first thing he decided to do was find a RIDE partner.

His post mission handler had suggested he try a small dealership in Nuevo San Antonio. He spent most of the day talking to the occasional RIDE who caught his attention. He had spent most of the day looking when he the owner said he wanted to introduce him to someone. In the back area was a RIDE named Melody, Mel for short.

She was an experimental unit, a Nextus RIDEWorks CMA(f)-ASA-001. The last of the half dozen produced and the only one who's RI had survived the program's termination. The original idea had been a variation on the one introduced by the Sturmhaven WLF-CSA-01As. A secondary RI core in the tail that would manage an extra sensor suite, long range communications, and point defense. The idea was for it to free up extra processing power to allow more accurate targeting and deliver artillery strikes from an unparallelled range. Unfortunately it ran into some of the same problems as the CSAs, the RIs wouldn't link.

In the end the secondary core idea had been scrapped when they succeed in producing a single RI core capable of doing the entire work load. That RI was Mel. The higher ups had been pleased with the results but not enough to overlook the price tag. Between the parts they needed and increased cost for the specialized RI core, it was less than a month after her First Boot that the project was scrapped.

She had honestly expect to have her core destroyed like her predecessors, luckily the RIDEWorks still "owned" her core, DE and weapons package. Rather than let Nextus destroy her, she had been discreetly sold her to their friend who owned the dealership. She had spent her weeks worrying about what would happen to her if Nextus found her. The owner introduced them and after an hour Mel and Stuart had begun discussing where they would live. She had made the suggestion that they get a sub-orbital as a starting point in case they had to run. After all, Nexts had been known to go to lengths to recover things, even if it never belonging to them.

As far as ASA's went she was on the smaller end of the spectrum, in Walker mode she stood at just over two and a half meters and a solid three in Fuser mode. The empty space in her tail's cobra head was retooled to house an extra set of sarium batteries. Her ASA chassis came equipped with two retractable plasma cannons and a particle beam cannon in her mouth.

They had just finished loading up their new D82-EST Darter when Nextus Material Recovery Service showed up. Stuart tried to talk them down and provided ample proof that he, and the dealership before him, had legal ownership over Mel and the weapons. When they refused to back down he sent a few messages and started stalling. It didn't take long for him to get a response.

The MRS Officers apologized for their mistake and attempted to make a ''very'' quick exit, promising that it would ''never'' happen again. Claire wouldn’t let them off that easily. She swore to them that if it ''did'' their boss would in serious trouble. Stuart was employed by the Zharus Planetary Authority and had, until recently, been conducting espionage, on Earth.

It was supposed to be a five year mission, seven counting travel, and everything had gone wrong from the first day off the boat. His cover had nearly been blown and it was only quick thinking and a quicker kill that had saved his life. He spent the next three years gathering Intel and practically living underground. After three years they were finally able to extract him. He spent a week being debriefed before they put him on indefinite leave and gave him a nice fat bonus. He had also been given a set of direct comm codes and told that if he needed anything to reach out to them.

Once cleared, she had upgraded her military cortical implant with quibitite. If she was in trouble she wanted to have the best chance of coming out on top. They spent almost a month traveling around Zharus. When they had been out in the Dry Ocean they ran into a group of Integrates who were looking to hire a temporary GM in their game, Oz.

It was an easy job. Mel and Claire were told to do their best to break everything in game and send their observations on to the Dev Team. Claire began checking her email and flagged several things for her implant to draft responses to before reading one from Sebastian, her ZPA handler. After five years and two months she would finally be able to see her family again. She sent out a flurry of emails letting everyone know she was in Aloha and would be flying to Nextus to see everyone at their family compound.

"Mel, I can finally introduce you to my family."

She perked up "I'll file a flight plan with ATC."

Claire stripped out of her underwear and went to take a shower while her implant began running the pre-flight checks. Everything checked out as she finished her shower, replies coming in as began to dry off. She sighed as she looked through her rather limited wardrobe. She ruled out her beloved combat gear, too many questions. After sorting through her crossover gifts she settled on a yellow sun dress Sebastian had sent her. His note had said she needed something she could 'actually' use instead of the usual gag gifts.

'':Mel, we need something for you to wear. As much fun as it would be to show up in a metal bikini, I don't think my family would like it.''

'':Can it be black? I was thinking of a nice sweater skirt combo.''

'':Sure, it'll match your tail.''

As they fused up Mel felt Claire's nervousness and did her best to comfort her. She reabsorbed the metal-kini anatomically correct RIDEs often wore for decency. Some of her hardlight winked out then came back up projecting her outfit of choice. She had chosen a knee length skirt and loose sleeved sweater complimenting her form and drawing attention up to her face and away from her chest. They stopped in the small kitchen and made a quick lunch of last night's take out before the lifters warmed up.

They sat down in the cockpit as they received a message from ATC approving them for departure. At twenty meters long the D82-EST Darter was a small transport craft. It had a lifting body design and top of the line heat shielding ensuring it could land without the use of its lifters. They had split the cargo area in half, turning the forward section into their living quarters/maintenance area with a bathroom and kitchen.

They taxied out of their hangar and into the civilian departure zone. No one would suspect that their modest little black and white craft was fully stealth capable…or armed. Claire had spared no expense in overhauling their home. The end result had been a ten percent increase in mobility and enough offensive power to take out a large military sub. Sebastian made sure what they were doing was within the letter of the law.

They dropped into virtual for a time compressed lesson as they waited their turn for takeoff. They walked through the basic stances of Claire’s duel sword style. She was critiquing her foot work on the first set of intermediate forms when they had to stop. They quickly began to pick up speed as the lifters’ output increased and the hardlight aero shielding adjusted for maximum speed and lift. The surface fell away beneath them as the sky gradually changed from blue to a star studded black.

{{Separator|k}}

Even at top speed, Sam had a long flight to the Aloha aerodrome but it gave her plenty of time to check the outgoing flights. Finally she found one that she could slip onto unnoticed. She slipped into the lobby and boarded the high speed sub. She settled into her seat to wait. She had gotten a surprise when she checked her mail.

Her cousin Stuart had finally turned up and was flying out to Nextus from Aloha. She had already checked and couldn’t find his name on any of the passenger manifests. She had waited five years. She could wait a few more hours. Without a second thought she logged back into Oz.

She had a message from Dominic waiting for her. She read it a few times before deleting it and removing herself from the guild. Now that she realized her emerging bigotry she was going to work hard to get rid of it. Her next order of business was getting to Taft where new players arrived fresh from the tutorial. She had heard rumor of a dungeon hidden beneath the town.

She made her way to the western part of town and stopped at a player owned shop to sell her guild gear. Most of the uniform was inferior to what she had been using before. She smoothed out her red robe and settled its armored plates into place as she re-equipped. Her old Hound Saber was a welcome change from the stereotypical mage staff she had been using for two weeks. The bonuses to her spell were less because of the change but she preferred being a red mage anyway.

She made her way to a massive cathedral. If the rumors were true the entrance to the bonus dungeon was hidden somewhere inside. As soon as she stepped inside she realized that just finding the entrance would be a chore. You could have easily fit a Starmaster into the main worship area. She started by checking the dozens of side rooms for anything odd.

There were a lot more than she thought. It took her the entire flight to thoroughly check half of the side rooms. She sighed as stood up on the sub. If the bonus dungeon did exist the GMs were keeping information about the entrance tightly controlled. It was probably filled with exclusive gear unobtainable anywhere else. Once outside the aerodrome she lifted into the Fuser/scooter traffic lanes and headed for her family's compound on the southern end of city. Sam was ten and a half kilometers away when she got a nasty shock when a familiar grizzly Fuser flew up next to her.

"Sam it’s nice too finally meet you IRL." Dominic said

She stiffened "How did you know?"

He smirked "I didn't. I noticed you decided to leave the guild."

"You said I could leave whenever I wanted. ''You'' said that neither mech nor meat could beat us but that GM this morning, she opened my eyes.” She shook her head “In some ways we are better than meat, but they have us beat in other areas.”

He snorted “Here in the real world they’re nothing compared to us.”

She stopped “Get bent Dominic. I don’t want anything to do with people like you anymore."

He sputtered "I'm trying to help you!" he grabbed her wrist "We are the next step in human evolution. You don't need mech or meat for anything!"

"Let go." a pulse gun formed on her wrist "I'm not afraid to shoot you."

He laughed "Both of your halves were civvie." he whispered "I'm ex-military; your little pop guns won't scratch me."

"How about mine?" a woman's voice asked

A feline hand landed on his head and he heard the whine of charging capacitors. How had she snuck up on him? He instinctively reached out to hack them and had to bite down on his tongue to keep from screaming. He felt thousands of tiny burning bites all over his body before his DIN burnt out. Even without it the sensations persisted and he had to concentrate just to maintain his disguise.

"Ah, you're one of ''those'' people. Too bad your little tricks are less than worthless against us." The speaker was a two and a half meters chimera Fuser. "Now, you can let her go or I can cut you in half."

Dominic felt a chill down his spine. These two were extremely dangerous. The fact that they had snuck up on, not just one but, two Integrates was proof of that. Their tone of voice was casual, like they had all been discussing the weather. His military instincts were screaming at him to run. But his pride as an Integrate wouldn't let him.

"I'm not scared of meat!"

She sighed "Wrong answer."

She lifted her hand and tapped two fingers against his hardlight. His systems suddenly started blaring half a dozen different warnings at him. What had they just done to him?

"Here's a little physics lesson for you. ''Everything'' has a frequency where it will resonate. Under certain conditions it can cause things to build up energy till they literally shake themselves apart. That's what’s happening to your hardlight emitters right now. They’ll fail sometime within the next ten minutes. I suggest that you get as far from Nextus as possible before they do."

They had him backed into a corner. “This isn’t over meat!” He vanished and ignoring how the chimera’s black tail tracked his progress as he flew. He had been completely humiliated. Somehow he would get back that damn mechie.

Sam took the opportunity become invisible and leave as well. She still had ten klicks left to get to the family compound. She quickly covered the remaining distance and landed on the lawn in front of the main house. Her aunts, uncles, cousins, and her mother’s parents were milling about. Her cousin Joseph and Dexter, his coyote RIDE, were talking to her parents. Everyone stopped when she revealed herself.

“Sam? Maria?” her mother asked

Sam nodded “We…I, go by Sam, but yes. It’s me, I’m back.”

She was engulfed by her family. She was given so many hugs and asked so many questions. She had trouble keeping up for a second. She sent the details over to everyone’s RIDEs. After a few minutes of time compressed sharing everyone was caught up.

“So, where’s Stuart?” there was ping on Sam’s sensors

She turned around. Standing several meters behind her was the same chimera Fuser from earlier. She was wearing a loose black sweater and matching knee length skirt. Her wings gave a nervous twitch, like she was trying not to run away. It took a few seconds but RIDE and rider finally seemed to come to an agreement.

The Fuser slowly split open and a young woman in a yellow sun dress stepped onto the lawn. Her white blonde hair was in a pixie cut. She had feline ears, swiveling at every sound and matching nose was twitching at every smell. She nervously thumbed the end of one of her goat horns while her black cobra headed tail curled around in front of her.

She hesitated before saying “Tadaima.”

Sam stared at her in disbelief. She used time compression to replay everything a dozen times to make sure she reached the right conclusion. Since her family lived and breathed crazy it made perfect sense. After all only one person in their family would use Japanese. Claire was her cousin Stuart.

Only one way to be sure "Stuart?"

She grinned nervously "Hey," she sniffed and her eyes widened "Sam you integrated? Last time we spoke you refused to even think about getting a RIDE."

Now it was turn Sam to smile "A lot can happen in five years. Why don't we all go inside?"

"No," Sam's Aunt Cathy, the youngest daughter, spoke up "You can't be Stuart. You can't be my son."

"Cathy." her husband warned

"No Bill, I don't want to hear it! There is no way that woman can be our son!"

"Before I left I got you a sterling silver bracelet. The note I put on it said that no matter what I put you though I wanted you to know how much I loved you."

"This bitch has probably been spying on us." Aunt Gina said "I'll bet she's here to try and scam us."

What little confidence Claire seemed to have built up disappeared. “This was a mistake.” She said as tears began welling up in her eyes before she fused with Mel. Sam and Joseph recovered first. Dexter quickly fusing with his partner.

'':Sam, I believe her. Only my brother, sister, would know that. Aunt Gina is just being a spiteful bitch.''

'':Normally she would lash out and bite right back. Do you think there's something wrong with her?''

'':Maybe, we’re lucky her RIDE wants her to stay.''

'':Yeah, it looks like Mel is trying to calm her down. You guys are with the Marshal right?''

'':We’re Diamond Stars, why?''

'':Can you find out what kind of RIDE Mel is?''

'':One step ahead of ya. I sent out an inquiry when we saw her enter the property and Dexter just got a match.''

Sam paled '':CMA(f)-ASA-001, skimmer mode is a high speed flier.''

'':I’ve read the report about them, project canceled due to quote unquote budget issues. I hope she isn’t still combat capable.''

'':She is. The only thing she’s missing is her hand carried weapon.''

'':Then let’s count that as a blessing.''

Behind them Gina had continued to spout increasingly caustic and illogical words. At last her Aunt Cathy seemed to remember ''who'' was talking and ignoring her. Everything was starting to fall apart. What should have been a happy family reunion was turning into a feud. As they finally got close enough Mel there was a smack from back on the porch.

“Regina, be quiet.” Geosaffati said to his third daughter.

Geosaffati J. Maiuri Junior, Pawpaw to his friends and family, stepped down from the front porch. The family patriarch eyed his assembled children and grandchildren, eyes settling on Joseph/Dexter, Sam and Claire/Mel. At just over 100 he had seen more than his fair share of fighting, first on Earth and then during the Sturmhaven Nextus War. On Earth, his skills hheld a high level management position and made a fortune in investments.

He was a big broad shouldered man who worked hard to maintain his physical health. What little hair he had left on his head was wispy gray and going white. White furred simian ears twitched atop his head as his tail lashed behind him. Even with his face marred by a frown you could still see the lines etched into it from years of laughing. Behind him stood his RIDE, MKY(m)-LMA-009L, Vinnie.

“Welcome home.”

Claire blinked as she felt a pair of strong arms wrapped around her. She hesitated before she gently reached out and hugged her grandfather. When they separated she took a few deep breaths. She could do this. She ‘’had’’ to do this. After a few seconds they broke part.

“Thanks Pawpaw. Mel, you can let me go now.”

“Aw, does this mean I can’t keep you?” she teased before they defused.

Claire and Mel had obviously spent a lot of time fused. Her nails had begun to narrow and were curved to a slight point. She had the slight beginnings of a muzzle, complete with short whiskers. She even had a slightly feline tongue and her canines were definitely getting longer. The real kicker was the fine layer of white fur that had recently started to cover her; most people missed it because it blended seamlessly with her skin tone.

“We keep each other. We’re partners, equals, and don’t let anyone try and tell you otherwise.”

“I’m glad you found such a good match.” Joseph said “Now let’s go inside. I’m sure y’all have quite the story to tell about working for the Zharus Planetary Authority.”

{{Separator|k}}

It had taken about an hour for Claire to finish telling her family about her job helping to bust a smuggling ring. That was the cover story she had been given. It would be in all the official records. It was also partially true. She was originally assigned to the Contraband Task force.

"You were on the Contraband Task force? Stu...Claire, that's impressive." Cathy said

"They wanted my eye for detail. You know better than anyone just how good I am at hiding in plain sight." Also true and she had been reassigned.

"So they wanted you to act as an observer?" Dexter asked

"Yeah." Also true.

"Then why have you changed so much? Everything I know about you shows that you were a lot more energetic. It's like you're a completely different person. What happened?" Claire looked away.

Joseph sighed "Sis, we're just trying to help. We can't do that if you won't let us."

Mel sheltered her with a wing "Its okay. Why don't we stay here tonight, hmm?"

"You'll have sleep in the family room. You're old room's been turned into an expansion of the workshop." Vinnie said

Mel started licking her ears "Come on Claire! You can't lie to me. We both want to!"

"Alright. Alright!" she said as she laughed "We can sleep here tonight! No more kitty bath! It tickles!"

"''That's'' why I do it." she said and gave one more sloppy lick "It was more fun when you had long hair."

"Maybe for you."

Mel smiled "I know for a 'fact' one of your favorite pictures is the aftermath of the first tongue bath."

Claire blushed as she slid out from under the wing "Tha-that's because it was the first one! It was a special event."

"Is that why you're grinning like an idiot?"

"I'm not like an idiot."

"Oh? Let me guess you ''are'' an idiot." Mel narrowed her eyes as she got off the RIDE couch.

"Damn right I am." She crossed her arms.

There was a full minute of silence "Well," Bill said "it’s nice to see you acting like yourself again."

Claire blinked and went red, brushing a hand along her right horn. Mel purred as she rubbed up against her. Sam watched all of this from the kitchen as she helped Pawpaw finish preparing dinner. Spaghetti with a three meat sauce, his specialty dish and a family favorite. Mentally, her Maria half was fully expressing itself by worrying over her cousin's biometrics.

"There's something wrong with her." Pawpaw said "Vinnie said her biometrics are wonky. So I know you can see it to."

Sam sighed "Maria thinks so too. I would've missed it if she hadn't split off to point it out."

He nodded "How is she?"

Sam frowned "That's part of the problem. We can't tell."

He chuckled "Not Claire, Maria. I don't know how Integration works but I know she's forever part of you now."

"Oh," she flushed at her blunder "never better, but she still wants a proper weapon. I've read some stuff about how it 'might' be possible to get one. But if get caught or something goes wrong I'd be in really deep trouble."

"Fritz, right?"

"How did you know?"

He smiled "Dear, I know people and he ''isn't'' as omnipotent as he wants everyone to believe. Besides that, there are other people you could ask for help. Especially if you're going back to live with your folks in Aloha. I know the Marshals have hired a lot of Integrates so you might be able to ask Joseph for some comm codes." he stepped into the doorway “Alright everyone time to eat.”

There is only one word that can be used to describe dinner with the Maiuri family, loud. Of the seventeen people, Joseph and Michael were the only two louder than the assembled mothers. It may have been louder than Claire liked but its familiarity was a welcome comfort. She noticed that Sam deliberately sat next to her. The paranoid part of her thought it was a statement about how she was probably going to be the next one to ‘ascend’.

"So Cous, I noticed you have some heavy fuse signs."

"Mel is a lot of RIDE for someone to handle."

“So…have you two considered…Integrating?” Sam asked.

Mel groaned from the other room “You know Claire ''killed'' the last person who asked us that right?”

“I only did that because she was trying to force it onto us. Besides we both know he probably survived.”

“Not for lack of trying on your part.”

She put her elbow on the table and rested her chin on her hand “If he had held still for another half a second I could’ve destroyed his brain and…what?” The table had gone silent “It was self-defense.”

“Based on the intel we have now I think ''pest control'' is a better term."

Sam couldn’t keep the disbelief out of her voice “Back up, you two walked away from a fanatic without being Integrated, how?”

“By frying his DIN port, shelling him from fifteen hundred kilometers and destroying sixty-seven percent of his body mass.” At Sam's incredulous look she shrugged and started twirling her loaded fork between her fingers "You asked."

Sam stared at the fork. "All things considered you are an excellent shot, but I recommend sticking to CQC." Mel said

She had seen before, it was a nervous habit. "So we should practice by taking pot shots at the Rodinian Nature Preserve? Aim for the deadest looking trees?"

Replace the fork with a knife. "Rohit would be pissed when she found out."

Claire had been telling half-truths "You mean if."

She was supposed to be on the task force but had done something else instead. "No, I mean ''when''. Someone will notice and she would be able to trace it back to us. I'd rather not have ‘'her'’ angry with us, pacifist or not."

Sam cleared her throat "All of this is very interesting but you still haven't answered my question."

She sighed "We have thought about it. For now it's not for us, maybe someday but it'll be because it’s what we want."

Sam nodded "Glad to hear that you aren't planning on rushing into it. Being an Integrate is nice, but it has its drawbacks."

"Like the fact that your leaders are all the bad kind of crazy."

"Among other problems, yes. On the subject of supremacists I'd like to know what you did to Dominic."

"He a friend of yours?"

She snorted "Not anymore."

Claire blinked “Alright, you’ll have to be more specific.”

“When he tried to hack you.”

“Oh that," she ate her forkful of spaghetti "not much to tell, I have a special program called Cardinal.”

“And…?” Sam asked.

She shrugged “That’s all I know.”

Sam groaned “You’re kidding.”

“Nope, the rest of the information is above my pay grade.”

At this point the rest of the table had returned to normal conversation. Claire and her father got into a discussion about RIDE maintenance. He really wanted a chance to give Mel a once over. It was strictly out of professional curiosity. Mel accepted the offer on the condition that it be performed at their house with their tools, a perfectly reasonable request.

They asked about Claire's co-workers on the task force, more half-truths. They asked about her crossrider party and the gifts she received, most were surprisingly useful. Why she had waited so long to contact them, she had been told to by her handler. What Sebastian, her handler, was like and why she even needed one. She said to keep her safe, a straight lie.

Regina wanted to know if Claire would be moving back to Nextus, no way in Hell. Then she wanted to know if Claire was planning to live in Sturmhaven like her. This earned a string of words in a language no one could identify and a small rant about idiotic feminists. When Claire had first returned to Zharus a Valkyrie had tried to force herself on him. Marshal intervention was the only thing that had prevented a fight from breaking out.

Right now they were living out of their sub. They were usually docked at the Aloha aerodome since they were working for Oz. Sam and Bobbie wanted to know more about that. Bobbie was a programmer and as always interested in learning more. Bobbie's hare and Keith's deer were both on their way back from running out to pick up dessert.

“I heard there’s a dungeon in Taft.” Sam said

“That’s right. A hundred sub-basements beneath a church, each one is a microcosm unto itself. We just made it down to the seventy-fourth yesterday.”

“It took you two months?”

“I spent sixty hours power leveling before I could start that dungeon. You could make it pretty far at your current level, but it would be time consuming.”

“Do you have any suggestions?”

“Once you find the entrance there’ll probably be some people you can party with, or you can go with me. Though, you’ll still have to find the entrance on your own.”

She groaned “I spent my sub flight over checking the side rooms and found nothing.”

“Sorry Cous, that’s the way it is. I’ll meet you there later.”

She shrugged “Alright, it’s not like I have anything better to do.”

“You could find a job.” Her mother said

Sam harrumphed. If she was looking for a job her best bet a Fuser based establishment, like a Fuser bar. She didn’t mind going back into that line of work. She might even go back to school. Online classes had a lot more appeal to her now. But it wouldn't do her any good if she just cheated her way through.

A few hours after dinner Claire was finally able to log into Oz and meet Sam in Taft. One second the room was empty, the next Claire was sitting in one the pews with Mel sprawled in the aisle. Sam had spent the entire time searching the church's remaining side rooms. She quirked an eyebrow but didn't say anything as she went back to searching. Half an hour later she sat down and leaned back against the alter, only to yelp as it slid backwards.

Sam sighed "Beneath the alter, how cliched."

"The entrance is different for everyone, but it’s always literally in the last place you look. That's why I couldn't help you find it."

"So I have to search this place every time?"

"Once you reach the first town it gives you a teleport spell. You can also use it to travel between the various floors."

They were able to start off on the fiftieth floor dungeon. Claire played as the forward guard drawing in the attention of the mobs and letting Sam get bonus xp and special items for killing them. The few times she attacked her blade would cut down groups at a time. When they reached the fifty fifth floor Claire took her to a blacksmith for new gear and upgrades. They spent the next several hours traipsing through the floor dungeons until they reached the seventy fourth floor.

By the time they got there Sam was several levels higher and had replaced most of her gear thrice over. They met up with other players along the way, several of which made no attempt to hide their Integrate status behind disguises. Sam soon joined them reveling in the new found freedom. The others shared stories about various raids, trades, duels and integrations. They made it halfway back to town before she noticed Claire and Mel were gone.

She dropped back into the real world and noticed her internal chronometer said it was close to four in the morning. They had probably logged out to go to sleep and she just hadn't been paying attention. She quietly stretched as she went down to the kitchen to get a snack. On her way back she peeked into the family room. Mel was lying awake in the middle of the room, her head resting on her paws. Claire was fast asleep on her back, half her face buried in Mel's scruff like it was a fuzzy living pillow.

As she turned to go back upstairs she heard the faintest of whimpers. She looked back and saw Claire start to twitch in her sleep as she whimpered again. Mel looked concerned as she shifted, trying to make her more comfortable without waking her up. When the whimpering continued, a part of Sam realized that she was intruding on something very 'very' private. The instant Claire began to thrash Mel fused up around her, staying on hands and knees as she interrupted whatever figment was tormenting Claire.

Sam watched as the Fuser took several deep breathes before curling up on the RIDE couch and seemingly going to sleep. She quietly returned to her room, never once noticing that the eyes of the cobra tail had been watching her the entire time. Everything about her cousin's odd behavior confirmed her theory. Something terrible had happened to Claire.

{{Separator|k}}

The first thing Sam noticed when she came down for breakfast was the twenty meter sub-orbital parked in the backyard. A quick query showed it was registered to, and owned by, Claire. She grabbed a bowl of cereal to eat as she went outside to take a closer look. When she stepped outside she could hear the voices coming from inside it.

"It's good to see you, I would've been here last night but I got caught up at the office."

"It’s okay, thanks for the crossover gift."

She laughed "I bet it got some strange looks when you opened it, but I always thought the traditional gifts were a little dumb."

As she stepped into the sub Sam recognized her older cousin Heather. The petite wolverine tagged ZPA employee was still half a head shorter than Claire. Her brown ears were almost completely hidden by her shoulder length dirty blonde hair. Sam heard the end of the comm discussion the two of them were secretly having as Heather broke the hug she had on Claire.

'':I'm sorry, if I had known where they were sending you I wouldn't have put your name up as a possible for The Ghosts.''

'':It’s okay, from what I heard I'd be dead if I had stayed with the task force.''

'':Still.''

"Heather allow me to reintroduce you to our cousin Samantha and her RIDE Maria."

Before she could blink Heather had wrapped her in a bone crushing hug. "Look at you two, all Integrated and furry!"

She returned the gesture "Thanks, what are The Ghosts?"

That wiped the smiles off their faces "Classified, and don't even try to dig up information on it. Integrate or not you won't find anything."

"Alright, alright you don't need to go biting my head off. Where are Mariko and Mel?"

"Over here." Mel called from the other room "Your Uncle was just finishing his inspection."

Bill shook his head as Mel was released from the cradle "You have an excellent chassis, looks like it could take just about anything. Like those wings, they weren't in the original design. At least not any of the drafts I’ve seen."

"I felt like I was in the wrong body. We tried a bunch of things but it wasn't until we were in Rodinia that we found an answer. They used a winged lioness as one of my bases."

He nodded recognizing the symptoms of body diaspora "Installing micro solar panels for solid state feathers, pretty clever idea."

"Glad you like, it was Claire's."

"It’s nice being on indefinite leave, lots of time to travel and just relax." Claire turned to Heather "Earlier you said there was some sort of convention I might like to go to?"

"That's right; it’s a convention for people with ASA RIDEs. Kind of like a RIDE or skimmer show, you can meet lots of people and learn more about maintenance and stuff. I thought it might do you some good to spend time with people you aren't related to."

"I do that in Oz."

She gave Sam a pleading look "You've been having nightmares."

She looked away "Maybe."

"There might be people who can help you."

"Claire," Heather put a hand on her shoulder "you're not alone anymore. If you're still having nightmares let us help you. At the very least let Mel help, she's your partner for crying out loud."

"I know that." she snapped "At least, I do intellectually. I'm trying but it’s not easy, it’s a hard
habit to break after three years."

Sam sighed "Let's make a deal. I had planned to take you shopping today, that dress is probably one of the few outfits you can actually use." Claire's blush confirmed this "So we'll go to the Con with you and, when you want to leave, we'll take you shopping for some real clothes. Deal?"

Claire groaned "Fine, you've got me backed into a corner."

Sam waved at her "And that's why I'm your favorite."

"Besides," she smirked "I could use proper pair of sweats anyway."

Now it was Sam's turn to groan as she punched Claire's shoulder. Stuart had never understood the appeal of being fashionably dressed. Ironically this had an incredible fashion sense, he could look downright amazing if he wanted to. But he would much rather run around in comfortable clothing regardless of whether or not was in style or matched.

Within an hour the five of them were on their way to the largest convention center in the polity. Artillery Support Armor was a bit of misnomer. The classification included everything from gunships and indirect fire to low orbit bombardment and sniper style direct fire units. This broad range meant they were also produced in an equal large range of sizes, mostly on the larger end of the scale. Thus they needed a convention center whenever they wanted to gather in large groups.

There were thousands of people and RIDEs packed into the center. They were even able to spot a few Integrates taking advantage of the crowd to wander around exposed to the world. They ended up meeting up with a few veterans of Nextus-Sturmhaven war. Whenever Mel was noticed she immediately became the center of attention and received everything from sympathy and comm codes to death threats.

Claire had just sat down in the food court when a hand landed on her shoulder "Excuse me ma'am," a feminine voice said "but it’s important that I speak to you."

Her tail hissed as it examined the woman behind her. She yanked her hand back in surprise, badger ears flattening. The fact that she didn't step away from Claire said she was used to getting what she wanted. Her accent marked her as belonging to the upper levels of the Nextus government.

Claire sighed "About what?" Why did Sam and Heather have to get food now.

"That RIDE belongs to you right? My superiors in the MRS want me to demand its return."

Mel growled "We're partners, we belong to each other. A few months I ago I had to send some of your co-workers packing."

She snorted "I heard about that."

"Lieutenant Colonel Steele, how nice to see you again." Heather, Fused with Mariko, walked over with a tray of food.

"D-Director, I...I didn't see you there."

"Oh course you didn't,” she sat down "I just got back with our food." she pushed out a chair "Please, sit down." It wasn't a request. "This is the second time Nextus has harassed one of my operatives. I thought I made it clear what would happen if this continued, regardless of 'who' was doing the harassing."

“I understand, but my superiors obviously don't." she pinched the bridge of her nose "This was supposed to be my weekend off, got it approved months ago. I just wanted to come here and enjoy the time with other people with ASAs. Then I got a call an hour ago and was told that facial rec placed you here and was given orders to try and convince you to hand you RIDE over to me."

"How long have you been partnered?"

She smiled tiredly "Fifteen years now, she’s a BDR(f)-ASA-014W. She ran into some of her friends who’ve already mustered put. I think this whole debacle is a sign that we should tender our resignation.”

“Any idea why your top brass is so interested in Mel?”

“Not a clue, someone in the military or one of the upper tiers might be putting them up to it. You know quid pro quo.”

Claire grunted “I ‘hate’ career politicians.”

There was a murmur of agreement “Well, I’ve bothered you enough.” Steele offered her hand and Claire shook it. “I’m going to find Cressa and get back to enjoying the convention.”

Sam showed up shortly after Steele left and they ate their late lunch. This time when Claire said she wanted to leave there were no objections. The trip had served its purpose which was to get introduce Claire to other people. A handful of the RIDEs gave Mel advice on how to help Claire deal with her night terrors.

Compared to everything that was happening at the convention shopping was uneventful. However Sam’s idea of shopping hadn’t included the half a dozen specialty stores Claire dragged them into. That aside, it was easy to find clothes for her. Convincing her to buy some of the more feminine ones was impossible. It took a while to talk her into defusing to actually try on different outfits. Her pragmatism about clothes had clearly crossed over with her.

They caught a lucky break, one of shops was run by an Integrate and Sam was able to try on real clothes for the first time in months. Claire refused to entertain anything that had frills or lace. Just about the only feminine clothes she bought were sundresses and a pair of sunhats. Everything else was t-shirts and shorts. As far as she was concerned indefinite leave was the same as retirement, just with better pay.

The entire time they were shopping Claire was doing something on the net. Sam’s fear of the mysterious Cardinal System was the only thing that prevented her from taking a closer peek. After all, just because she could look in on everything digital didn’t mean she should. Everyone was entitled to just as much privacy as she was. Then again, she could always ask.

“Claire, are you going to share the reason you’ve been on the net for the past six hours with the group?”

She was silent for a bit "Swear not tell anyone?"

"On pain of death."

"Therapy," she was blushing "you know I had a nightmare last night. The problem is I've been having them for several months now. They're less frequent now but I'm still having them. Cardinal was helping at first but now its doing more harm than good."

Heather swore "Nobody said you were given a copy of Cardinal."

"They probably didn't think it was important."

"Like Hell it isn't. Who authorized it?"

She shrugged "Romulus something or other."

Heather groaned "Romulus Mengsk?" a nod "That power hungry idiot. Cardinal is designed for rapid tactical analysis not psychiatric care. Do you at least have control over it?"

"Umm..."

Sam frowned "I'm guessing this Mengsk person didn't tell you that you could adjust it."

Claire snorted "He didn't say much of anything about it. I could probably hack it."

"Don't," Mariko said "I'll pass over the control codes so you can disable it, take an image before you adjust it."

"Hopefully Tassidar will throw him out on his ass, politics be damned."

"Um, are you sure its okay for you guys to discuss this in fornt of me?"

"Its useless to anyone else you might know."

Sam briefly thought of Fritz "I'm not sure about that."

"The Bosscat wouldn't be able to do anything useful with the information. Even if he wants Mengsk to stay in power he knows better than to try anything."

"Wait the ZPA knows about Fritz?"

"We've had contact with certain individuals who brought him to our attention. We've been...monitoring the situation ever since."

"We understand you're scared of him but he's just a person. If it came down to a fight the odds are stacked 'against' his favor."

"Easy for you to say." Sam muttered.

{{Separator|k}}

Claire, stilled Fused with Mel yawned as she woke up the next morning.They had a very productive night in OZ, lots of level grinding with Sam. The boss room had been found and its raid was currently in the early planning stages. Depending on the information the scout teams gathered they might be able to clear it within a few days. But that was just wishful thinking on her part.

With most of Cardinal disabled Claire had been able to download a lucid dreaming app for her implant and get a direct look at her subconscious. If she ever saw Mengsk again he would be subjected to a swift and unbearably painful death. That bastard had tried to use Cardinal to brainwash her into becoming his obedient little puppet.It was easy enough to fix what he had changed and Mel kept meticulous notes on what they found. It was damning enough that he would probably be locked up for the rest of his life.

For the first time since coming back Claire really felt like herself. At breakfast she had a pointless argument with her brother (she lost), pounced on Vinnie, and generally made a minor nuisance of herself. Though she didn't say anything she could feel Mel's approval of the return towards her true normalcy. She knew she could never go all the way back, too much had happened, but she could get close.

Last night they had flown to Cascadia to visit one of Keith's friends and do a little sight seeing before heading back to Aloha. It had been going great until they announced that they were going to let some of the rain through the domes. It wasn't really dangerous, more of a minor annoyance, but it did force them to cut their tour short. They were almost to the aerodome when Claire put a hand on Sam's shoulder.

'':We're being followed.''

Sam checked her sensor '':Doesn't look like it.''

'':Trust me we are, take your parents and get back to The Dawn. I, we, will handle this.''

Sam noticed the hesitation with the pronouns '':Alright.''

It took only a few minutes for them to be out of sight "You can come out now."

From under a nearby awning stepped a red panda Fuser "Corporal Mort and Private Eugene," she shook the offered hand "its a pleasure to meet you ma'am."

A fellow Ghost "Likewise, now let's get down to brass tacks. Why were you following us?"

He offered he a tablet "Emergency orders, direct from Colonel Tiger himself."

"I'm supposed to be on leave. Why didn't he just comm me?"

"He's been trying to."

Claire swore "I bet its something Mengsk imbedded in that copy of Cardinal. We're gonna have to get a full work up done on my implants."

Colonel Tiger Sauer was the founding member and commanding officer of the Ghosts. It had been he who sent her on indefinite leave, after approving her new partner. He was also an Integrate and gave every Ghost a special encryption key. There was no doubt in her or Mel's mind that he was fully aware Claire had family with her right now. If he was giving her direct orders there were no other options.

The mission was a simple extraction operation that required them to stop at the southern end of a mineral formation called the Towers. She wouldn't be required to fight anyone. All she had to do was fly in pick up the fire-team and fly them all out without attracting the attention of the local Enclave.

If Sam hadn’t been watching the entrance she would have missed Claire and Mel’s return. She could tell something was different as soon as they stepped aboard. Her parents didn’t notice Mel’s hardlight fur had become smooth armor.

“There’s been a slight change in our flight plan. Claire and I need to make a work related detour.”

“I thought everything Oz related was in Aloha.” Bobbie said.

“This is ZPA related. Need to pick up a survey team we have out in the Towers. They’re probably going to be tired. So, I want y’all to try and stay out of their way.”

“There might not be anyone for you to pick up. There’s an Enclave in the Towers and they have been known to forcibly remove tethers from RIDEs and they sometimes…encourage Integration in others.”

“Trust me the Enclave has no idea that they’re there. Its more towards the central section so they won't notice us either.”

"I don't know..."

"Sam we were able to sneak up on you and Dominic."

She winced "There's going to be a lot more than just two this time."

Claire/Mel shrugged "Two or 2000, numbers are only important if they're paying attention. Now, I'm going to grab something from my room and then we'll be off."

The trip from Cascadia to the Towers was very short. A straight line flight instead of an parabolic arc. Sam couldn't believe how fast The Dawn was Claire had done some major upgrades from its stock configuration. It was only very strict self-control that kept her from running a deep scan to find out what made her tick. That and Sam was worried that she might expose them if she did.

Claire had the loading ramp open before they even landed. Everything was still and it would have been eerily quiet if the wind stopped. They sat there for ten minutes before she kicked on her stealth and went to go talk to Claire. Except the cockpit was empty. A quick search proved both she and Mel had left The Dawn.

Throwing her worries aside she reached out and pinged Mel on the sidebands. Several seconds passed before Mel pinged her back letting her know she had met with the survey team and they were on their back. Sam walked into the back area and stood right in the entrance her sensors on full alert.

She stood there for fifteen minutes and was about to walk back in when an arm wrapped around her neck. She would've screamed if the a hand hadn't clamped over her mouth. She was quickly dragged backwards into the main cargo area as the ramp closed sealing up the ship.

A man's voice growled in her ear "If I where an enemy you'd be dead." she was released "Come on Probie, Mike and Aug need help with Mosley."

Mosley turned out to be a wounded Bandicoot Integrate being tapped on cheek by a Wombat Fuser "Come on Mosley stay with us!"

She caught the wrist before it could tap against her cheek again "Hit me again and I'll break your wrists."

The Fuser gave a sigh "Thank God you're alright. Ajax, Probie, give me a hand getting her to kitchen."

Ajax turned out to be an LSA black lab Fuser. When Sam made no move to follow he grabbed her wrist and dragged her forward. With a combination of lifter control and hand support they got Mosley settled on the kitchen table. Ajax opened a cabinet and gave a spare sarium battery to Mosley. Why had he called Sam been Probie?

"Where's Claire?" Sam asked, the quiet hum of the lifters answered her question.

"The LT is making sure we get out of here in one piece." Mosely answered "I know we asked for emergency evac but I didn't think they'd send the Ace of Aces herself." she looked over at Sam "Probie, front and center. I thought I knew every female Ghost and recruit we have."

Claire's voice came over their comms' '': Neither, she's my cousin.''

"That explains her lack of reflexes." Ajax said.

"I'm standing right here you know."

'':Where are y'all going to stay when we get to Aloha?'' Mel asked.

'':No idea. We were supposed to be out here for another week.''

"Um you guys can stay at my house." They looked at her. "Well its technically my parents house. But we've got plenty of room for guests."

"You'll have to run it by them first and I don’t think there is anyway they’ll let us stay for a week."

It was the second night after they arrived in Aloha. Ajax (Andrew and his RIDE Jackson), Mosley, Mike and Aug had spent the first day busily preparing their reports and getting some much needed rest. They had most of the day in Oz being brought up to speed on the raid strategy and gathering supplies. They had already spent most of the night out on the town, slowly going from bars up to clubs with Claire getting progressively drunker, probably because she was lounging on Mel’s back when they traveled, her hair now shoulder length.

“I had no idea Claire was a happy drunk.”

“Let’s just hope she stays that way.” Ajax said.

“What do you mean?”

“Pray that you never have to find out.” Mosley muttered as Claire babbled to Mel.

“What language is she speaking anyway?”

“No idea, she must have picked it up on her last assignment.” Aug said

Sam shook her head "We have about two hours till the bars close up for the night, any suggestions."

"Loch Ness, its on 32nd Street." Claire giggled as she motioned its general direction.

Mosley patted her head "No more for you."

Loch Ness turned out to be a rather upscale bar staffed only by marine Fusers. They grabbed seats at the bar proper, Claire half slumping over in hers. The place was surprisingly full for its location and the time of night. They were on their second round of drinks when a musk-ox Fuser walked over and started talking to Claire.

"What's cookin good lookin?" Sam frowned at his Cape Nord accent. "How about I buy you a drink."

Claire giggled "Sure, Edradour on the rocks."

What was she doing? She had agreed she wouldn't have another drink and why was Ajax smirking? Sam looked at the others. Mosley looked resigned while Mike and Aug just looked confused. Clearly the three of them were missing something. Claire's Scotch sat there for a minute before the Fuser said anything.

"Well aren't you going to drink it?"

"Nope, Mosley said no more for me so no more will I drink." she grinned.

He spluttered "But you said I could buy you a drink!"

"And you did, you didn't ask if I could drink it, which I can't." she shrugged.

He frowned "Well, then why don't we go somewhere else and you can have a drink there."

"She said no more so it doesn't matter where. I can't drink any."

"Then how about I take you over to my place. I got a nice hotel room just down the street." He gave her a winning smile.

Claire let out a laugh and patted him on the cheek "You are just to cute, but I'm not that kind of crossrider."She winked at Mosley.

"Then your friend can come to." his grin widened "How about it?"

"Mm, no."

"Aw come on it'll be fun."

Mike/Aug grabbed his arm as he tried drape it around her shoulders "Dude, she said no.

"Stay outta this." The man sneered, jerking his arm free and spilling Claire's Scotch.

Sam blinked and almost missed it. There was a massive crash as Claire slammed the Fuser face first into the bar. They all heard the crunch of metal as his muzzle deformed. He stumbled backwards as Claire stood up. Gone was the happily giggling drunk from a fraction of a second ago.

The man took a swing at her and she just seemed to slide out of the way. He swung again and she slipped around behind him grabbing his tail and yanking him into a spin towards the front. Mosley pinched the bridge of her nose while Ajax was laughing so hard he had fallen out of his seat. She slipped past his strikes again and again before counter attacking. This time Sam missed it because of Mel, but she still heard the rending crash as the man broke through the wall and landed in the street.

Before Claire could take another step she was engulfed by Mel. She put her hands over her heart, eyes closed, as she took deep breaths. Sam could hear the blaring of police sirens as the APD showed up.

{{series bar
|series=Ghost's of Zharus
|previous=None
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[[Category:Story]][[Category:Chimera]][[Category:Transgender]][[Category:Bear]][[Category:Anthropomorphic]][[Category:Dog]] [[Category:FreeRIDErs]] [[Category:Oddoneout]]

User:Oddoneout/Ghosts:Ghost Stories

2014-04-05T01:42:55Z

Oddoneout: added categories

{{Universe|FreeRIDErs}}{{title
|name=Ghosts: Ghost Stories
|author=Oddoneout
|user=Oddoneout}}

Bobbie Maiuri was having a rough morning. Her daughter had gone out the night before with her niece, once nephew, and a group of ZPA agents. They had been brought home by the APD. Apparently Claire was in a fight of some sort, very one-sided from the sound of it, and the APD had decided she didn't need to spend the night in jail. She just wasn't supposed to de-Fuse or leave the property without supervision for the next 30 hours.

The man Claire attacked was a Cape Nord native who had been in town on business. Mosley said there were 2 reasons that he was very lucky to be alive. The first was that Claire being drunk caused a lack of finer control that could have landed him in the hospital for days. The second was that if Claire hadn't slammed him into the bar her cobra headed tail would have bitten him. She wouldn't say exactly what the snake was carrying in its fangs, just that it was guaranteed to be fatal, even to Integrates.

As soon as the APD had left Mel/Claire had gone to the backyard and sat down cross-legged. They hadn't moved since. When, Sam checked on them she said they were talking to someone on an Integrate secure comm line. Ajax said the fighting and brooding was not normal.

"Excuse me, is this the Maiuri residence?" There was a tiger Fuser at the door.

"Yes."

"I'm Tiger Sauer, with the ZPA." His voice reminded her of Harvey Keitel.

"Bobbie." she shook the offered hand.

"I have been led to believe you have some of my operatives here, is that correct?"

"It is. Won't you please come in?"

"Thank you very much." she closed the door "I've also been led to believe you know about Integrates is that correct?"

She nodded "Our daughter is Integrated, just came back to us a few days ago."

It took a second for Bobbie to realize, Tiger was also an Integrate. "You don’t have to stay in hardlight." he quirked a brow "I can tell by your body language. You aren't used to hiding."

He chuckled as he dropped the sherade. His black stripes doubled as faintly glowing tron lines. He was a lanky man, narrow in the shoulders and all arms and legs. As they walked she could see corded muscles rippling beneath his fur. Despite his desk job he made a point of keeping in shape.

Bobbie had done some research on her newest guest. Colonel Tiger Sauer, served in the North American Army during the Brush Wars. Emigrated to Zharus in 132 AL first settlingin Nextus. During the Nextus-Sturmhaven War he was involved in the development and adoption of RIDEs for and by covert units, partnering with a TGR(m)-HMA himself. After the war he and his partner mustered out and joined the Zharus Planetary Authority and information about them became scarce.

"So, what went wrong?" He asked as sat on the couch.

"They got lucky." Ajax said "I know it sounds like an excuse Sir but it’s the truth. We were a thousand klicks out from the nearest entrance to that place and one of the locals stumbled across us. Her description matched Quinoa Steader; sorry to say she's on the edge of a slippery slope."

Tiger nodded "I thought that might be the case. Scuttlebutt said she was moving out to the Towers Enclave, just thought we had more time before she left."

Bobbie stood there gaping "Um... are you sure you shouldn't be in a secure room or something for this."

"I secured the entire property before I rang the doorbell and no one would believe you if you told them. How's Claire?"

Mosley smiled "She's doing much better. I guess all she really needed was to get drunk, spill her guts, and get in a pointless fight. Once she had a few drinks she spent half the night talking to me on a secure line."

"How much did she say?"

"Only where she really went and what went wrong, no real details though."

"Wait she didn't go to Proxima?" Bobbie asked.

"No, I'll see if I can't get her clearance to give you guys full disclosure. At least your story matches what she told me this morning."

"You called her?"

"She called me. Mengsk gave her a Manchurian program with some hidden features. I was able to destroy most of it but I want to make sure she's in the clear before Tassadar nukes him."

"So that asshole's finally getting spaced?" Mike asked.

Bobbie blanched; spacing was slang for throwing someone out of an airlock. Tiger shook his head "I don't know. Tassadar might decide spacing is too good for him. Now, where is Claire?"

In the backyard Dominic, formerly MRS agents Carl Yottes and Dominic, was about to relive a humilitaing and terrifing experience. He had been overjoyed when his hacking revealed that Sam was related to the Fuser who humilated him in both Nextus and Oz. He could get his revenge on them at the same time.

It had been so easy to hack that idiot from Cape Nord into doing exactly what he needed. All he had to do was put out an anonymous tip to the APD and wait for them to haul that Fuser to jail. He didn't stick around to watch as he had other preparations to make. Aloha belonged to the Munns and Integrates who shared their mind set of sticking with meat. If Dominic was going to pull this off he needed an air-tight exit plan.

He peaked around the corner of the house checking the backyard. Nice and empty just like it should be, this was going to be too easy. He was going to Integrate Sam's mother and when her father came back he'd Integrate him to. Sure, Fritz wouldn't approve if he found out but it was a small price to pay if it meant teaching some freak meatie a lesson.

He opened up his sensors to check inside the house again. They bounced off a transparent hardlight barrier now encapsulating the two story home. That wasn't there a second ago. Sam wasn't strong enough to create something like this, so who did? This wasn't in the plan. He turned to leave and bump into something solid.

"Da fuq?" the entire backyard was encased by a hardlight shield.

"Leaving so soon?" He wiped around, siting crosslegged in the middle of the backyard was Claire/Mel in Fuser. "You haven't been dismissed yet ''Corporal''."

He blanched "What did you just call me?"

"You will address your superior officer as Sir. As to your question, well it took me a while to remember y'all, Corporal Carl Yottes and HAA(m)-GRZ-012J Dominic of Nextus Material Recovey Services. I was in charge of a joint op about 5 years back, ZPA and MRS, you were assigned to my squad." he frowned "Still don't remember? I was in an AIDE, matte black."

The bottom dropped out of his stomach, now he remembered having pushed it to the very bottom hoping that embaressesment would never again come up. Carl was a Cape Nord native with an extensive Mancard and, as such, expected that they would be leading the assault. Instead they had placed under the command of a young waif of a Staff Sargent.

That was fine, not being in command meant fewer responsiblities. They were confident that the Sargent would place them at the head of the entry team. They thought wrong; instead their job was to breach the wall and defend the entry point. Carl had fumed at this indignity. He was a Man for crying out loud.

When he requested (demanded) that he lead the assault he found himself re-assigned to the perimeter instead. When their target fled he almost let them get away. When questioned about it he had foolish responded that a true Man doesn't attack a defeated opponent. He wanted the Sargent to prove his Manhood.

The next 2 minutes were the most humiliating and painful of his life. His opponent, using an old AIDE, danced around his strikes and easily landing his own. They had to replace 35% of his plating, along with their hands.

"Sargent Maiuri." he whispered.

Thus named Claire gave a cold smile "Actually it's Lieutant now. Reports said you went AWOL 2 years back, guess that's a lie." the smile turned to a frown "It also seems you've forgotten the lesson I taught you. How about a refresher?"

Dominic was frozen, it had been 4 years ''and'' he had Integrated. There was no way he would lose a second time. The part of him that was Carl pointed out that it was that same attitude that had gotten pummeled in the first place. Whatever branch of the ZPA Claire nee Stuart was in they awarded merit at least partially based on how much ass you could kick.

With a snarl he leapt at the large Fuser, only to be met midway by a two fingered strike to his stomach. He doubled over boosting away with his lifters as he suppressed the urge to puke. He could hear a faint ringing in his ears, like he had stood too close to an explosion. The same ringing he heard when she struck him in Nextus. A quick check showed his lens were in no danger of failing.

He made himself invisible and prepared to strike. By the time he noticed her tail tracking him it was too late to avoid her strike. It was only because he did try that her arm grazed his shoulder instead of passing through it. The ringing in his ears abruptly stopped as most of his shoulder exploded. As he gaped at his severed arm he was very glad that he had already shut down his pain reception.

That hesitation was all the opening Claire/Mel needed. A pair of rapid strikes gave Dominic's left leg the same treatment. They de-Fused mid-leap, Mel pinning the Integrate to the ground as her jaws clamped around his head. Claire's tail lashed out fangs sinking deeply into the severed portion of the leg and tossing it down near his head. They stood there for a few seconds before he noticed the leg was beginning to dissolving.

"Nitric acid." Claire said in a bored tone.

He could practically ''feel'' the data flowing between the partners. They were on the cusp of Integration. If he tried to hack Mel, Claire would instantly know and she would kill him. If he tried to attack Claire, Mel would know before he could finish twitching and she would kill him. The fight had taken seconds and now he was completely trapped beaten by naked meat and a mech.

"Root." he didn't argue.

Claire wasted no time locking him out of everything except life support, consciousness, and basic senses. She could hand him over to someone else, maybe the Marshals would take him. She Fused up and sat down to wait. The others should be along shortly.

Tiger frowned when he saw Claire/Mel sitting next to an immobilized grizzly Integrate “I’m getting sloppy.”

She tapped Dominic's head "What are we going to do with him?"

He shrugged " I have no problem with turning him over to the Marshals."

She nodded "Did you bring Mel's kit?"

"Yeah, come around front and we'll get her squared away."

"Who was that guy anyway?" Ajax asked.

"Remember that smash and grab we pulled with MRS?"

"Yeah, wait was that?"

"Yup."

Ajax shrugged "Well, you can't fix stupid."

Claire/Mel nodded as they came around into the front yard they saw Tiger opening the trailer of a skimmer truck parked in the driveway. Mel slid off into Walker mode before they went up the ramp into the mobile maintenance bay. It was a little cramped with everyone inside, especially once Tiger closed it. Mel settled herself in the middle of the room before powering down.

"I'm glad you sent me Mel's updated specs. You did a good job bringing her up to Ghost-spec so all she really needs are the specialty items."

"Stealth coating?" Claire asked.

"Better."

Claire gave a squeal, jumping up and down with joy. It was girliest thing any of them had every seen her do. Tiger just smiled as he started swapping out Mel's old plating.

Bobbie was very confused "I'm lost what's Ghost-spec?"

"Ghost-spec is like Mil-spec but better. On the official paperwork we're known as Task Force Stalker but we're called Ghosts. Always have been, even during the Brush Wars."

"Um, are you sure we should be hearing this. I mean we're civilians."

He shrugged " You guys have seen enough that you deserve full disclosure. I was just a squad leader in the original but ended up running it before we were disbanded at the end of the war. After moving out here It became my Task Force during the Nextus-Sturmhaven War. I kept that one small, a single platoon, but that was all we really needed. Top brass wanted to go public with us and our achievements, I wouldn't let 'em. Especially since they had been all hush hush with the RIDE program"

"What about weapons?" Claire asked.

Tiger frowned "We'll get to that now hush." Claire wilted a bit as he began installing other equipment "Now where was I? Right Nextus, we carried out stealth, counter-stealth, and miliatary/industrial espionage. When the war came to an end we signed on to work infiltration for the ZPA. We've expanded over the years to counter-intelligence and added espionage back into our responsiblities. Along with monitoring the global political situation."

"Including Integrates." Sam said.

His muzzle twitched into a smile "Obviously, we steer clear of politics in general. The ZPA focus on keeping the planet as whole safe from other threats."

"Like?"

"Earth." Claire growled, literally.

Tiger gave her a nod "Keep it brief, I'll pass them some of your memories."

"My real mission was to conduct espionage and sabatoge on Earth. It was going to be a 5 year mission but someone tipped off the Terran Intelligence Agency."

"You think it was that Mengsk guy you and Heather were talking about?"

Tiger grimaced "Think? Ha, we ''know'' it was him. The only reason I haven't done anything is because Tassadar wants names and I think he wants the first crack at him."

Ajax grunted "I think ''every'' Ghost wants a crack at him Sir."

Mike/Aug nodded and Mosley looked positively murderous "No arguements here.Bastard wanted to have me ''studied'' after my Integration." She shuddered. "No points for guessing what he meant by ''that''."

Tiger nodded as he woke Mel up "Now, on the subject of weapons." he led them over to a crate.

Claire gasped; inside the crate was a gun in matte grey. It was large but still small enough to be used in or out of Fuser. Its barrel was mounted beneath a rectangular cooling unit topped by square cooling fins. The stock's forend had lightening holes and a rail that connected to its battery housing. Mounted atop the gun was a boxy scope sitting infront of 5 angled cylinders the last directly above the trigger and pistol grip. It was practically a work of art.

She grunted as she carefully lifted it out "Its heavier than I thought it'd be." she braced it against her shoulder and did a few quick draws.

He smiled "It's called the Mark 14 Variable Plasma Rifle."

Mel giggled "What happened to Vipers 1 thru 13?" Claire asked with a smile.

"Hardy har har. It has 2 configurations. Basic configuration is your standard assault weapon with selective fire; burst or fully automatic. Configuration 2 is AMR/HPC support, single shot only. It can also be powered from an external source, just have to toggle the feed."

Stamped on the top of the stock was the serial number LN2. “The tech boys insisted you receive the first one. Its based on schematics you brought back. I’ve also got the codes so you can fabb replacement parts and geist missiles for the launcher I’ve given Mel. Now before you all go running off I need to make Sam a proper DIN, shouldn't take long."

In short order Sam had removed her DIN and was letting Tiger scan the port on the back of her hand. In the space of a few minutes he had a new DIN for her. In minutes Tiger had made a DIN that was orders of magnitutude above what any Enclave Technomancer could. Then there was the comm laser he attatched it to. Only a centimer in diameter it had more power than her old unit.

Once Tiger confirmed its function with a hand shake she received a data packet. It was Claire's memories, not everything but, it was all neatly indexed. She would have to watch them later or they'd miss the raid.

{{Separator|k}}

Sam was about ready to panic. They had ten minutes to get to the meeting point, which was 20 minutes away. Claire had them running full speed out of the safe zone. They didn’t make it very far before she had them all stop.

“Everyone’s geared up right?” Claire asked.

Ajax and Mosley both wore light plated mail armor and carried a shield and sword. Mike/Aug wore lamellar armor made of small rectangular plates and carried a slim rapier. Like he Sam he used a mix of melee and magical combat. Mel didn’t wear any armor but had a wide range of high level AoE spells both offensive and defensive. There was a round of confirmation.

“Good, I’m not technically supposed to do this but I doubt they’ll care too much.” She pulled up a menu.

“Do what?” Mike/Aug asked.

She made a few selections “This.”

There was a flash, indicating they had teleported. The forest they had been standing in was replaced by a high ceilinged rock tunnel. Sam looked around and recognized the markers for the last safe zone of the 74th floor dungeon. Claire didn’t wait for them to ask questions before leading them the rest of the way to the boss chamber.

It was the largest raid group Sam had ever seen, let alone been a part of. Over 70 players, more once she remembered that RIDEs had their own accounts. They had almost 2 dozen known Integrates and probably at least another 5 that were staying hidden. Of all the teams there they were the only one unaligned with a guild. It took a few more minutes to get everyone gathered then the raid leader gave a speech about staying with your team and how xp and drops would be divided.

As she looked around Sam felt out of place with her team, even though she could tentatively call them her friends. The Ghosts were so at ease, like they weren’t about to walk into the jaws of virtual death. Ajax and Mosley were joking with Claire about things that had happened on previous raids and missions. Mike/Aug was talking about game mechanics with Mel. It was a reminder to her that she still knew next to nothing about her cousin anymore.

The massive doors creaked open and the group streamed inside the amphitheater sized room. When the first player stepped inside the whole place lit up revealing the boss of the 74th floor. It was 3 meters of headless dark purple plate armor. It stood there, its sword embedded in the floor. Its name and HP appeared; Crom the Dulahan Lord, he had 5 HP bars.

"I know what you're thinking Sam," Mel said "but the bosses down here are on a different scale."

"Then why are you the only people unFused?"

Before she could press the issue the battle began in earnest. A dozen large black dogs poured out from caves lining the walls, Fairy Hounds. Their main job was to help keep the busy so the main teams could focus on Crom.

"Remember your number."

Sam remembered she was 6. Mike/Aug were 5, Mosley 4, Ajax 3, Mel 2, and Claire 1. Mosley said it was to make it easier to do callouts and give give commands. One syllable did take less time to produce.

"3, 4 we need to group then togther for 2. 5 and 6 you're on support."

Sam did her best to anticipate her friends providing heals and buffs whenever she could. Mike/Aug was doing much the same with his debuffs. She admired the ease with which the others worked together. Mel, Ajax and Mosley did their best to corral the Fairy Hounds. Whenever 2 were close enough Mel would hit them with one of her spells.

A few times one of the Hounds would make a break for it only to be cut off and driven back by her saber or Mike/Aug's rapier. If it weren't for the constant strain Sam would almost have called it easy. ''Then again she I am working for real soldiers.'' She thought wryly.

Under Claire's calm, almost lazy, direction they eliminated all of the Fairy Hounds in about 45 minutes. They kept their gaurd up, they didn't know if or when the Hounds might respawn. Sam was already starting to feel a little drained. Who knew a raid would be so tiring, Claire had prevent what would have been her first one.

Taking a deep breath She risked a glance over at the main battle. It wasn't going nearly as well as theirs had. Crom had already defeated a quarter of the main raid group and they had only just finished taking out his first HP bar.

Claire frowned, Mel sighed "They didn't listen to us." They all looked at her. "If we don’t hurry the whole raid is going to fall apart.”

“Why?”

“Crom is just as capable of memorizing patterns as we are. If we don’t hurry he’ll screw us when he decides to counter attack by breaking ''their'' rotation pattern apart.”

It took a few minutes to get their team worked into the rotation. Unfortunately they were only able to spend another 10 minutes chipping away at Crom's HP. Despite their team's best efforts Mel’s prediction still came painfully true.

"Hit the deck!" Mel shouted.

Years of rough housing with her cousins came back to her as Sam went limp and dropped to the ground. Crom lashed out at them mid rotation, his blade knocking everyone to the ground with varying amounts of damage. She looked around as another handful of players died.

Sam quickly recovered scrambling back to her feet with the rest of her team. Thanks to Mel quick warning they were the only team that wasn't caught flat-footed by Crom's next swing. Mosley and Ajax locked shields preventing him from killing another batch of downed players.

Claire was still on her hands and knees. She looked around at the other downed players and had a flash of panic. They had to do something or the raid would fall apart and they would all end up dead. But what could they do alone? Mel met her panicked eyes with her own calm ones and at that moment something passed between them.

Claire surged to her feet heading towards Mel.

"5, 6 the wounded! 3, 4 stall him!"

She knew when she reached Mel there would be no turning back. She gave the Fuse command. They weren't alone anymore, they hadn't been alone for almost 3 months. They had each other.

"Half my heart to make you whole," one of them said

"My strength to purify your weakness." The other finished.

Fused in both worlds she abandoned the use of their beloved menu in favor of the more efficient thought commands. She raised their left hand and launched a salvo of spells at Crom. He reeled back, breastplate derezzing as they destroyed it.

She swiped their left hand across the hilt of their blade and came away, it came away grasping a second. She blurred as they crossed the distance catching his blade's overhead strike in a double block. With a yank she forced his blade up and away. Her twin blades ignited into the blue white glow of special skill.

"This is the Black Blade,Laevateinn." Everyone was staring at her. Laevateinn was one of a kind, dropped for the first player to kill Surtr. The more you killed with it, the higher its damage became. If you used its special the damage modifier was reset to 0. A small price to pay if it meant saving lives. Her two halves in agreement she verbalized the command "Dual Sonic."

She was in motion again slashing at Crom's pale exposed flesh. She ducked a swing and viciously attacked the opening in his guard. But he was just as unforgiving. They trade blows hers landing more than his. He forced an opening and tried another overhead strike which She caught between their blades.

She didn't just bellow. She roared as she yanked their swords apart. His blade shattering as the damage overwhelmed it. He hesitated for a microsecond, the AI unsure of what to do. That was all the time she needed. She rushed him and cut clean through with Laevateinn, shattering him into countless points of light.

A massive banner appeared in the air declaring her victorious. She staggered back Laevateinn vanishing from her left hand, its skill complete. She collapsed onto her butt, tired and head aching. As her team gathered round she gave a weak smile.

"I feel terrible. Just gonna log out, maybe get some shut eye."

"Take my bed." Ajax said.

She nodded closing her eyes and opening them in the real. She felt like shit as she trudged up the stairs to the guest room Ajax was using. She kicked the door closed behind her before collapsing on the bed. Her wings splayed out to catch the sunlight filtering through the blinds. Maybe she would feel better when she woke.

Back in Oz there was little speculation about why Claire and Mel had logged out. Mike/Aug, Ajax, Sam and Mosley led the way down the staircase into the first town on the 75th floor. The other players treated them with anything from jovial friendship to thinly veiled disgust, mostly from the closet Inties.

Sam was relieved when they finally picked an Inn and logged out. Thanks to Claire/Mel the raid hadn't taken nearly as long as it should have. ''Then again if they hadn't Fused the raid would have been over even sooner.'' Sam thought wryly.

She stretched and went into the kitchen were Tiger was talking to her mom. She ignored them as she made a beeline for the fridge and the crunchy dill pickles inside. Enclave life had always chafed her the wrong way. It was good to be back in civilization ''and'' out in the open, at least with her family.

Mosley wandered in and sat down at the table joining Bobbie and Tiger's discussion about something computer related. Sam tuned them out as she walked back into the family room. Ajax had gone somewhere while Mike and Aug had deFused and were talking about sports. She Went up to her room and lay down on her bed before starting to watch Claire's memories.

{{Separator|k}}

''Earth Orbit, 2501 AD''

Stuart took a deep calming breath. He did his best to ignore the warning klaxons blaring in his ears as he finished overriding the shuttle's emergency systems. This was going to be tricky, the stolen IDE he had in the cargo hold wasn't properly rated for-entry. There was a shout as a full cyborg rounded the corner, gun drawn. It was quickly silenced as Stuart's combat knife, also stolen, buried itself in his head.

He tugged it free as he ran past, the gun would just slow him down at this point. He sprinted down to the cargo hold making quick work of additional armed interference along the way. He slid into his IDE and ran the start up sequence. Automated systems aboard the ship announced the impending failure of its hull.

It took him a few minutes to get in position behind his chosen bulkhead before the alarm on his chrono beeped at him. He braced himself and fired into the engineering deck. There was a half second of silence. Then everything went white as the ship's tokamak exploded. Stuart had a fraction of a second to think he might have made a mistake before blacking out.

Consciousness was slow to return and painful when it did. His head pounded in time with the rhythmic beeping of an EKG machine. So he was in a medical facility of some kind, not good. Past that he could hear a couple of voices talking quietly off to one side. The voices stopped and one of them came closer.

"Relax," the voice sounded like Ron Pearlman "you're safe here." Stuart struggled to open his eyes. "That's it nice and slow, there we go."

The man standing next to his bed was dressed in army fatigues. He was short, broad shoulder and in excellent physical condition despite his apparent age. What was left of his grey hair was cut into a perfect flat top. He had a wry half smile on his wrinkled face as he adjusted the bed to sit Stuart up.

He extended a hand "Helluva stunt you pulled up there kid. General Alphonso Knoxx, North American Army."

This was like meeting a celebrity. General Knoxx was the founder and leader of Task Force Stalker during the brush wars on Earth. Every Ghost had heard stories about this man. General Knoxx waited patiently as Stuart slowly reached out and shook it.

"It's an honor sir, Staff Sargent Stuart Maiuri, Zharus Planetary Authority."

He chuckled "One of Tiger's new Ghosts eh?"

"Yes, Sir." Stuart smiled weakly "I'm afraid my infiltration might have been compromised."

The other man laughed "Its a distinct possibility. Colonel John Carter, we've managed to rig the IDE to show that you died when the ship exploded. We moved quickly enough that we were able to destroy the actual time data. You were only dead for 2.7 seconds."

"Still, without a body it will only be a matter of time before someone else starts looking into it." Knoxx said "This location is secure for now but we need to start arranging for your extraction, Earth is no longer safe for you."

"You should be on your feet in a few days but you'll still need to rest a little longer." John said.

Stuart nodded "What about my mission?"

"Plenty of time for that later. It'll take time for our message to reach Tiger and hen we have to wait for him to respond. So for now rest, recover and start trying to figure out who tipped off the TIA."

{{Separator|k}}

''Atlantic Coast, South America, Earth, 2502 AD''

Everything was black. Stuart must have had his eyes closed. A few minutes passed before a transmission came in on a secure line.

'':This is Fuego. We've acquired transport, stand by.''

Stuart opened his eyes. He was surrounded by a thick heavy rain forest. It was pouring down rain but his stealth suit was sealed against water penetration. Now that his eyes were open he could hear the rain as well, must have dozed off. The clearing ahead of him rippled outward as a small craft descended on quiet lifters.

'':Roger that Fuego, I have eyes on, over._ Stuart transmitted.''

The tail ramp lowered and 4 figures quickly slipped out of it and over to the treeline. As quickly as it had come the craft lifted off and flew away. Like him they were all dressed in stealth suits, their active camoflage making them invisible to the naked eye. His VISR system painted them as moving green outlines and tagged each with a name.

'':We have 10 minutes to get inside Black Zone.'' Stuart transmitted.

'':Short window, let's move.'' Stuart's HUD identified the speaker as Hammond.

They quickly headed deeper into the forest soon spotting a pair of IDEs patroling in the distance. It was time to put General Knoxx's gift into action. Stuart used his new command neural implant to check into their local comm traffic. It was just the usual chatter between friends but they were constantly checking in with the base which meant killing them would just sound the alarm that much faster.

They skirted around the IDEs heading farther north before cutting back to the west again. They crested a hill and caught sight of their target facility. Above ground it was a massive complex of squat buildings but below the surface it opened up into a series of large R & D labs.

That factory was their target, get in, figure out what they’re making, steal data, and get out. He was also tasked with capturing or destroying any existing prototypes. The hard part would be getting back out after the alarm was raised. Stuart had no doubt that the facility personnel wouldn't hesitate to kill them if they were discovered.

They made short work of a group of guards that were lounging around. They waited a few seconds as Stuart's implant fed authorization codes to the vault door. There was a hiss as the cylindrical door rotated open allowing them to slip into the facility proper.

They passed through a decontamination airlock before entering one of the deserted side areas moving swiftly and silently to the local security station. They waited outside its vault door as Stuart's implant went to work once again. As soon as the opening was wide enough they tossed in a mix of smoke grenades and short range jammers. They waited for a 3 count before entering themselves and easily eliminating the disoriented soldiers inside.

In the blink of an eye Stuart had full control of the facility's local security systems. It was child’s play to rig the system on a loop, no back up would be coming for the defenders in this area. They changed the codes on their way out, every extra second was important.

They stuck to the side passages as they made their way deeper into the facility with minimal, almost nonexistent, resistance. The combination of their stealth gear and Stuart’s implant probably played a part in that. Their next stop was the server room which they would ''liberate'' of all its information.

They ran into a problem when they got there. The server room had single civilian technician inside. Civilians were non-combatants and therefore off limits. To make matters worse he had fully prosthetic body so they couldn’t just knock him out. As he turned facial recognition identified him as Doctor Karl Sanderson, an expert on cybernetics and data security who had been shanghaied into service.

'':Command, Hammond.''

'':Go ahead.''

'':We've got a civilian here, Dr Karl Sanderson. He's been pressed into service.''

'':Understood make his evac a priority.''

Now with the green light, Stuart tapped into his com '':Doctor Sanderson.''

His head snapped up and he looked around. '':Who is this? How did you get this com code?''

'':I know you’ve been forced into this job. How would you like to get out of here, forever.''

He slumped _:I wouldn’t be safe anywhere on Earth._

'':What about off world?''

'':My passport's been revoked.''

'':Smuggling one person off planet is pretty easy. Well, easier than smuggling a group anyway.''

'':You can do that?''

Stuart de-cloaked and offered his hand '':We can, but first we need to get you out of here.''

Dr. Sanderson shook it '':Easy enough, the newest IDEs are in workshop lambda. You could make a pretty big distraction with those.''

'':We'll head out as soon as we're finished here.''

They connected directly to the file server and copied everything before leaving behind several time bombs. They re-engaged their active camouflage and slipped out accompanied by Dr Sanderson. Workshop lambda was two levels below the server room; it also had a greater concentration of guards.

Sanderson surprised all of them by making himself into a distraction enabling them to quickly eliminate the guards. The way he kicked a few of the corpses proved that the man had his own reasons for wanting them dead. A quick check showed they had been tormenting the good Doctor since his interment began.

Workshop lambda was equal parts amazing and horrifying. There were hundreds of 3 meter mechs all standing in perfect little rows. The first production batch of the brand new Titan model IDE. This factory had to go.

'':Command, Hammond, you seeing this?''

'':Affirmative, Hammond. Intel confirmed. You have 14 mikes before Eclipse makes that place a crater.''

They had just finished powering up the IDEs when things went wrong. The nearby freight elevator came to life bringing a large group of off duty soldiers up from the next level. Their shift had just ended and they were still armed, mostly with light guns but a few with anti-IDE weapons.

'':Command can we get a hold on Eclipse?''

'':Negative, its already past PNR.''

'':Shit! We do *not* want to be here!''

Hammond's IDE rushed forward as he took the initiative, melee weapons making quick work of the anti-IDE guards. The main threat dealt with they all moved as the remaining guards opened fire on them. While annoying the small arms fire was far from dangerous to the IDEs. Especially as they displayed an interesting feature, hardlight shielding.

It wasn't nearly as powerful or efficient as the hardlight on Zharus but its existence was still worrying. It was a good thing the only copy of its plans was staying with him. They plowed through the remaining forces and restarted the freight elevator. Stuart fed a set of over-rides to the elevator safeties, they needed to be ''gone''.

They battered aside the doors and kicked on their lifters as the alarm sounded. They burned cavorite as they flew out the main gate they had scant seconds to make it to MSD. If they didn't. No, don't think about that just focus on getting there. There was a deafening roar behind them and Stuart risked a peak over his shoulder. There was a burning light overhead as a small sun plummeted toward the facility.They passed the MSD line painted on their HUDs and didn't stop, the further they got the better.

He knew what was coming and quickly looked away to protect his eyes from the blinding flash as the 5 and a half meter tungsten carbide rod made impact. The shock-wave was on them in less than a second. The displaced air tore whole trees from the ground and sent everything flying like ships in a hurricane. The IDEs crashed and bounced along the ground before slowly sliding half a klick to a stop.

Stuart was in pain '':Squad, sound off.'' he managed to groan.

There were all battered and bruised but everyone, even Dr Sanderson, had made it out alive and relativly intact. With some effort they managed to get their IDEs standing and clambered over a hill of trees, rock, and dirt to look back at the facility. It was gone, replaced by a massive jagged edged crater. There was a 400 meter ring around the crater, completely devoid of anything except scorched earth.

Stuart whistled appreciatively '':Damn, now *that's* how you destroy something.''

'':That's nothing. The original system used rods large enough to destroy '''''cities'''''.'' Buscemi said.

{{Separator|k}}

''Bavarian Alps, Europe, Earth, 2502''

Stuart straightened his "borrowed" gloves and pulled down his visor before checking again to make sure the uniform was clean of any stains. The uniform had belonged to a full borg security officer and barely fit Stuart's smaller frame. He stepped out of the security building as Holland finished stashing the stripped body of one of the former security officers. Hammond and Buscemi were already in position on the other side of the snow covered road.

It had been an interesting and harrowing 8 months working with Echo Squad. They were Knoxx's final group of Ghost operatives, once Echo was finished there would no more Earth trained Ghosts. They were a good squad, well trained and fun to be around, more than once they had dragged him out drinking or had him over for family celebrations.

Their mission this time was the rescue of a European Union researcher that the Terran Intelligence Agency had tasked with investigating something. Knoxx wanted to know what it was and get the woman safely on her way to Zharus where the rest of her family would be waiting. They had already completed their first objective, take over the security check point and pose as its guard detail.

'':Here they come.'' Holland transmitted as a small fully loaded, and wheeled, military skimmer came around the corner.

'':These disgues better work.'' Buscemi transmitted before signaling them to stop for inspection.

'':Two up front, two in back with the HVT between them. All lightly armed and very squishy.''

'':Roger that, drop 'em.''

Buscemi began speaking to the driver in rapid German, making general small talk as he checked the documentation on their tablet. The rest of squad quietly advanced on vehicle as the slipped combat knives into their hands. As the Buscemi was handing back the tablet they struck, knives sinking through necks and striking the brain stem.

Stuart grimaced as he pulled the blade out and dumped the body onto the roadway. The steady snowfall would cover the body soon enough and they would be long gone before the next group came by in 4 hours. He settled in next to the HVT as Holland climbed into the driver seat.

'':It's alright Dr. Magnussen. General Knoxx sent us to get you out of here.''

She sagged with relief ''Thank god, I'm dumping the details of everything they been having me do over to you now.''

'':Thank you, get comfortable it'll be a while before we get to the extraction point.''

They spent the next 40 minutes riding in silence as they kept a weather eye out for signs of trouble. When they got to the extraction point the sub-orbital was waiting for them, lifters primed and ready.They piled out weapons sweeping the surrounding forest as Hammond escorted Dr. Magnussen to the sub.

Stuart readied his weapon '':Everybody, quiet.'' There was silence on the radio. '':Where did all the noise go?''

The others readied their weapons and slowly backed up to the sub. It was too quiet; the only sounds they could hear now were the low whines of the sub’s lifters. He was worried now. There was a brief flash of movement in the woods. He blanched as his implant identified it. Stalkers, they were the TIA equivalent of secret police.

Stuart didn’t hesitate, immediately opening fire. His gauss rifle’s hypersonic rounds tearing through the low quality stealth armor with ease. Through the trees he caught sight of a camouflaged troop transport, adjusting his fire angle before pulling a second trigger and firing a small rocket at it.

By now the others had started shooting as they retreated into the sub. Stalkers began pouring out into the surrounding clearing first 5, then 10, then 20. Their numbers just kept growing, zerg tactics overwhelm the enemy with superior numbers.

The situation was rapidly deteriorating, he had to to get to cover. As he moved he saw white and pain exploded across his left thigh before he threw himself behind the stolen skimmer for cover. He looked down and confirmed one of the Stalkers had gotten lucky and grazed him. High velocity round tearing a chunk out of his leg.

He pulled the pin on a smoke grenade and lobbed it over the skimmer. Shortly after it detonated he followed it up with a frag, capitalizing on the smokescreen and basic reasoning that the Stalkers would ignore it as another smoke. His suspicions were confirmed when its explosion was accompanied by screams of pain.

'':Tell Knoxx, I'm sorry.''

Hammond said'':We aren't leaving you behind.''

'':You don't have a choice. I'm not going anywhere with this bum leg, finish the mission.''

'':But.''

A round clipped the sub's ramp '':Go!''

With a roar the sub took off accelerating flat out away from the clearing. Stuart wiped out all the comm codes in his implants and destroyed any data that could lead the TIA back to Knoxx, Zharus, or anything else. He braced the rifle against his shoulder and struggled to pull himself upright. If he was going to die, then he was taking as many of them with him as he could.

Laying atop the hood he fired his remaining rocket at a nearby cluster of enemies, as always doing his best to ignore their pain. He emptied his first magazine and slipped behind the skimmer again ejecting the empty magazine and slamming in a full one. He lay on his stomach as he fired trying to make every shot count.

His weeks spent on the firing range paid off, each shot hitting and while not all were fatal they were certainly debilitating. He pulled the trigger again and the rifle clicked, empty. He threw his remaining grenade before rolling over and pulling himself into a sitting position before changing loading his last mag.

He looked up, seeing Stalkers exiting the woods in front of him. He opened fire, again each shot killing or mortally wounding an advancing foe before the rifle started clicking. He chucked it at someone's stomach making them double over in pain as he pulled his side arm from its holster on his right thigh and finishing the gasping man off.

Stuart got off another dozen shots before someone shot his left shoulder causing him to drop it in pain. That same soldier quickly advanced bending down to grab him only to get 18 centimeters of knife blade shoved and twisted into his throat. Stuart placed his final grenade on the ground next to his left hand, putting a finger through the pin's ring as the arm hung useless at his side.

He ripped the dieing man's knife from the sheath on his shoulder before pushing him aside. With the ease of long practice he spin the knife around to grip it by the blade befoe taking careful aim and hurling it at the nearest Stalker. Stuart struggled to sit up further, right hand now firmly wrapped around his final grenade.

They had him surrounded, but they weren't shooting at him anymore. It confirmed what Stuart was thinking, they wanted him alive. They wouldn't get anything from his implants which meant they would resort to interrogation and torture. Stuart had no intention of going through that.

He gave a weak smile "Shel kek nem ron." He pulled the pin on the grenade and held it in front of him for all to see. Before he could drop it his hand was crushed by an iron grip keeping safety lever on the grenade. He struggled with what little strength he had left before it was ripped from his hand and hurled into the woods as blood loss caught up to him and he passed out.

{{Separator|k}}

''Location Unknown, Date Unknown''

Tied to a chair there was little Stuart could do. He had grown thinner, his muscles atrophied from a combination of disuse and minor malnutrition. His wounds had been allowed to completely heal before they started the "interrogations". They had done something to screw up his internal chrono. He had no idea how long he had been there.

"Prisoner 24601." there was the simulated sound of rustling paper. "My my, you have been here a while haven't you?" a hand lifted his chin "You've given us nothing but shit answers." They were trying to break him, turn him to their side. "Let's try this again." Looking up he could see that the speaker was a blonde man in a clean black suit and tie. "Name?"

"Kris Kringle."

With a sigh the man punched him "Name." he said more insistently.

"Edmond...Dontes." Stuart wheezed.

He punched Stuart in the jaw "Name!" he yelled.

Stuart spit in his face "Inigo...Montoya."

There was a tiny thread keeping him sane. The others had gotten away. They were safe and soon enough the TIA would get sick of his bullshit and either kill him or, more likely, just dump him somewhere to die. If and when they did he would have a chance to live.

"I don't know who you think you're protecting. We shot down Dr. Magnussen's sub before it could even reach orbit."

His statement was accompanied by images and video projecting on the walls of small room. It couldn't be true, he'd seen them escape. He knew how easily digital video and images could be faked. It was a lie it had to be...but...what if it wasn't? That niggling little doubt finally snapped his thread, it just wasn't the _right_ thread.

The man frowned, clearly talking to someone on the comms. His frown deepened, clearly he was getting bad news. He turned his back on Stuart as he continued speaking on the comms. There were several minutes of silence before he huffed and turned back around pulling on a pair of gloves.

He drew his gun "It seems the time has come for us to be deprived of your...pleasant company, permanently." He crouched next to Stuart "This is your last chance to live. What is your name? Who do you work for?" silence "Well, I guess this is the end for you." As he started to pull back Stuart lunged for his neck.

He stared blankly at the dead agent on the floor. Oxygen deprivation had killed him long before he bled to death. Soon enough Stuart would be following him. The agent had managed to get off a handful of shots, a lucky one even managed to hit him.

Had it been hours or just minutes since all that had been done? Everything was getting blurry, going dark just like it had when he nearly bled out in Germany. His eyes sank closed as his breathing grew ragged. The sound from videos abruptly stopped as someone opened the door. He heard snatches of a rolling fluid language and felt a hand pressed to his neck.

There was a pause then more shouting as the first hand was replaced by a second. He fell as someone had cut the ropes that were binding him. He was carefully laid down on something soft, a stretcher? His eyes opened briefly and he saw one of the men. There was a prick on his neck and he started to fall asleep.

''Location Unknown, Date Unknown''

Stuart woke slowly to the steady beep of an EKG. A quick check confirmed that yes, he was still alive and no he was not restrained. He carefully pushed himself into a sitting position, his weakened muscles protesting a little at their sudden use. The room was simply furnished; bed, a few chairs, night stand and a lamp. With a moments hesitation he pressed the nurse's call button.

There was the sound of running in hallway and the door to his room flew open as the nurse answered the summons. When she saw him, up and awake, she shouted down the hallway in the same language he heard during his rescue. She waited for a response before crossing the room in 3 strides and beginning the basic check-up procedure.

She was just finishing when the door opened a second time and a second nurse walked in carrying a tray of food closely followed by someone else. He was tall, narrow shouldered. He was bald sporting a full beard and mustache. He was bald. His black beard and mustache were shot through with streaks of gray and his face was weathered from age and harsh living. His implant's facial recognition identified the man, Imran Zakaev.

He was clad simply in flecktarn camo pants, green brown shirt, long leather overcoat and heavy combat boots. He moved a chair next to the bed and sat down single arm resting casually in his lap. The second nurse spoke to him as she set down the food, he responded and both nurses left the room with a nod.

His gravely voice had only a hint of a Russian accent "You must be hungry. Please, eat, we can discuss business when you are finished."

Even though it was hospital food it was much better then the gruel he had been fed while in TIA custody. He was careful not to eat to quickly it would have been both rude and unhealthy. While he ate Zakhaev sat silently, likely speaking to people over a private comm channel.

"Thank you." Stuart said.

Zakhaev gave a wan smile "Your rescue was a happy accident. We've been hoping to find you ever since Alfonso told us of your capture."

"How long?"

"6 months, that's how long you were with."

"That’s how long it took them to break me."

Zakhaev nodded "Yes, but it wasn’t in the manner they were hoping for.”

“My chances of going home are still probably nil.”

He smirked “Actually, a ship will be arriving in 7 months. There will be an extraction team on board.”

“Oh...”

“Until then you’ll just have to find a way to keep busy.”

“If ya’ll are going to be running any ops I’d be happy to help.”

“Not until the doctors clear you, not even RO. I mean it.” Stuart hung his head “Hey,” Zakhaev put his hand his shoulder “You’ve literally been through hell. You need to _recover_ before you do anything else.”

Zakhaev gave him a pat on the shoulder before leaving with the empty tray. Stuart sighed, maybe tomorrow he would finally check out Virtual Life. It seemed that everyone else on the planet used it for at least 1 thing so why not?

{{series bar
|series=Ghost's of Zharus
|previous=[[Ghosts: The Return|Ghosts: The Return]]
|next=}}

[[Category:Story]][[Category:Chimera]][[Category:Bear]][[Category:Tiger]][[Category:Anthropomorphic]][[Category:Dog]] [[Category:FreeRIDErs]] [[Category:Oddoneout]]

User:Oddoneout/Ghosts:Ghost Stories

2014-04-05T01:39:37Z

Oddoneout: Added Universe, title, and series bar

{{Universe|FreeRIDErs}}{{title
|name=Ghosts: Ghost Stories
|author=Oddoneout
|user=Oddoneout}}

Bobbie Maiuri was having a rough morning. Her daughter had gone out the night before with her niece, once nephew, and a group of ZPA agents. They had been brought home by the APD. Apparently Claire was in a fight of some sort, very one-sided from the sound of it, and the APD had decided she didn't need to spend the night in jail. She just wasn't supposed to de-Fuse or leave the property without supervision for the next 30 hours.

The man Claire attacked was a Cape Nord native who had been in town on business. Mosley said there were 2 reasons that he was very lucky to be alive. The first was that Claire being drunk caused a lack of finer control that could have landed him in the hospital for days. The second was that if Claire hadn't slammed him into the bar her cobra headed tail would have bitten him. She wouldn't say exactly what the snake was carrying in its fangs, just that it was guaranteed to be fatal, even to Integrates.

As soon as the APD had left Mel/Claire had gone to the backyard and sat down cross-legged. They hadn't moved since. When, Sam checked on them she said they were talking to someone on an Integrate secure comm line. Ajax said the fighting and brooding was not normal.

"Excuse me, is this the Maiuri residence?" There was a tiger Fuser at the door.

"Yes."

"I'm Tiger Sauer, with the ZPA." His voice reminded her of Harvey Keitel.

"Bobbie." she shook the offered hand.

"I have been led to believe you have some of my operatives here, is that correct?"

"It is. Won't you please come in?"

"Thank you very much." she closed the door "I've also been led to believe you know about Integrates is that correct?"

She nodded "Our daughter is Integrated, just came back to us a few days ago."

It took a second for Bobbie to realize, Tiger was also an Integrate. "You don’t have to stay in hardlight." he quirked a brow "I can tell by your body language. You aren't used to hiding."

He chuckled as he dropped the sherade. His black stripes doubled as faintly glowing tron lines. He was a lanky man, narrow in the shoulders and all arms and legs. As they walked she could see corded muscles rippling beneath his fur. Despite his desk job he made a point of keeping in shape.

Bobbie had done some research on her newest guest. Colonel Tiger Sauer, served in the North American Army during the Brush Wars. Emigrated to Zharus in 132 AL first settlingin Nextus. During the Nextus-Sturmhaven War he was involved in the development and adoption of RIDEs for and by covert units, partnering with a TGR(m)-HMA himself. After the war he and his partner mustered out and joined the Zharus Planetary Authority and information about them became scarce.

"So, what went wrong?" He asked as sat on the couch.

"They got lucky." Ajax said "I know it sounds like an excuse Sir but it’s the truth. We were a thousand klicks out from the nearest entrance to that place and one of the locals stumbled across us. Her description matched Quinoa Steader; sorry to say she's on the edge of a slippery slope."

Tiger nodded "I thought that might be the case. Scuttlebutt said she was moving out to the Towers Enclave, just thought we had more time before she left."

Bobbie stood there gaping "Um... are you sure you shouldn't be in a secure room or something for this."

"I secured the entire property before I rang the doorbell and no one would believe you if you told them. How's Claire?"

Mosley smiled "She's doing much better. I guess all she really needed was to get drunk, spill her guts, and get in a pointless fight. Once she had a few drinks she spent half the night talking to me on a secure line."

"How much did she say?"

"Only where she really went and what went wrong, no real details though."

"Wait she didn't go to Proxima?" Bobbie asked.

"No, I'll see if I can't get her clearance to give you guys full disclosure. At least your story matches what she told me this morning."

"You called her?"

"She called me. Mengsk gave her a Manchurian program with some hidden features. I was able to destroy most of it but I want to make sure she's in the clear before Tassadar nukes him."

"So that asshole's finally getting spaced?" Mike asked.

Bobbie blanched; spacing was slang for throwing someone out of an airlock. Tiger shook his head "I don't know. Tassadar might decide spacing is too good for him. Now, where is Claire?"

In the backyard Dominic, formerly MRS agents Carl Yottes and Dominic, was about to relive a humilitaing and terrifing experience. He had been overjoyed when his hacking revealed that Sam was related to the Fuser who humilated him in both Nextus and Oz. He could get his revenge on them at the same time.

It had been so easy to hack that idiot from Cape Nord into doing exactly what he needed. All he had to do was put out an anonymous tip to the APD and wait for them to haul that Fuser to jail. He didn't stick around to watch as he had other preparations to make. Aloha belonged to the Munns and Integrates who shared their mind set of sticking with meat. If Dominic was going to pull this off he needed an air-tight exit plan.

He peaked around the corner of the house checking the backyard. Nice and empty just like it should be, this was going to be too easy. He was going to Integrate Sam's mother and when her father came back he'd Integrate him to. Sure, Fritz wouldn't approve if he found out but it was a small price to pay if it meant teaching some freak meatie a lesson.

He opened up his sensors to check inside the house again. They bounced off a transparent hardlight barrier now encapsulating the two story home. That wasn't there a second ago. Sam wasn't strong enough to create something like this, so who did? This wasn't in the plan. He turned to leave and bump into something solid.

"Da fuq?" the entire backyard was encased by a hardlight shield.

"Leaving so soon?" He wiped around, siting crosslegged in the middle of the backyard was Claire/Mel in Fuser. "You haven't been dismissed yet ''Corporal''."

He blanched "What did you just call me?"

"You will address your superior officer as Sir. As to your question, well it took me a while to remember y'all, Corporal Carl Yottes and HAA(m)-GRZ-012J Dominic of Nextus Material Recovey Services. I was in charge of a joint op about 5 years back, ZPA and MRS, you were assigned to my squad." he frowned "Still don't remember? I was in an AIDE, matte black."

The bottom dropped out of his stomach, now he remembered having pushed it to the very bottom hoping that embaressesment would never again come up. Carl was a Cape Nord native with an extensive Mancard and, as such, expected that they would be leading the assault. Instead they had placed under the command of a young waif of a Staff Sargent.

That was fine, not being in command meant fewer responsiblities. They were confident that the Sargent would place them at the head of the entry team. They thought wrong; instead their job was to breach the wall and defend the entry point. Carl had fumed at this indignity. He was a Man for crying out loud.

When he requested (demanded) that he lead the assault he found himself re-assigned to the perimeter instead. When their target fled he almost let them get away. When questioned about it he had foolish responded that a true Man doesn't attack a defeated opponent. He wanted the Sargent to prove his Manhood.

The next 2 minutes were the most humiliating and painful of his life. His opponent, using an old AIDE, danced around his strikes and easily landing his own. They had to replace 35% of his plating, along with their hands.

"Sargent Maiuri." he whispered.

Thus named Claire gave a cold smile "Actually it's Lieutant now. Reports said you went AWOL 2 years back, guess that's a lie." the smile turned to a frown "It also seems you've forgotten the lesson I taught you. How about a refresher?"

Dominic was frozen, it had been 4 years ''and'' he had Integrated. There was no way he would lose a second time. The part of him that was Carl pointed out that it was that same attitude that had gotten pummeled in the first place. Whatever branch of the ZPA Claire nee Stuart was in they awarded merit at least partially based on how much ass you could kick.

With a snarl he leapt at the large Fuser, only to be met midway by a two fingered strike to his stomach. He doubled over boosting away with his lifters as he suppressed the urge to puke. He could hear a faint ringing in his ears, like he had stood too close to an explosion. The same ringing he heard when she struck him in Nextus. A quick check showed his lens were in no danger of failing.

He made himself invisible and prepared to strike. By the time he noticed her tail tracking him it was too late to avoid her strike. It was only because he did try that her arm grazed his shoulder instead of passing through it. The ringing in his ears abruptly stopped as most of his shoulder exploded. As he gaped at his severed arm he was very glad that he had already shut down his pain reception.

That hesitation was all the opening Claire/Mel needed. A pair of rapid strikes gave Dominic's left leg the same treatment. They de-Fused mid-leap, Mel pinning the Integrate to the ground as her jaws clamped around his head. Claire's tail lashed out fangs sinking deeply into the severed portion of the leg and tossing it down near his head. They stood there for a few seconds before he noticed the leg was beginning to dissolving.

"Nitric acid." Claire said in a bored tone.

He could practically ''feel'' the data flowing between the partners. They were on the cusp of Integration. If he tried to hack Mel, Claire would instantly know and she would kill him. If he tried to attack Claire, Mel would know before he could finish twitching and she would kill him. The fight had taken seconds and now he was completely trapped beaten by naked meat and a mech.

"Root." he didn't argue.

Claire wasted no time locking him out of everything except life support, consciousness, and basic senses. She could hand him over to someone else, maybe the Marshals would take him. She Fused up and sat down to wait. The others should be along shortly.

Tiger frowned when he saw Claire/Mel sitting next to an immobilized grizzly Integrate “I’m getting sloppy.”

She tapped Dominic's head "What are we going to do with him?"

He shrugged " I have no problem with turning him over to the Marshals."

She nodded "Did you bring Mel's kit?"

"Yeah, come around front and we'll get her squared away."

"Who was that guy anyway?" Ajax asked.

"Remember that smash and grab we pulled with MRS?"

"Yeah, wait was that?"

"Yup."

Ajax shrugged "Well, you can't fix stupid."

Claire/Mel nodded as they came around into the front yard they saw Tiger opening the trailer of a skimmer truck parked in the driveway. Mel slid off into Walker mode before they went up the ramp into the mobile maintenance bay. It was a little cramped with everyone inside, especially once Tiger closed it. Mel settled herself in the middle of the room before powering down.

"I'm glad you sent me Mel's updated specs. You did a good job bringing her up to Ghost-spec so all she really needs are the specialty items."

"Stealth coating?" Claire asked.

"Better."

Claire gave a squeal, jumping up and down with joy. It was girliest thing any of them had every seen her do. Tiger just smiled as he started swapping out Mel's old plating.

Bobbie was very confused "I'm lost what's Ghost-spec?"

"Ghost-spec is like Mil-spec but better. On the official paperwork we're known as Task Force Stalker but we're called Ghosts. Always have been, even during the Brush Wars."

"Um, are you sure we should be hearing this. I mean we're civilians."

He shrugged " You guys have seen enough that you deserve full disclosure. I was just a squad leader in the original but ended up running it before we were disbanded at the end of the war. After moving out here It became my Task Force during the Nextus-Sturmhaven War. I kept that one small, a single platoon, but that was all we really needed. Top brass wanted to go public with us and our achievements, I wouldn't let 'em. Especially since they had been all hush hush with the RIDE program"

"What about weapons?" Claire asked.

Tiger frowned "We'll get to that now hush." Claire wilted a bit as he began installing other equipment "Now where was I? Right Nextus, we carried out stealth, counter-stealth, and miliatary/industrial espionage. When the war came to an end we signed on to work infiltration for the ZPA. We've expanded over the years to counter-intelligence and added espionage back into our responsiblities. Along with monitoring the global political situation."

"Including Integrates." Sam said.

His muzzle twitched into a smile "Obviously, we steer clear of politics in general. The ZPA focus on keeping the planet as whole safe from other threats."

"Like?"

"Earth." Claire growled, literally.

Tiger gave her a nod "Keep it brief, I'll pass them some of your memories."

"My real mission was to conduct espionage and sabatoge on Earth. It was going to be a 5 year mission but someone tipped off the Terran Intelligence Agency."

"You think it was that Mengsk guy you and Heather were talking about?"

Tiger grimaced "Think? Ha, we ''know'' it was him. The only reason I haven't done anything is because Tassadar wants names and I think he wants the first crack at him."

Ajax grunted "I think ''every'' Ghost wants a crack at him Sir."

Mike/Aug nodded and Mosley looked positively murderous "No arguements here.Bastard wanted to have me ''studied'' after my Integration." She shuddered. "No points for guessing what he meant by ''that''."

Tiger nodded as he woke Mel up "Now, on the subject of weapons." he led them over to a crate.

Claire gasped; inside the crate was a gun in matte grey. It was large but still small enough to be used in or out of Fuser. Its barrel was mounted beneath a rectangular cooling unit topped by square cooling fins. The stock's forend had lightening holes and a rail that connected to its battery housing. Mounted atop the gun was a boxy scope sitting infront of 5 angled cylinders the last directly above the trigger and pistol grip. It was practically a work of art.

She grunted as she carefully lifted it out "Its heavier than I thought it'd be." she braced it against her shoulder and did a few quick draws.

He smiled "It's called the Mark 14 Variable Plasma Rifle."

Mel giggled "What happened to Vipers 1 thru 13?" Claire asked with a smile.

"Hardy har har. It has 2 configurations. Basic configuration is your standard assault weapon with selective fire; burst or fully automatic. Configuration 2 is AMR/HPC support, single shot only. It can also be powered from an external source, just have to toggle the feed."

Stamped on the top of the stock was the serial number LN2. “The tech boys insisted you receive the first one. Its based on schematics you brought back. I’ve also got the codes so you can fabb replacement parts and geist missiles for the launcher I’ve given Mel. Now before you all go running off I need to make Sam a proper DIN, shouldn't take long."

In short order Sam had removed her DIN and was letting Tiger scan the port on the back of her hand. In the space of a few minutes he had a new DIN for her. In minutes Tiger had made a DIN that was orders of magnitutude above what any Enclave Technomancer could. Then there was the comm laser he attatched it to. Only a centimer in diameter it had more power than her old unit.

Once Tiger confirmed its function with a hand shake she received a data packet. It was Claire's memories, not everything but, it was all neatly indexed. She would have to watch them later or they'd miss the raid.

{{Separator|k}}

Sam was about ready to panic. They had ten minutes to get to the meeting point, which was 20 minutes away. Claire had them running full speed out of the safe zone. They didn’t make it very far before she had them all stop.

“Everyone’s geared up right?” Claire asked.

Ajax and Mosley both wore light plated mail armor and carried a shield and sword. Mike/Aug wore lamellar armor made of small rectangular plates and carried a slim rapier. Like he Sam he used a mix of melee and magical combat. Mel didn’t wear any armor but had a wide range of high level AoE spells both offensive and defensive. There was a round of confirmation.

“Good, I’m not technically supposed to do this but I doubt they’ll care too much.” She pulled up a menu.

“Do what?” Mike/Aug asked.

She made a few selections “This.”

There was a flash, indicating they had teleported. The forest they had been standing in was replaced by a high ceilinged rock tunnel. Sam looked around and recognized the markers for the last safe zone of the 74th floor dungeon. Claire didn’t wait for them to ask questions before leading them the rest of the way to the boss chamber.

It was the largest raid group Sam had ever seen, let alone been a part of. Over 70 players, more once she remembered that RIDEs had their own accounts. They had almost 2 dozen known Integrates and probably at least another 5 that were staying hidden. Of all the teams there they were the only one unaligned with a guild. It took a few more minutes to get everyone gathered then the raid leader gave a speech about staying with your team and how xp and drops would be divided.

As she looked around Sam felt out of place with her team, even though she could tentatively call them her friends. The Ghosts were so at ease, like they weren’t about to walk into the jaws of virtual death. Ajax and Mosley were joking with Claire about things that had happened on previous raids and missions. Mike/Aug was talking about game mechanics with Mel. It was a reminder to her that she still knew next to nothing about her cousin anymore.

The massive doors creaked open and the group streamed inside the amphitheater sized room. When the first player stepped inside the whole place lit up revealing the boss of the 74th floor. It was 3 meters of headless dark purple plate armor. It stood there, its sword embedded in the floor. Its name and HP appeared; Crom the Dulahan Lord, he had 5 HP bars.

"I know what you're thinking Sam," Mel said "but the bosses down here are on a different scale."

"Then why are you the only people unFused?"

Before she could press the issue the battle began in earnest. A dozen large black dogs poured out from caves lining the walls, Fairy Hounds. Their main job was to help keep the busy so the main teams could focus on Crom.

"Remember your number."

Sam remembered she was 6. Mike/Aug were 5, Mosley 4, Ajax 3, Mel 2, and Claire 1. Mosley said it was to make it easier to do callouts and give give commands. One syllable did take less time to produce.

"3, 4 we need to group then togther for 2. 5 and 6 you're on support."

Sam did her best to anticipate her friends providing heals and buffs whenever she could. Mike/Aug was doing much the same with his debuffs. She admired the ease with which the others worked together. Mel, Ajax and Mosley did their best to corral the Fairy Hounds. Whenever 2 were close enough Mel would hit them with one of her spells.

A few times one of the Hounds would make a break for it only to be cut off and driven back by her saber or Mike/Aug's rapier. If it weren't for the constant strain Sam would almost have called it easy. ''Then again she I am working for real soldiers.'' She thought wryly.

Under Claire's calm, almost lazy, direction they eliminated all of the Fairy Hounds in about 45 minutes. They kept their gaurd up, they didn't know if or when the Hounds might respawn. Sam was already starting to feel a little drained. Who knew a raid would be so tiring, Claire had prevent what would have been her first one.

Taking a deep breath She risked a glance over at the main battle. It wasn't going nearly as well as theirs had. Crom had already defeated a quarter of the main raid group and they had only just finished taking out his first HP bar.

Claire frowned, Mel sighed "They didn't listen to us." They all looked at her. "If we don’t hurry the whole raid is going to fall apart.”

“Why?”

“Crom is just as capable of memorizing patterns as we are. If we don’t hurry he’ll screw us when he decides to counter attack by breaking ''their'' rotation pattern apart.”

It took a few minutes to get their team worked into the rotation. Unfortunately they were only able to spend another 10 minutes chipping away at Crom's HP. Despite their team's best efforts Mel’s prediction still came painfully true.

"Hit the deck!" Mel shouted.

Years of rough housing with her cousins came back to her as Sam went limp and dropped to the ground. Crom lashed out at them mid rotation, his blade knocking everyone to the ground with varying amounts of damage. She looked around as another handful of players died.

Sam quickly recovered scrambling back to her feet with the rest of her team. Thanks to Mel quick warning they were the only team that wasn't caught flat-footed by Crom's next swing. Mosley and Ajax locked shields preventing him from killing another batch of downed players.

Claire was still on her hands and knees. She looked around at the other downed players and had a flash of panic. They had to do something or the raid would fall apart and they would all end up dead. But what could they do alone? Mel met her panicked eyes with her own calm ones and at that moment something passed between them.

Claire surged to her feet heading towards Mel.

"5, 6 the wounded! 3, 4 stall him!"

She knew when she reached Mel there would be no turning back. She gave the Fuse command. They weren't alone anymore, they hadn't been alone for almost 3 months. They had each other.

"Half my heart to make you whole," one of them said

"My strength to purify your weakness." The other finished.

Fused in both worlds she abandoned the use of their beloved menu in favor of the more efficient thought commands. She raised their left hand and launched a salvo of spells at Crom. He reeled back, breastplate derezzing as they destroyed it.

She swiped their left hand across the hilt of their blade and came away, it came away grasping a second. She blurred as they crossed the distance catching his blade's overhead strike in a double block. With a yank she forced his blade up and away. Her twin blades ignited into the blue white glow of special skill.

"This is the Black Blade,Laevateinn." Everyone was staring at her. Laevateinn was one of a kind, dropped for the first player to kill Surtr. The more you killed with it, the higher its damage became. If you used its special the damage modifier was reset to 0. A small price to pay if it meant saving lives. Her two halves in agreement she verbalized the command "Dual Sonic."

She was in motion again slashing at Crom's pale exposed flesh. She ducked a swing and viciously attacked the opening in his guard. But he was just as unforgiving. They trade blows hers landing more than his. He forced an opening and tried another overhead strike which She caught between their blades.

She didn't just bellow. She roared as she yanked their swords apart. His blade shattering as the damage overwhelmed it. He hesitated for a microsecond, the AI unsure of what to do. That was all the time she needed. She rushed him and cut clean through with Laevateinn, shattering him into countless points of light.

A massive banner appeared in the air declaring her victorious. She staggered back Laevateinn vanishing from her left hand, its skill complete. She collapsed onto her butt, tired and head aching. As her team gathered round she gave a weak smile.

"I feel terrible. Just gonna log out, maybe get some shut eye."

"Take my bed." Ajax said.

She nodded closing her eyes and opening them in the real. She felt like shit as she trudged up the stairs to the guest room Ajax was using. She kicked the door closed behind her before collapsing on the bed. Her wings splayed out to catch the sunlight filtering through the blinds. Maybe she would feel better when she woke.

Back in Oz there was little speculation about why Claire and Mel had logged out. Mike/Aug, Ajax, Sam and Mosley led the way down the staircase into the first town on the 75th floor. The other players treated them with anything from jovial friendship to thinly veiled disgust, mostly from the closet Inties.

Sam was relieved when they finally picked an Inn and logged out. Thanks to Claire/Mel the raid hadn't taken nearly as long as it should have. ''Then again if they hadn't Fused the raid would have been over even sooner.'' Sam thought wryly.

She stretched and went into the kitchen were Tiger was talking to her mom. She ignored them as she made a beeline for the fridge and the crunchy dill pickles inside. Enclave life had always chafed her the wrong way. It was good to be back in civilization ''and'' out in the open, at least with her family.

Mosley wandered in and sat down at the table joining Bobbie and Tiger's discussion about something computer related. Sam tuned them out as she walked back into the family room. Ajax had gone somewhere while Mike and Aug had deFused and were talking about sports. She Went up to her room and lay down on her bed before starting to watch Claire's memories.

{{Separator|k}}

''Earth Orbit, 2501 AD''

Stuart took a deep calming breath. He did his best to ignore the warning klaxons blaring in his ears as he finished overriding the shuttle's emergency systems. This was going to be tricky, the stolen IDE he had in the cargo hold wasn't properly rated for-entry. There was a shout as a full cyborg rounded the corner, gun drawn. It was quickly silenced as Stuart's combat knife, also stolen, buried itself in his head.

He tugged it free as he ran past, the gun would just slow him down at this point. He sprinted down to the cargo hold making quick work of additional armed interference along the way. He slid into his IDE and ran the start up sequence. Automated systems aboard the ship announced the impending failure of its hull.

It took him a few minutes to get in position behind his chosen bulkhead before the alarm on his chrono beeped at him. He braced himself and fired into the engineering deck. There was a half second of silence. Then everything went white as the ship's tokamak exploded. Stuart had a fraction of a second to think he might have made a mistake before blacking out.

Consciousness was slow to return and painful when it did. His head pounded in time with the rhythmic beeping of an EKG machine. So he was in a medical facility of some kind, not good. Past that he could hear a couple of voices talking quietly off to one side. The voices stopped and one of them came closer.

"Relax," the voice sounded like Ron Pearlman "you're safe here." Stuart struggled to open his eyes. "That's it nice and slow, there we go."

The man standing next to his bed was dressed in army fatigues. He was short, broad shoulder and in excellent physical condition despite his apparent age. What was left of his grey hair was cut into a perfect flat top. He had a wry half smile on his wrinkled face as he adjusted the bed to sit Stuart up.

He extended a hand "Helluva stunt you pulled up there kid. General Alphonso Knoxx, North American Army."

This was like meeting a celebrity. General Knoxx was the founder and leader of Task Force Stalker during the brush wars on Earth. Every Ghost had heard stories about this man. General Knoxx waited patiently as Stuart slowly reached out and shook it.

"It's an honor sir, Staff Sargent Stuart Maiuri, Zharus Planetary Authority."

He chuckled "One of Tiger's new Ghosts eh?"

"Yes, Sir." Stuart smiled weakly "I'm afraid my infiltration might have been compromised."

The other man laughed "Its a distinct possibility. Colonel John Carter, we've managed to rig the IDE to show that you died when the ship exploded. We moved quickly enough that we were able to destroy the actual time data. You were only dead for 2.7 seconds."

"Still, without a body it will only be a matter of time before someone else starts looking into it." Knoxx said "This location is secure for now but we need to start arranging for your extraction, Earth is no longer safe for you."

"You should be on your feet in a few days but you'll still need to rest a little longer." John said.

Stuart nodded "What about my mission?"

"Plenty of time for that later. It'll take time for our message to reach Tiger and hen we have to wait for him to respond. So for now rest, recover and start trying to figure out who tipped off the TIA."

{{Separator|k}}

''Atlantic Coast, South America, Earth, 2502 AD''

Everything was black. Stuart must have had his eyes closed. A few minutes passed before a transmission came in on a secure line.

'':This is Fuego. We've acquired transport, stand by.''

Stuart opened his eyes. He was surrounded by a thick heavy rain forest. It was pouring down rain but his stealth suit was sealed against water penetration. Now that his eyes were open he could hear the rain as well, must have dozed off. The clearing ahead of him rippled outward as a small craft descended on quiet lifters.

'':Roger that Fuego, I have eyes on, over._ Stuart transmitted.''

The tail ramp lowered and 4 figures quickly slipped out of it and over to the treeline. As quickly as it had come the craft lifted off and flew away. Like him they were all dressed in stealth suits, their active camoflage making them invisible to the naked eye. His VISR system painted them as moving green outlines and tagged each with a name.

'':We have 10 minutes to get inside Black Zone.'' Stuart transmitted.

'':Short window, let's move.'' Stuart's HUD identified the speaker as Hammond.

They quickly headed deeper into the forest soon spotting a pair of IDEs patroling in the distance. It was time to put General Knoxx's gift into action. Stuart used his new command neural implant to check into their local comm traffic. It was just the usual chatter between friends but they were constantly checking in with the base which meant killing them would just sound the alarm that much faster.

They skirted around the IDEs heading farther north before cutting back to the west again. They crested a hill and caught sight of their target facility. Above ground it was a massive complex of squat buildings but below the surface it opened up into a series of large R & D labs.

That factory was their target, get in, figure out what they’re making, steal data, and get out. He was also tasked with capturing or destroying any existing prototypes. The hard part would be getting back out after the alarm was raised. Stuart had no doubt that the facility personnel wouldn't hesitate to kill them if they were discovered.

They made short work of a group of guards that were lounging around. They waited a few seconds as Stuart's implant fed authorization codes to the vault door. There was a hiss as the cylindrical door rotated open allowing them to slip into the facility proper.

They passed through a decontamination airlock before entering one of the deserted side areas moving swiftly and silently to the local security station. They waited outside its vault door as Stuart's implant went to work once again. As soon as the opening was wide enough they tossed in a mix of smoke grenades and short range jammers. They waited for a 3 count before entering themselves and easily eliminating the disoriented soldiers inside.

In the blink of an eye Stuart had full control of the facility's local security systems. It was child’s play to rig the system on a loop, no back up would be coming for the defenders in this area. They changed the codes on their way out, every extra second was important.

They stuck to the side passages as they made their way deeper into the facility with minimal, almost nonexistent, resistance. The combination of their stealth gear and Stuart’s implant probably played a part in that. Their next stop was the server room which they would ''liberate'' of all its information.

They ran into a problem when they got there. The server room had single civilian technician inside. Civilians were non-combatants and therefore off limits. To make matters worse he had fully prosthetic body so they couldn’t just knock him out. As he turned facial recognition identified him as Doctor Karl Sanderson, an expert on cybernetics and data security who had been shanghaied into service.

'':Command, Hammond.''

'':Go ahead.''

'':We've got a civilian here, Dr Karl Sanderson. He's been pressed into service.''

'':Understood make his evac a priority.''

Now with the green light, Stuart tapped into his com '':Doctor Sanderson.''

His head snapped up and he looked around. '':Who is this? How did you get this com code?''

'':I know you’ve been forced into this job. How would you like to get out of here, forever.''

He slumped _:I wouldn’t be safe anywhere on Earth._

'':What about off world?''

'':My passport's been revoked.''

'':Smuggling one person off planet is pretty easy. Well, easier than smuggling a group anyway.''

'':You can do that?''

Stuart de-cloaked and offered his hand '':We can, but first we need to get you out of here.''

Dr. Sanderson shook it '':Easy enough, the newest IDEs are in workshop lambda. You could make a pretty big distraction with those.''

'':We'll head out as soon as we're finished here.''

They connected directly to the file server and copied everything before leaving behind several time bombs. They re-engaged their active camouflage and slipped out accompanied by Dr Sanderson. Workshop lambda was two levels below the server room; it also had a greater concentration of guards.

Sanderson surprised all of them by making himself into a distraction enabling them to quickly eliminate the guards. The way he kicked a few of the corpses proved that the man had his own reasons for wanting them dead. A quick check showed they had been tormenting the good Doctor since his interment began.

Workshop lambda was equal parts amazing and horrifying. There were hundreds of 3 meter mechs all standing in perfect little rows. The first production batch of the brand new Titan model IDE. This factory had to go.

'':Command, Hammond, you seeing this?''

'':Affirmative, Hammond. Intel confirmed. You have 14 mikes before Eclipse makes that place a crater.''

They had just finished powering up the IDEs when things went wrong. The nearby freight elevator came to life bringing a large group of off duty soldiers up from the next level. Their shift had just ended and they were still armed, mostly with light guns but a few with anti-IDE weapons.

'':Command can we get a hold on Eclipse?''

'':Negative, its already past PNR.''

'':Shit! We do *not* want to be here!''

Hammond's IDE rushed forward as he took the initiative, melee weapons making quick work of the anti-IDE guards. The main threat dealt with they all moved as the remaining guards opened fire on them. While annoying the small arms fire was far from dangerous to the IDEs. Especially as they displayed an interesting feature, hardlight shielding.

It wasn't nearly as powerful or efficient as the hardlight on Zharus but its existence was still worrying. It was a good thing the only copy of its plans was staying with him. They plowed through the remaining forces and restarted the freight elevator. Stuart fed a set of over-rides to the elevator safeties, they needed to be ''gone''.

They battered aside the doors and kicked on their lifters as the alarm sounded. They burned cavorite as they flew out the main gate they had scant seconds to make it to MSD. If they didn't. No, don't think about that just focus on getting there. There was a deafening roar behind them and Stuart risked a peak over his shoulder. There was a burning light overhead as a small sun plummeted toward the facility.They passed the MSD line painted on their HUDs and didn't stop, the further they got the better.

He knew what was coming and quickly looked away to protect his eyes from the blinding flash as the 5 and a half meter tungsten carbide rod made impact. The shock-wave was on them in less than a second. The displaced air tore whole trees from the ground and sent everything flying like ships in a hurricane. The IDEs crashed and bounced along the ground before slowly sliding half a klick to a stop.

Stuart was in pain '':Squad, sound off.'' he managed to groan.

There were all battered and bruised but everyone, even Dr Sanderson, had made it out alive and relativly intact. With some effort they managed to get their IDEs standing and clambered over a hill of trees, rock, and dirt to look back at the facility. It was gone, replaced by a massive jagged edged crater. There was a 400 meter ring around the crater, completely devoid of anything except scorched earth.

Stuart whistled appreciatively '':Damn, now *that's* how you destroy something.''

'':That's nothing. The original system used rods large enough to destroy '''''cities'''''.'' Buscemi said.

{{Separator|k}}

''Bavarian Alps, Europe, Earth, 2502''

Stuart straightened his "borrowed" gloves and pulled down his visor before checking again to make sure the uniform was clean of any stains. The uniform had belonged to a full borg security officer and barely fit Stuart's smaller frame. He stepped out of the security building as Holland finished stashing the stripped body of one of the former security officers. Hammond and Buscemi were already in position on the other side of the snow covered road.

It had been an interesting and harrowing 8 months working with Echo Squad. They were Knoxx's final group of Ghost operatives, once Echo was finished there would no more Earth trained Ghosts. They were a good squad, well trained and fun to be around, more than once they had dragged him out drinking or had him over for family celebrations.

Their mission this time was the rescue of a European Union researcher that the Terran Intelligence Agency had tasked with investigating something. Knoxx wanted to know what it was and get the woman safely on her way to Zharus where the rest of her family would be waiting. They had already completed their first objective, take over the security check point and pose as its guard detail.

'':Here they come.'' Holland transmitted as a small fully loaded, and wheeled, military skimmer came around the corner.

'':These disgues better work.'' Buscemi transmitted before signaling them to stop for inspection.

'':Two up front, two in back with the HVT between them. All lightly armed and very squishy.''

'':Roger that, drop 'em.''

Buscemi began speaking to the driver in rapid German, making general small talk as he checked the documentation on their tablet. The rest of squad quietly advanced on vehicle as the slipped combat knives into their hands. As the Buscemi was handing back the tablet they struck, knives sinking through necks and striking the brain stem.

Stuart grimaced as he pulled the blade out and dumped the body onto the roadway. The steady snowfall would cover the body soon enough and they would be long gone before the next group came by in 4 hours. He settled in next to the HVT as Holland climbed into the driver seat.

'':It's alright Dr. Magnussen. General Knoxx sent us to get you out of here.''

She sagged with relief ''Thank god, I'm dumping the details of everything they been having me do over to you now.''

'':Thank you, get comfortable it'll be a while before we get to the extraction point.''

They spent the next 40 minutes riding in silence as they kept a weather eye out for signs of trouble. When they got to the extraction point the sub-orbital was waiting for them, lifters primed and ready.They piled out weapons sweeping the surrounding forest as Hammond escorted Dr. Magnussen to the sub.

Stuart readied his weapon '':Everybody, quiet.'' There was silence on the radio. '':Where did all the noise go?''

The others readied their weapons and slowly backed up to the sub. It was too quiet; the only sounds they could hear now were the low whines of the sub’s lifters. He was worried now. There was a brief flash of movement in the woods. He blanched as his implant identified it. Stalkers, they were the TIA equivalent of secret police.

Stuart didn’t hesitate, immediately opening fire. His gauss rifle’s hypersonic rounds tearing through the low quality stealth armor with ease. Through the trees he caught sight of a camouflaged troop transport, adjusting his fire angle before pulling a second trigger and firing a small rocket at it.

By now the others had started shooting as they retreated into the sub. Stalkers began pouring out into the surrounding clearing first 5, then 10, then 20. Their numbers just kept growing, zerg tactics overwhelm the enemy with superior numbers.

The situation was rapidly deteriorating, he had to to get to cover. As he moved he saw white and pain exploded across his left thigh before he threw himself behind the stolen skimmer for cover. He looked down and confirmed one of the Stalkers had gotten lucky and grazed him. High velocity round tearing a chunk out of his leg.

He pulled the pin on a smoke grenade and lobbed it over the skimmer. Shortly after it detonated he followed it up with a frag, capitalizing on the smokescreen and basic reasoning that the Stalkers would ignore it as another smoke. His suspicions were confirmed when its explosion was accompanied by screams of pain.

'':Tell Knoxx, I'm sorry.''

Hammond said'':We aren't leaving you behind.''

'':You don't have a choice. I'm not going anywhere with this bum leg, finish the mission.''

'':But.''

A round clipped the sub's ramp '':Go!''

With a roar the sub took off accelerating flat out away from the clearing. Stuart wiped out all the comm codes in his implants and destroyed any data that could lead the TIA back to Knoxx, Zharus, or anything else. He braced the rifle against his shoulder and struggled to pull himself upright. If he was going to die, then he was taking as many of them with him as he could.

Laying atop the hood he fired his remaining rocket at a nearby cluster of enemies, as always doing his best to ignore their pain. He emptied his first magazine and slipped behind the skimmer again ejecting the empty magazine and slamming in a full one. He lay on his stomach as he fired trying to make every shot count.

His weeks spent on the firing range paid off, each shot hitting and while not all were fatal they were certainly debilitating. He pulled the trigger again and the rifle clicked, empty. He threw his remaining grenade before rolling over and pulling himself into a sitting position before changing loading his last mag.

He looked up, seeing Stalkers exiting the woods in front of him. He opened fire, again each shot killing or mortally wounding an advancing foe before the rifle started clicking. He chucked it at someone's stomach making them double over in pain as he pulled his side arm from its holster on his right thigh and finishing the gasping man off.

Stuart got off another dozen shots before someone shot his left shoulder causing him to drop it in pain. That same soldier quickly advanced bending down to grab him only to get 18 centimeters of knife blade shoved and twisted into his throat. Stuart placed his final grenade on the ground next to his left hand, putting a finger through the pin's ring as the arm hung useless at his side.

He ripped the dieing man's knife from the sheath on his shoulder before pushing him aside. With the ease of long practice he spin the knife around to grip it by the blade befoe taking careful aim and hurling it at the nearest Stalker. Stuart struggled to sit up further, right hand now firmly wrapped around his final grenade.

They had him surrounded, but they weren't shooting at him anymore. It confirmed what Stuart was thinking, they wanted him alive. They wouldn't get anything from his implants which meant they would resort to interrogation and torture. Stuart had no intention of going through that.

He gave a weak smile "Shel kek nem ron." He pulled the pin on the grenade and held it in front of him for all to see. Before he could drop it his hand was crushed by an iron grip keeping safety lever on the grenade. He struggled with what little strength he had left before it was ripped from his hand and hurled into the woods as blood loss caught up to him and he passed out.

{{Separator|k}}

''Location Unknown, Date Unknown''

Tied to a chair there was little Stuart could do. He had grown thinner, his muscles atrophied from a combination of disuse and minor malnutrition. His wounds had been allowed to completely heal before they started the "interrogations". They had done something to screw up his internal chrono. He had no idea how long he had been there.

"Prisoner 24601." there was the simulated sound of rustling paper. "My my, you have been here a while haven't you?" a hand lifted his chin "You've given us nothing but shit answers." They were trying to break him, turn him to their side. "Let's try this again." Looking up he could see that the speaker was a blonde man in a clean black suit and tie. "Name?"

"Kris Kringle."

With a sigh the man punched him "Name." he said more insistently.

"Edmond...Dontes." Stuart wheezed.

He punched Stuart in the jaw "Name!" he yelled.

Stuart spit in his face "Inigo...Montoya."

There was a tiny thread keeping him sane. The others had gotten away. They were safe and soon enough the TIA would get sick of his bullshit and either kill him or, more likely, just dump him somewhere to die. If and when they did he would have a chance to live.

"I don't know who you think you're protecting. We shot down Dr. Magnussen's sub before it could even reach orbit."

His statement was accompanied by images and video projecting on the walls of small room. It couldn't be true, he'd seen them escape. He knew how easily digital video and images could be faked. It was a lie it had to be...but...what if it wasn't? That niggling little doubt finally snapped his thread, it just wasn't the _right_ thread.

The man frowned, clearly talking to someone on the comms. His frown deepened, clearly he was getting bad news. He turned his back on Stuart as he continued speaking on the comms. There were several minutes of silence before he huffed and turned back around pulling on a pair of gloves.

He drew his gun "It seems the time has come for us to be deprived of your...pleasant company, permanently." He crouched next to Stuart "This is your last chance to live. What is your name? Who do you work for?" silence "Well, I guess this is the end for you." As he started to pull back Stuart lunged for his neck.

He stared blankly at the dead agent on the floor. Oxygen deprivation had killed him long before he bled to death. Soon enough Stuart would be following him. The agent had managed to get off a handful of shots, a lucky one even managed to hit him.

Had it been hours or just minutes since all that had been done? Everything was getting blurry, going dark just like it had when he nearly bled out in Germany. His eyes sank closed as his breathing grew ragged. The sound from videos abruptly stopped as someone opened the door. He heard snatches of a rolling fluid language and felt a hand pressed to his neck.

There was a pause then more shouting as the first hand was replaced by a second. He fell as someone had cut the ropes that were binding him. He was carefully laid down on something soft, a stretcher? His eyes opened briefly and he saw one of the men. There was a prick on his neck and he started to fall asleep.

''Location Unknown, Date Unknown''

Stuart woke slowly to the steady beep of an EKG. A quick check confirmed that yes, he was still alive and no he was not restrained. He carefully pushed himself into a sitting position, his weakened muscles protesting a little at their sudden use. The room was simply furnished; bed, a few chairs, night stand and a lamp. With a moments hesitation he pressed the nurse's call button.

There was the sound of running in hallway and the door to his room flew open as the nurse answered the summons. When she saw him, up and awake, she shouted down the hallway in the same language he heard during his rescue. She waited for a response before crossing the room in 3 strides and beginning the basic check-up procedure.

She was just finishing when the door opened a second time and a second nurse walked in carrying a tray of food closely followed by someone else. He was tall, narrow shouldered. He was bald sporting a full beard and mustache. He was bald. His black beard and mustache were shot through with streaks of gray and his face was weathered from age and harsh living. His implant's facial recognition identified the man, Imran Zakaev.

He was clad simply in flecktarn camo pants, green brown shirt, long leather overcoat and heavy combat boots. He moved a chair next to the bed and sat down single arm resting casually in his lap. The second nurse spoke to him as she set down the food, he responded and both nurses left the room with a nod.

His gravely voice had only a hint of a Russian accent "You must be hungry. Please, eat, we can discuss business when you are finished."

Even though it was hospital food it was much better then the gruel he had been fed while in TIA custody. He was careful not to eat to quickly it would have been both rude and unhealthy. While he ate Zakhaev sat silently, likely speaking to people over a private comm channel.

"Thank you." Stuart said.

Zakhaev gave a wan smile "Your rescue was a happy accident. We've been hoping to find you ever since Alfonso told us of your capture."

"How long?"

"6 months, that's how long you were with."

"That’s how long it took them to break me."

Zakhaev nodded "Yes, but it wasn’t in the manner they were hoping for.”

“My chances of going home are still probably nil.”

He smirked “Actually, a ship will be arriving in 7 months. There will be an extraction team on board.”

“Oh...”

“Until then you’ll just have to find a way to keep busy.”

“If ya’ll are going to be running any ops I’d be happy to help.”

“Not until the doctors clear you, not even RO. I mean it.” Stuart hung his head “Hey,” Zakhaev put his hand his shoulder “You’ve literally been through hell. You need to _recover_ before you do anything else.”

Zakhaev gave him a pat on the shoulder before leaving with the empty tray. Stuart sighed, maybe tomorrow he would finally check out Virtual Life. It seemed that everyone else on the planet used it for at least 1 thing so why not?

{{series bar
|series=Ghost's of Zharus
|previous=[[Ghosts: The Return|Ghosts: The Return]]
|next=}}

User:Oddoneout/Ghosts:Ghost Stories

2014-04-05T01:34:22Z

Oddoneout: Add seperators

Bobbie Maiuri was having a rough morning. Her daughter had gone out the night before with her niece, once nephew, and a group of ZPA agents. They had been brought home by the APD. Apparently Claire was in a fight of some sort, very one-sided from the sound of it, and the APD had decided she didn't need to spend the night in jail. She just wasn't supposed to de-Fuse or leave the property without supervision for the next 30 hours.

The man Claire attacked was a Cape Nord native who had been in town on business. Mosley said there were 2 reasons that he was very lucky to be alive. The first was that Claire being drunk caused a lack of finer control that could have landed him in the hospital for days. The second was that if Claire hadn't slammed him into the bar her cobra headed tail would have bitten him. She wouldn't say exactly what the snake was carrying in its fangs, just that it was guaranteed to be fatal, even to Integrates.

As soon as the APD had left Mel/Claire had gone to the backyard and sat down cross-legged. They hadn't moved since. When, Sam checked on them she said they were talking to someone on an Integrate secure comm line. Ajax said the fighting and brooding was not normal.

"Excuse me, is this the Maiuri residence?" There was a tiger Fuser at the door.

"Yes."

"I'm Tiger Sauer, with the ZPA." His voice reminded her of Harvey Keitel.

"Bobbie." she shook the offered hand.

"I have been led to believe you have some of my operatives here, is that correct?"

"It is. Won't you please come in?"

"Thank you very much." she closed the door "I've also been led to believe you know about Integrates is that correct?"

She nodded "Our daughter is Integrated, just came back to us a few days ago."

It took a second for Bobbie to realize, Tiger was also an Integrate. "You don’t have to stay in hardlight." he quirked a brow "I can tell by your body language. You aren't used to hiding."

He chuckled as he dropped the sherade. His black stripes doubled as faintly glowing tron lines. He was a lanky man, narrow in the shoulders and all arms and legs. As they walked she could see corded muscles rippling beneath his fur. Despite his desk job he made a point of keeping in shape.

Bobbie had done some research on her newest guest. Colonel Tiger Sauer, served in the North American Army during the Brush Wars. Emigrated to Zharus in 132 AL first settlingin Nextus. During the Nextus-Sturmhaven War he was involved in the development and adoption of RIDEs for and by covert units, partnering with a TGR(m)-HMA himself. After the war he and his partner mustered out and joined the Zharus Planetary Authority and information about them became scarce.

"So, what went wrong?" He asked as sat on the couch.

"They got lucky." Ajax said "I know it sounds like an excuse Sir but it’s the truth. We were a thousand klicks out from the nearest entrance to that place and one of the locals stumbled across us. Her description matched Quinoa Steader; sorry to say she's on the edge of a slippery slope."

Tiger nodded "I thought that might be the case. Scuttlebutt said she was moving out to the Towers Enclave, just thought we had more time before she left."

Bobbie stood there gaping "Um... are you sure you shouldn't be in a secure room or something for this."

"I secured the entire property before I rang the doorbell and no one would believe you if you told them. How's Claire?"

Mosley smiled "She's doing much better. I guess all she really needed was to get drunk, spill her guts, and get in a pointless fight. Once she had a few drinks she spent half the night talking to me on a secure line."

"How much did she say?"

"Only where she really went and what went wrong, no real details though."

"Wait she didn't go to Proxima?" Bobbie asked.

"No, I'll see if I can't get her clearance to give you guys full disclosure. At least your story matches what she told me this morning."

"You called her?"

"She called me. Mengsk gave her a Manchurian program with some hidden features. I was able to destroy most of it but I want to make sure she's in the clear before Tassadar nukes him."

"So that asshole's finally getting spaced?" Mike asked.

Bobbie blanched; spacing was slang for throwing someone out of an airlock. Tiger shook his head "I don't know. Tassadar might decide spacing is too good for him. Now, where is Claire?"

In the backyard Dominic, formerly MRS agents Carl Yottes and Dominic, was about to relive a humilitaing and terrifing experience. He had been overjoyed when his hacking revealed that Sam was related to the Fuser who humilated him in both Nextus and Oz. He could get his revenge on them at the same time.

It had been so easy to hack that idiot from Cape Nord into doing exactly what he needed. All he had to do was put out an anonymous tip to the APD and wait for them to haul that Fuser to jail. He didn't stick around to watch as he had other preparations to make. Aloha belonged to the Munns and Integrates who shared their mind set of sticking with meat. If Dominic was going to pull this off he needed an air-tight exit plan.

He peaked around the corner of the house checking the backyard. Nice and empty just like it should be, this was going to be too easy. He was going to Integrate Sam's mother and when her father came back he'd Integrate him to. Sure, Fritz wouldn't approve if he found out but it was a small price to pay if it meant teaching some freak meatie a lesson.

He opened up his sensors to check inside the house again. They bounced off a transparent hardlight barrier now encapsulating the two story home. That wasn't there a second ago. Sam wasn't strong enough to create something like this, so who did? This wasn't in the plan. He turned to leave and bump into something solid.

"Da fuq?" the entire backyard was encased by a hardlight shield.

"Leaving so soon?" He wiped around, siting crosslegged in the middle of the backyard was Claire/Mel in Fuser. "You haven't been dismissed yet ''Corporal''."

He blanched "What did you just call me?"

"You will address your superior officer as Sir. As to your question, well it took me a while to remember y'all, Corporal Carl Yottes and HAA(m)-GRZ-012J Dominic of Nextus Material Recovey Services. I was in charge of a joint op about 5 years back, ZPA and MRS, you were assigned to my squad." he frowned "Still don't remember? I was in an AIDE, matte black."

The bottom dropped out of his stomach, now he remembered having pushed it to the very bottom hoping that embaressesment would never again come up. Carl was a Cape Nord native with an extensive Mancard and, as such, expected that they would be leading the assault. Instead they had placed under the command of a young waif of a Staff Sargent.

That was fine, not being in command meant fewer responsiblities. They were confident that the Sargent would place them at the head of the entry team. They thought wrong; instead their job was to breach the wall and defend the entry point. Carl had fumed at this indignity. He was a Man for crying out loud.

When he requested (demanded) that he lead the assault he found himself re-assigned to the perimeter instead. When their target fled he almost let them get away. When questioned about it he had foolish responded that a true Man doesn't attack a defeated opponent. He wanted the Sargent to prove his Manhood.

The next 2 minutes were the most humiliating and painful of his life. His opponent, using an old AIDE, danced around his strikes and easily landing his own. They had to replace 35% of his plating, along with their hands.

"Sargent Maiuri." he whispered.

Thus named Claire gave a cold smile "Actually it's Lieutant now. Reports said you went AWOL 2 years back, guess that's a lie." the smile turned to a frown "It also seems you've forgotten the lesson I taught you. How about a refresher?"

Dominic was frozen, it had been 4 years ''and'' he had Integrated. There was no way he would lose a second time. The part of him that was Carl pointed out that it was that same attitude that had gotten pummeled in the first place. Whatever branch of the ZPA Claire nee Stuart was in they awarded merit at least partially based on how much ass you could kick.

With a snarl he leapt at the large Fuser, only to be met midway by a two fingered strike to his stomach. He doubled over boosting away with his lifters as he suppressed the urge to puke. He could hear a faint ringing in his ears, like he had stood too close to an explosion. The same ringing he heard when she struck him in Nextus. A quick check showed his lens were in no danger of failing.

He made himself invisible and prepared to strike. By the time he noticed her tail tracking him it was too late to avoid her strike. It was only because he did try that her arm grazed his shoulder instead of passing through it. The ringing in his ears abruptly stopped as most of his shoulder exploded. As he gaped at his severed arm he was very glad that he had already shut down his pain reception.

That hesitation was all the opening Claire/Mel needed. A pair of rapid strikes gave Dominic's left leg the same treatment. They de-Fused mid-leap, Mel pinning the Integrate to the ground as her jaws clamped around his head. Claire's tail lashed out fangs sinking deeply into the severed portion of the leg and tossing it down near his head. They stood there for a few seconds before he noticed the leg was beginning to dissolving.

"Nitric acid." Claire said in a bored tone.

He could practically ''feel'' the data flowing between the partners. They were on the cusp of Integration. If he tried to hack Mel, Claire would instantly know and she would kill him. If he tried to attack Claire, Mel would know before he could finish twitching and she would kill him. The fight had taken seconds and now he was completely trapped beaten by naked meat and a mech.

"Root." he didn't argue.

Claire wasted no time locking him out of everything except life support, consciousness, and basic senses. She could hand him over to someone else, maybe the Marshals would take him. She Fused up and sat down to wait. The others should be along shortly.

Tiger frowned when he saw Claire/Mel sitting next to an immobilized grizzly Integrate “I’m getting sloppy.”

She tapped Dominic's head "What are we going to do with him?"

He shrugged " I have no problem with turning him over to the Marshals."

She nodded "Did you bring Mel's kit?"

"Yeah, come around front and we'll get her squared away."

"Who was that guy anyway?" Ajax asked.

"Remember that smash and grab we pulled with MRS?"

"Yeah, wait was that?"

"Yup."

Ajax shrugged "Well, you can't fix stupid."

Claire/Mel nodded as they came around into the front yard they saw Tiger opening the trailer of a skimmer truck parked in the driveway. Mel slid off into Walker mode before they went up the ramp into the mobile maintenance bay. It was a little cramped with everyone inside, especially once Tiger closed it. Mel settled herself in the middle of the room before powering down.

"I'm glad you sent me Mel's updated specs. You did a good job bringing her up to Ghost-spec so all she really needs are the specialty items."

"Stealth coating?" Claire asked.

"Better."

Claire gave a squeal, jumping up and down with joy. It was girliest thing any of them had every seen her do. Tiger just smiled as he started swapping out Mel's old plating.

Bobbie was very confused "I'm lost what's Ghost-spec?"

"Ghost-spec is like Mil-spec but better. On the official paperwork we're known as Task Force Stalker but we're called Ghosts. Always have been, even during the Brush Wars."

"Um, are you sure we should be hearing this. I mean we're civilians."

He shrugged " You guys have seen enough that you deserve full disclosure. I was just a squad leader in the original but ended up running it before we were disbanded at the end of the war. After moving out here It became my Task Force during the Nextus-Sturmhaven War. I kept that one small, a single platoon, but that was all we really needed. Top brass wanted to go public with us and our achievements, I wouldn't let 'em. Especially since they had been all hush hush with the RIDE program"

"What about weapons?" Claire asked.

Tiger frowned "We'll get to that now hush." Claire wilted a bit as he began installing other equipment "Now where was I? Right Nextus, we carried out stealth, counter-stealth, and miliatary/industrial espionage. When the war came to an end we signed on to work infiltration for the ZPA. We've expanded over the years to counter-intelligence and added espionage back into our responsiblities. Along with monitoring the global political situation."

"Including Integrates." Sam said.

His muzzle twitched into a smile "Obviously, we steer clear of politics in general. The ZPA focus on keeping the planet as whole safe from other threats."

"Like?"

"Earth." Claire growled, literally.

Tiger gave her a nod "Keep it brief, I'll pass them some of your memories."

"My real mission was to conduct espionage and sabatoge on Earth. It was going to be a 5 year mission but someone tipped off the Terran Intelligence Agency."

"You think it was that Mengsk guy you and Heather were talking about?"

Tiger grimaced "Think? Ha, we ''know'' it was him. The only reason I haven't done anything is because Tassadar wants names and I think he wants the first crack at him."

Ajax grunted "I think ''every'' Ghost wants a crack at him Sir."

Mike/Aug nodded and Mosley looked positively murderous "No arguements here.Bastard wanted to have me ''studied'' after my Integration." She shuddered. "No points for guessing what he meant by ''that''."

Tiger nodded as he woke Mel up "Now, on the subject of weapons." he led them over to a crate.

Claire gasped; inside the crate was a gun in matte grey. It was large but still small enough to be used in or out of Fuser. Its barrel was mounted beneath a rectangular cooling unit topped by square cooling fins. The stock's forend had lightening holes and a rail that connected to its battery housing. Mounted atop the gun was a boxy scope sitting infront of 5 angled cylinders the last directly above the trigger and pistol grip. It was practically a work of art.

She grunted as she carefully lifted it out "Its heavier than I thought it'd be." she braced it against her shoulder and did a few quick draws.

He smiled "It's called the Mark 14 Variable Plasma Rifle."

Mel giggled "What happened to Vipers 1 thru 13?" Claire asked with a smile.

"Hardy har har. It has 2 configurations. Basic configuration is your standard assault weapon with selective fire; burst or fully automatic. Configuration 2 is AMR/HPC support, single shot only. It can also be powered from an external source, just have to toggle the feed."

Stamped on the top of the stock was the serial number LN2. “The tech boys insisted you receive the first one. Its based on schematics you brought back. I’ve also got the codes so you can fabb replacement parts and geist missiles for the launcher I’ve given Mel. Now before you all go running off I need to make Sam a proper DIN, shouldn't take long."

In short order Sam had removed her DIN and was letting Tiger scan the port on the back of her hand. In the space of a few minutes he had a new DIN for her. In minutes Tiger had made a DIN that was orders of magnitutude above what any Enclave Technomancer could. Then there was the comm laser he attatched it to. Only a centimer in diameter it had more power than her old unit.

Once Tiger confirmed its function with a hand shake she received a data packet. It was Claire's memories, not everything but, it was all neatly indexed. She would have to watch them later or they'd miss the raid.

{{Separator|k}}

Sam was about ready to panic. They had ten minutes to get to the meeting point, which was 20 minutes away. Claire had them running full speed out of the safe zone. They didn’t make it very far before she had them all stop.

“Everyone’s geared up right?” Claire asked.

Ajax and Mosley both wore light plated mail armor and carried a shield and sword. Mike/Aug wore lamellar armor made of small rectangular plates and carried a slim rapier. Like he Sam he used a mix of melee and magical combat. Mel didn’t wear any armor but had a wide range of high level AoE spells both offensive and defensive. There was a round of confirmation.

“Good, I’m not technically supposed to do this but I doubt they’ll care too much.” She pulled up a menu.

“Do what?” Mike/Aug asked.

She made a few selections “This.”

There was a flash, indicating they had teleported. The forest they had been standing in was replaced by a high ceilinged rock tunnel. Sam looked around and recognized the markers for the last safe zone of the 74th floor dungeon. Claire didn’t wait for them to ask questions before leading them the rest of the way to the boss chamber.

It was the largest raid group Sam had ever seen, let alone been a part of. Over 70 players, more once she remembered that RIDEs had their own accounts. They had almost 2 dozen known Integrates and probably at least another 5 that were staying hidden. Of all the teams there they were the only one unaligned with a guild. It took a few more minutes to get everyone gathered then the raid leader gave a speech about staying with your team and how xp and drops would be divided.

As she looked around Sam felt out of place with her team, even though she could tentatively call them her friends. The Ghosts were so at ease, like they weren’t about to walk into the jaws of virtual death. Ajax and Mosley were joking with Claire about things that had happened on previous raids and missions. Mike/Aug was talking about game mechanics with Mel. It was a reminder to her that she still knew next to nothing about her cousin anymore.

The massive doors creaked open and the group streamed inside the amphitheater sized room. When the first player stepped inside the whole place lit up revealing the boss of the 74th floor. It was 3 meters of headless dark purple plate armor. It stood there, its sword embedded in the floor. Its name and HP appeared; Crom the Dulahan Lord, he had 5 HP bars.

"I know what you're thinking Sam," Mel said "but the bosses down here are on a different scale."

"Then why are you the only people unFused?"

Before she could press the issue the battle began in earnest. A dozen large black dogs poured out from caves lining the walls, Fairy Hounds. Their main job was to help keep the busy so the main teams could focus on Crom.

"Remember your number."

Sam remembered she was 6. Mike/Aug were 5, Mosley 4, Ajax 3, Mel 2, and Claire 1. Mosley said it was to make it easier to do callouts and give give commands. One syllable did take less time to produce.

"3, 4 we need to group then togther for 2. 5 and 6 you're on support."

Sam did her best to anticipate her friends providing heals and buffs whenever she could. Mike/Aug was doing much the same with his debuffs. She admired the ease with which the others worked together. Mel, Ajax and Mosley did their best to corral the Fairy Hounds. Whenever 2 were close enough Mel would hit them with one of her spells.

A few times one of the Hounds would make a break for it only to be cut off and driven back by her saber or Mike/Aug's rapier. If it weren't for the constant strain Sam would almost have called it easy. ''Then again she I am working for real soldiers.'' She thought wryly.

Under Claire's calm, almost lazy, direction they eliminated all of the Fairy Hounds in about 45 minutes. They kept their gaurd up, they didn't know if or when the Hounds might respawn. Sam was already starting to feel a little drained. Who knew a raid would be so tiring, Claire had prevent what would have been her first one.

Taking a deep breath She risked a glance over at the main battle. It wasn't going nearly as well as theirs had. Crom had already defeated a quarter of the main raid group and they had only just finished taking out his first HP bar.

Claire frowned, Mel sighed "They didn't listen to us." They all looked at her. "If we don’t hurry the whole raid is going to fall apart.”

“Why?”

“Crom is just as capable of memorizing patterns as we are. If we don’t hurry he’ll screw us when he decides to counter attack by breaking ''their'' rotation pattern apart.”

It took a few minutes to get their team worked into the rotation. Unfortunately they were only able to spend another 10 minutes chipping away at Crom's HP. Despite their team's best efforts Mel’s prediction still came painfully true.

"Hit the deck!" Mel shouted.

Years of rough housing with her cousins came back to her as Sam went limp and dropped to the ground. Crom lashed out at them mid rotation, his blade knocking everyone to the ground with varying amounts of damage. She looked around as another handful of players died.

Sam quickly recovered scrambling back to her feet with the rest of her team. Thanks to Mel quick warning they were the only team that wasn't caught flat-footed by Crom's next swing. Mosley and Ajax locked shields preventing him from killing another batch of downed players.

Claire was still on her hands and knees. She looked around at the other downed players and had a flash of panic. They had to do something or the raid would fall apart and they would all end up dead. But what could they do alone? Mel met her panicked eyes with her own calm ones and at that moment something passed between them.

Claire surged to her feet heading towards Mel.

"5, 6 the wounded! 3, 4 stall him!"

She knew when she reached Mel there would be no turning back. She gave the Fuse command. They weren't alone anymore, they hadn't been alone for almost 3 months. They had each other.

"Half my heart to make you whole," one of them said

"My strength to purify your weakness." The other finished.

Fused in both worlds she abandoned the use of their beloved menu in favor of the more efficient thought commands. She raised their left hand and launched a salvo of spells at Crom. He reeled back, breastplate derezzing as they destroyed it.

She swiped their left hand across the hilt of their blade and came away, it came away grasping a second. She blurred as they crossed the distance catching his blade's overhead strike in a double block. With a yank she forced his blade up and away. Her twin blades ignited into the blue white glow of special skill.

"This is the Black Blade,Laevateinn." Everyone was staring at her. Laevateinn was one of a kind, dropped for the first player to kill Surtr. The more you killed with it, the higher its damage became. If you used its special the damage modifier was reset to 0. A small price to pay if it meant saving lives. Her two halves in agreement she verbalized the command "Dual Sonic."

She was in motion again slashing at Crom's pale exposed flesh. She ducked a swing and viciously attacked the opening in his guard. But he was just as unforgiving. They trade blows hers landing more than his. He forced an opening and tried another overhead strike which She caught between their blades.

She didn't just bellow. She roared as she yanked their swords apart. His blade shattering as the damage overwhelmed it. He hesitated for a microsecond, the AI unsure of what to do. That was all the time she needed. She rushed him and cut clean through with Laevateinn, shattering him into countless points of light.

A massive banner appeared in the air declaring her victorious. She staggered back Laevateinn vanishing from her left hand, its skill complete. She collapsed onto her butt, tired and head aching. As her team gathered round she gave a weak smile.

"I feel terrible. Just gonna log out, maybe get some shut eye."

"Take my bed." Ajax said.

She nodded closing her eyes and opening them in the real. She felt like shit as she trudged up the stairs to the guest room Ajax was using. She kicked the door closed behind her before collapsing on the bed. Her wings splayed out to catch the sunlight filtering through the blinds. Maybe she would feel better when she woke.

Back in Oz there was little speculation about why Claire and Mel had logged out. Mike/Aug, Ajax, Sam and Mosley led the way down the staircase into the first town on the 75th floor. The other players treated them with anything from jovial friendship to thinly veiled disgust, mostly from the closet Inties.

Sam was relieved when they finally picked an Inn and logged out. Thanks to Claire/Mel the raid hadn't taken nearly as long as it should have. ''Then again if they hadn't Fused the raid would have been over even sooner.'' Sam thought wryly.

She stretched and went into the kitchen were Tiger was talking to her mom. She ignored them as she made a beeline for the fridge and the crunchy dill pickles inside. Enclave life had always chafed her the wrong way. It was good to be back in civilization ''and'' out in the open, at least with her family.

Mosley wandered in and sat down at the table joining Bobbie and Tiger's discussion about something computer related. Sam tuned them out as she walked back into the family room. Ajax had gone somewhere while Mike and Aug had deFused and were talking about sports. She Went up to her room and lay down on her bed before starting to watch Claire's memories.

{{Separator|k}}

''Earth Orbit, 2501 AD''

Stuart took a deep calming breath. He did his best to ignore the warning klaxons blaring in his ears as he finished overriding the shuttle's emergency systems. This was going to be tricky, the stolen IDE he had in the cargo hold wasn't properly rated for-entry. There was a shout as a full cyborg rounded the corner, gun drawn. It was quickly silenced as Stuart's combat knife, also stolen, buried itself in his head.

He tugged it free as he ran past, the gun would just slow him down at this point. He sprinted down to the cargo hold making quick work of additional armed interference along the way. He slid into his IDE and ran the start up sequence. Automated systems aboard the ship announced the impending failure of its hull.

It took him a few minutes to get in position behind his chosen bulkhead before the alarm on his chrono beeped at him. He braced himself and fired into the engineering deck. There was a half second of silence. Then everything went white as the ship's tokamak exploded. Stuart had a fraction of a second to think he might have made a mistake before blacking out.

Consciousness was slow to return and painful when it did. His head pounded in time with the rhythmic beeping of an EKG machine. So he was in a medical facility of some kind, not good. Past that he could hear a couple of voices talking quietly off to one side. The voices stopped and one of them came closer.

"Relax," the voice sounded like Ron Pearlman "you're safe here." Stuart struggled to open his eyes. "That's it nice and slow, there we go."

The man standing next to his bed was dressed in army fatigues. He was short, broad shoulder and in excellent physical condition despite his apparent age. What was left of his grey hair was cut into a perfect flat top. He had a wry half smile on his wrinkled face as he adjusted the bed to sit Stuart up.

He extended a hand "Helluva stunt you pulled up there kid. General Alphonso Knoxx, North American Army."

This was like meeting a celebrity. General Knoxx was the founder and leader of Task Force Stalker during the brush wars on Earth. Every Ghost had heard stories about this man. General Knoxx waited patiently as Stuart slowly reached out and shook it.

"It's an honor sir, Staff Sargent Stuart Maiuri, Zharus Planetary Authority."

He chuckled "One of Tiger's new Ghosts eh?"

"Yes, Sir." Stuart smiled weakly "I'm afraid my infiltration might have been compromised."

The other man laughed "Its a distinct possibility. Colonel John Carter, we've managed to rig the IDE to show that you died when the ship exploded. We moved quickly enough that we were able to destroy the actual time data. You were only dead for 2.7 seconds."

"Still, without a body it will only be a matter of time before someone else starts looking into it." Knoxx said "This location is secure for now but we need to start arranging for your extraction, Earth is no longer safe for you."

"You should be on your feet in a few days but you'll still need to rest a little longer." John said.

Stuart nodded "What about my mission?"

"Plenty of time for that later. It'll take time for our message to reach Tiger and hen we have to wait for him to respond. So for now rest, recover and start trying to figure out who tipped off the TIA."

{{Separator|k}}

''Atlantic Coast, South America, Earth, 2502 AD''

Everything was black. Stuart must have had his eyes closed. A few minutes passed before a transmission came in on a secure line.

'':This is Fuego. We've acquired transport, stand by.''

Stuart opened his eyes. He was surrounded by a thick heavy rain forest. It was pouring down rain but his stealth suit was sealed against water penetration. Now that his eyes were open he could hear the rain as well, must have dozed off. The clearing ahead of him rippled outward as a small craft descended on quiet lifters.

'':Roger that Fuego, I have eyes on, over._ Stuart transmitted.''

The tail ramp lowered and 4 figures quickly slipped out of it and over to the treeline. As quickly as it had come the craft lifted off and flew away. Like him they were all dressed in stealth suits, their active camoflage making them invisible to the naked eye. His VISR system painted them as moving green outlines and tagged each with a name.

'':We have 10 minutes to get inside Black Zone.'' Stuart transmitted.

'':Short window, let's move.'' Stuart's HUD identified the speaker as Hammond.

They quickly headed deeper into the forest soon spotting a pair of IDEs patroling in the distance. It was time to put General Knoxx's gift into action. Stuart used his new command neural implant to check into their local comm traffic. It was just the usual chatter between friends but they were constantly checking in with the base which meant killing them would just sound the alarm that much faster.

They skirted around the IDEs heading farther north before cutting back to the west again. They crested a hill and caught sight of their target facility. Above ground it was a massive complex of squat buildings but below the surface it opened up into a series of large R & D labs.

That factory was their target, get in, figure out what they’re making, steal data, and get out. He was also tasked with capturing or destroying any existing prototypes. The hard part would be getting back out after the alarm was raised. Stuart had no doubt that the facility personnel wouldn't hesitate to kill them if they were discovered.

They made short work of a group of guards that were lounging around. They waited a few seconds as Stuart's implant fed authorization codes to the vault door. There was a hiss as the cylindrical door rotated open allowing them to slip into the facility proper.

They passed through a decontamination airlock before entering one of the deserted side areas moving swiftly and silently to the local security station. They waited outside its vault door as Stuart's implant went to work once again. As soon as the opening was wide enough they tossed in a mix of smoke grenades and short range jammers. They waited for a 3 count before entering themselves and easily eliminating the disoriented soldiers inside.

In the blink of an eye Stuart had full control of the facility's local security systems. It was child’s play to rig the system on a loop, no back up would be coming for the defenders in this area. They changed the codes on their way out, every extra second was important.

They stuck to the side passages as they made their way deeper into the facility with minimal, almost nonexistent, resistance. The combination of their stealth gear and Stuart’s implant probably played a part in that. Their next stop was the server room which they would ''liberate'' of all its information.

They ran into a problem when they got there. The server room had single civilian technician inside. Civilians were non-combatants and therefore off limits. To make matters worse he had fully prosthetic body so they couldn’t just knock him out. As he turned facial recognition identified him as Doctor Karl Sanderson, an expert on cybernetics and data security who had been shanghaied into service.

'':Command, Hammond.''

'':Go ahead.''

'':We've got a civilian here, Dr Karl Sanderson. He's been pressed into service.''

'':Understood make his evac a priority.''

Now with the green light, Stuart tapped into his com '':Doctor Sanderson.''

His head snapped up and he looked around. '':Who is this? How did you get this com code?''

'':I know you’ve been forced into this job. How would you like to get out of here, forever.''

He slumped _:I wouldn’t be safe anywhere on Earth._

'':What about off world?''

'':My passport's been revoked.''

'':Smuggling one person off planet is pretty easy. Well, easier than smuggling a group anyway.''

'':You can do that?''

Stuart de-cloaked and offered his hand '':We can, but first we need to get you out of here.''

Dr. Sanderson shook it '':Easy enough, the newest IDEs are in workshop lambda. You could make a pretty big distraction with those.''

'':We'll head out as soon as we're finished here.''

They connected directly to the file server and copied everything before leaving behind several time bombs. They re-engaged their active camouflage and slipped out accompanied by Dr Sanderson. Workshop lambda was two levels below the server room; it also had a greater concentration of guards.

Sanderson surprised all of them by making himself into a distraction enabling them to quickly eliminate the guards. The way he kicked a few of the corpses proved that the man had his own reasons for wanting them dead. A quick check showed they had been tormenting the good Doctor since his interment began.

Workshop lambda was equal parts amazing and horrifying. There were hundreds of 3 meter mechs all standing in perfect little rows. The first production batch of the brand new Titan model IDE. This factory had to go.

'':Command, Hammond, you seeing this?''

'':Affirmative, Hammond. Intel confirmed. You have 14 mikes before Eclipse makes that place a crater.''

They had just finished powering up the IDEs when things went wrong. The nearby freight elevator came to life bringing a large group of off duty soldiers up from the next level. Their shift had just ended and they were still armed, mostly with light guns but a few with anti-IDE weapons.

'':Command can we get a hold on Eclipse?''

'':Negative, its already past PNR.''

'':Shit! We do *not* want to be here!''

Hammond's IDE rushed forward as he took the initiative, melee weapons making quick work of the anti-IDE guards. The main threat dealt with they all moved as the remaining guards opened fire on them. While annoying the small arms fire was far from dangerous to the IDEs. Especially as they displayed an interesting feature, hardlight shielding.

It wasn't nearly as powerful or efficient as the hardlight on Zharus but its existence was still worrying. It was a good thing the only copy of its plans was staying with him. They plowed through the remaining forces and restarted the freight elevator. Stuart fed a set of over-rides to the elevator safeties, they needed to be ''gone''.

They battered aside the doors and kicked on their lifters as the alarm sounded. They burned cavorite as they flew out the main gate they had scant seconds to make it to MSD. If they didn't. No, don't think about that just focus on getting there. There was a deafening roar behind them and Stuart risked a peak over his shoulder. There was a burning light overhead as a small sun plummeted toward the facility.They passed the MSD line painted on their HUDs and didn't stop, the further they got the better.

He knew what was coming and quickly looked away to protect his eyes from the blinding flash as the 5 and a half meter tungsten carbide rod made impact. The shock-wave was on them in less than a second. The displaced air tore whole trees from the ground and sent everything flying like ships in a hurricane. The IDEs crashed and bounced along the ground before slowly sliding half a klick to a stop.

Stuart was in pain '':Squad, sound off.'' he managed to groan.

There were all battered and bruised but everyone, even Dr Sanderson, had made it out alive and relativly intact. With some effort they managed to get their IDEs standing and clambered over a hill of trees, rock, and dirt to look back at the facility. It was gone, replaced by a massive jagged edged crater. There was a 400 meter ring around the crater, completely devoid of anything except scorched earth.

Stuart whistled appreciatively '':Damn, now *that's* how you destroy something.''

'':That's nothing. The original system used rods large enough to destroy '''''cities'''''.'' Buscemi said.

{{Separator|k}}

''Bavarian Alps, Europe, Earth, 2502''

Stuart straightened his "borrowed" gloves and pulled down his visor before checking again to make sure the uniform was clean of any stains. The uniform had belonged to a full borg security officer and barely fit Stuart's smaller frame. He stepped out of the security building as Holland finished stashing the stripped body of one of the former security officers. Hammond and Buscemi were already in position on the other side of the snow covered road.

It had been an interesting and harrowing 8 months working with Echo Squad. They were Knoxx's final group of Ghost operatives, once Echo was finished there would no more Earth trained Ghosts. They were a good squad, well trained and fun to be around, more than once they had dragged him out drinking or had him over for family celebrations.

Their mission this time was the rescue of a European Union researcher that the Terran Intelligence Agency had tasked with investigating something. Knoxx wanted to know what it was and get the woman safely on her way to Zharus where the rest of her family would be waiting. They had already completed their first objective, take over the security check point and pose as its guard detail.

'':Here they come.'' Holland transmitted as a small fully loaded, and wheeled, military skimmer came around the corner.

'':These disgues better work.'' Buscemi transmitted before signaling them to stop for inspection.

'':Two up front, two in back with the HVT between them. All lightly armed and very squishy.''

'':Roger that, drop 'em.''

Buscemi began speaking to the driver in rapid German, making general small talk as he checked the documentation on their tablet. The rest of squad quietly advanced on vehicle as the slipped combat knives into their hands. As the Buscemi was handing back the tablet they struck, knives sinking through necks and striking the brain stem.

Stuart grimaced as he pulled the blade out and dumped the body onto the roadway. The steady snowfall would cover the body soon enough and they would be long gone before the next group came by in 4 hours. He settled in next to the HVT as Holland climbed into the driver seat.

'':It's alright Dr. Magnussen. General Knoxx sent us to get you out of here.''

She sagged with relief ''Thank god, I'm dumping the details of everything they been having me do over to you now.''

'':Thank you, get comfortable it'll be a while before we get to the extraction point.''

They spent the next 40 minutes riding in silence as they kept a weather eye out for signs of trouble. When they got to the extraction point the sub-orbital was waiting for them, lifters primed and ready.They piled out weapons sweeping the surrounding forest as Hammond escorted Dr. Magnussen to the sub.

Stuart readied his weapon '':Everybody, quiet.'' There was silence on the radio. '':Where did all the noise go?''

The others readied their weapons and slowly backed up to the sub. It was too quiet; the only sounds they could hear now were the low whines of the sub’s lifters. He was worried now. There was a brief flash of movement in the woods. He blanched as his implant identified it. Stalkers, they were the TIA equivalent of secret police.

Stuart didn’t hesitate, immediately opening fire. His gauss rifle’s hypersonic rounds tearing through the low quality stealth armor with ease. Through the trees he caught sight of a camouflaged troop transport, adjusting his fire angle before pulling a second trigger and firing a small rocket at it.

By now the others had started shooting as they retreated into the sub. Stalkers began pouring out into the surrounding clearing first 5, then 10, then 20. Their numbers just kept growing, zerg tactics overwhelm the enemy with superior numbers.

The situation was rapidly deteriorating, he had to to get to cover. As he moved he saw white and pain exploded across his left thigh before he threw himself behind the stolen skimmer for cover. He looked down and confirmed one of the Stalkers had gotten lucky and grazed him. High velocity round tearing a chunk out of his leg.

He pulled the pin on a smoke grenade and lobbed it over the skimmer. Shortly after it detonated he followed it up with a frag, capitalizing on the smokescreen and basic reasoning that the Stalkers would ignore it as another smoke. His suspicions were confirmed when its explosion was accompanied by screams of pain.

'':Tell Knoxx, I'm sorry.''

Hammond said'':We aren't leaving you behind.''

'':You don't have a choice. I'm not going anywhere with this bum leg, finish the mission.''

'':But.''

A round clipped the sub's ramp '':Go!''

With a roar the sub took off accelerating flat out away from the clearing. Stuart wiped out all the comm codes in his implants and destroyed any data that could lead the TIA back to Knoxx, Zharus, or anything else. He braced the rifle against his shoulder and struggled to pull himself upright. If he was going to die, then he was taking as many of them with him as he could.

Laying atop the hood he fired his remaining rocket at a nearby cluster of enemies, as always doing his best to ignore their pain. He emptied his first magazine and slipped behind the skimmer again ejecting the empty magazine and slamming in a full one. He lay on his stomach as he fired trying to make every shot count.

His weeks spent on the firing range paid off, each shot hitting and while not all were fatal they were certainly debilitating. He pulled the trigger again and the rifle clicked, empty. He threw his remaining grenade before rolling over and pulling himself into a sitting position before changing loading his last mag.

He looked up, seeing Stalkers exiting the woods in front of him. He opened fire, again each shot killing or mortally wounding an advancing foe before the rifle started clicking. He chucked it at someone's stomach making them double over in pain as he pulled his side arm from its holster on his right thigh and finishing the gasping man off.

Stuart got off another dozen shots before someone shot his left shoulder causing him to drop it in pain. That same soldier quickly advanced bending down to grab him only to get 18 centimeters of knife blade shoved and twisted into his throat. Stuart placed his final grenade on the ground next to his left hand, putting a finger through the pin's ring as the arm hung useless at his side.

He ripped the dieing man's knife from the sheath on his shoulder before pushing him aside. With the ease of long practice he spin the knife around to grip it by the blade befoe taking careful aim and hurling it at the nearest Stalker. Stuart struggled to sit up further, right hand now firmly wrapped around his final grenade.

They had him surrounded, but they weren't shooting at him anymore. It confirmed what Stuart was thinking, they wanted him alive. They wouldn't get anything from his implants which meant they would resort to interrogation and torture. Stuart had no intention of going through that.

He gave a weak smile "Shel kek nem ron." He pulled the pin on the grenade and held it in front of him for all to see. Before he could drop it his hand was crushed by an iron grip keeping safety lever on the grenade. He struggled with what little strength he had left before it was ripped from his hand and hurled into the woods as blood loss caught up to him and he passed out.

{{Separator|k}}

''Location Unknown, Date Unknown''

Tied to a chair there was little Stuart could do. He had grown thinner, his muscles atrophied from a combination of disuse and minor malnutrition. His wounds had been allowed to completely heal before they started the "interrogations". They had done something to screw up his internal chrono. He had no idea how long he had been there.

"Prisoner 24601." there was the simulated sound of rustling paper. "My my, you have been here a while haven't you?" a hand lifted his chin "You've given us nothing but shit answers." They were trying to break him, turn him to their side. "Let's try this again." Looking up he could see that the speaker was a blonde man in a clean black suit and tie. "Name?"

"Kris Kringle."

With a sigh the man punched him "Name." he said more insistently.

"Edmond...Dontes." Stuart wheezed.

He punched Stuart in the jaw "Name!" he yelled.

Stuart spit in his face "Inigo...Montoya."

There was a tiny thread keeping him sane. The others had gotten away. They were safe and soon enough the TIA would get sick of his bullshit and either kill him or, more likely, just dump him somewhere to die. If and when they did he would have a chance to live.

"I don't know who you think you're protecting. We shot down Dr. Magnussen's sub before it could even reach orbit."

His statement was accompanied by images and video projecting on the walls of small room. It couldn't be true, he'd seen them escape. He knew how easily digital video and images could be faked. It was a lie it had to be...but...what if it wasn't? That niggling little doubt finally snapped his thread, it just wasn't the _right_ thread.

The man frowned, clearly talking to someone on the comms. His frown deepened, clearly he was getting bad news. He turned his back on Stuart as he continued speaking on the comms. There were several minutes of silence before he huffed and turned back around pulling on a pair of gloves.

He drew his gun "It seems the time has come for us to be deprived of your...pleasant company, permanently." He crouched next to Stuart "This is your last chance to live. What is your name? Who do you work for?" silence "Well, I guess this is the end for you." As he started to pull back Stuart lunged for his neck.

He stared blankly at the dead agent on the floor. Oxygen deprivation had killed him long before he bled to death. Soon enough Stuart would be following him. The agent had managed to get off a handful of shots, a lucky one even managed to hit him.

Had it been hours or just minutes since all that had been done? Everything was getting blurry, going dark just like it had when he nearly bled out in Germany. His eyes sank closed as his breathing grew ragged. The sound from videos abruptly stopped as someone opened the door. He heard snatches of a rolling fluid language and felt a hand pressed to his neck.

There was a pause then more shouting as the first hand was replaced by a second. He fell as someone had cut the ropes that were binding him. He was carefully laid down on something soft, a stretcher? His eyes opened briefly and he saw one of the men. There was a prick on his neck and he started to fall asleep.

''Location Unknown, Date Unknown''

Stuart woke slowly to the steady beep of an EKG. A quick check confirmed that yes, he was still alive and no he was not restrained. He carefully pushed himself into a sitting position, his weakened muscles protesting a little at their sudden use. The room was simply furnished; bed, a few chairs, night stand and a lamp. With a moments hesitation he pressed the nurse's call button.

There was the sound of running in hallway and the door to his room flew open as the nurse answered the summons. When she saw him, up and awake, she shouted down the hallway in the same language he heard during his rescue. She waited for a response before crossing the room in 3 strides and beginning the basic check-up procedure.

She was just finishing when the door opened a second time and a second nurse walked in carrying a tray of food closely followed by someone else. He was tall, narrow shouldered. He was bald sporting a full beard and mustache. He was bald. His black beard and mustache were shot through with streaks of gray and his face was weathered from age and harsh living. His implant's facial recognition identified the man, Imran Zakaev.

He was clad simply in flecktarn camo pants, green brown shirt, long leather overcoat and heavy combat boots. He moved a chair next to the bed and sat down single arm resting casually in his lap. The second nurse spoke to him as she set down the food, he responded and both nurses left the room with a nod.

His gravely voice had only a hint of a Russian accent "You must be hungry. Please, eat, we can discuss business when you are finished."

Even though it was hospital food it was much better then the gruel he had been fed while in TIA custody. He was careful not to eat to quickly it would have been both rude and unhealthy. While he ate Zakhaev sat silently, likely speaking to people over a private comm channel.

"Thank you." Stuart said.

Zakhaev gave a wan smile "Your rescue was a happy accident. We've been hoping to find you ever since Alfonso told us of your capture."

"How long?"

"6 months, that's how long you were with."

"That’s how long it took them to break me."

Zakhaev nodded "Yes, but it wasn’t in the manner they were hoping for.”

“My chances of going home are still probably nil.”

He smirked “Actually, a ship will be arriving in 7 months. There will be an extraction team on board.”

“Oh...”

“Until then you’ll just have to find a way to keep busy.”

“If ya’ll are going to be running any ops I’d be happy to help.”

“Not until the doctors clear you, not even RO. I mean it.” Stuart hung his head “Hey,” Zakhaev put his hand his shoulder “You’ve literally been through hell. You need to _recover_ before you do anything else.”

Zakhaev gave him a pat on the shoulder before leaving with the empty tray. Stuart sighed, maybe tomorrow he would finally check out Virtual Life. It seemed that everyone else on the planet used it for at least 1 thing so why not?

User:Oddoneout/Ghosts:Ghost Stories

2014-04-05T01:31:28Z

Oddoneout: Posting the bulk of the story

Bobbie Maiuri was having a rough morning. Her daughter had gone out the night before with her niece, once nephew, and a group of ZPA agents. They had been brought home by the APD. Apparently Claire was in a fight of some sort, very one-sided from the sound of it, and the APD had decided she didn't need to spend the night in jail. She just wasn't supposed to de-Fuse or leave the property without supervision for the next 30 hours.

The man Claire attacked was a Cape Nord native who had been in town on business. Mosley said there were 2 reasons that he was very lucky to be alive. The first was that Claire being drunk caused a lack of finer control that could have landed him in the hospital for days. The second was that if Claire hadn't slammed him into the bar her cobra headed tail would have bitten him. She wouldn't say exactly what the snake was carrying in its fangs, just that it was guaranteed to be fatal, even to Integrates.

As soon as the APD had left Mel/Claire had gone to the backyard and sat down cross-legged. They hadn't moved since. When, Sam checked on them she said they were talking to someone on an Integrate secure comm line. Ajax said the fighting and brooding was not normal.

"Excuse me, is this the Maiuri residence?" There was a tiger Fuser at the door.

"Yes."

"I'm Tiger Sauer, with the ZPA." His voice reminded her of Harvey Keitel.

"Bobbie." she shook the offered hand.

"I have been led to believe you have some of my operatives here, is that correct?"

"It is. Won't you please come in?"

"Thank you very much." she closed the door "I've also been led to believe you know about Integrates is that correct?"

She nodded "Our daughter is Integrated, just came back to us a few days ago."

It took a second for Bobbie to realize, Tiger was also an Integrate. "You don’t have to stay in hardlight." he quirked a brow "I can tell by your body language. You aren't used to hiding."

He chuckled as he dropped the sherade. His black stripes doubled as faintly glowing tron lines. He was a lanky man, narrow in the shoulders and all arms and legs. As they walked she could see corded muscles rippling beneath his fur. Despite his desk job he made a point of keeping in shape.

Bobbie had done some research on her newest guest. Colonel Tiger Sauer, served in the North American Army during the Brush Wars. Emigrated to Zharus in 132 AL first settlingin Nextus. During the Nextus-Sturmhaven War he was involved in the development and adoption of RIDEs for and by covert units, partnering with a TGR(m)-HMA himself. After the war he and his partner mustered out and joined the Zharus Planetary Authority and information about them became scarce.

"So, what went wrong?" He asked as sat on the couch.

"They got lucky." Ajax said "I know it sounds like an excuse Sir but it’s the truth. We were a thousand klicks out from the nearest entrance to that place and one of the locals stumbled across us. Her description matched Quinoa Steader; sorry to say she's on the edge of a slippery slope."

Tiger nodded "I thought that might be the case. Scuttlebutt said she was moving out to the Towers Enclave, just thought we had more time before she left."

Bobbie stood there gaping "Um... are you sure you shouldn't be in a secure room or something for this."

"I secured the entire property before I rang the doorbell and no one would believe you if you told them. How's Claire?"

Mosley smiled "She's doing much better. I guess all she really needed was to get drunk, spill her guts, and get in a pointless fight. Once she had a few drinks she spent half the night talking to me on a secure line."

"How much did she say?"

"Only where she really went and what went wrong, no real details though."

"Wait she didn't go to Proxima?" Bobbie asked.

"No, I'll see if I can't get her clearance to give you guys full disclosure. At least your story matches what she told me this morning."

"You called her?"

"She called me. Mengsk gave her a Manchurian program with some hidden features. I was able to destroy most of it but I want to make sure she's in the clear before Tassadar nukes him."

"So that asshole's finally getting spaced?" Mike asked.

Bobbie blanched; spacing was slang for throwing someone out of an airlock. Tiger shook his head "I don't know. Tassadar might decide spacing is too good for him. Now, where is Claire?"

In the backyard Dominic, formerly MRS agents Carl Yottes and Dominic, was about to relive a humilitaing and terrifing experience. He had been overjoyed when his hacking revealed that Sam was related to the Fuser who humilated him in both Nextus and Oz. He could get his revenge on them at the same time.

It had been so easy to hack that idiot from Cape Nord into doing exactly what he needed. All he had to do was put out an anonymous tip to the APD and wait for them to haul that Fuser to jail. He didn't stick around to watch as he had other preparations to make. Aloha belonged to the Munns and Integrates who shared their mind set of sticking with meat. If Dominic was going to pull this off he needed an air-tight exit plan.

He peaked around the corner of the house checking the backyard. Nice and empty just like it should be, this was going to be too easy. He was going to Integrate Sam's mother and when her father came back he'd Integrate him to. Sure, Fritz wouldn't approve if he found out but it was a small price to pay if it meant teaching some freak meatie a lesson.

He opened up his sensors to check inside the house again. They bounced off a transparent hardlight barrier now encapsulating the two story home. That wasn't there a second ago. Sam wasn't strong enough to create something like this, so who did? This wasn't in the plan. He turned to leave and bump into something solid.

"Da fuq?" the entire backyard was encased by a hardlight shield.

"Leaving so soon?" He wiped around, siting crosslegged in the middle of the backyard was Claire/Mel in Fuser. "You haven't been dismissed yet ''Corporal''."

He blanched "What did you just call me?"

"You will address your superior officer as Sir. As to your question, well it took me a while to remember y'all, Corporal Carl Yottes and HAA(m)-GRZ-012J Dominic of Nextus Material Recovey Services. I was in charge of a joint op about 5 years back, ZPA and MRS, you were assigned to my squad." he frowned "Still don't remember? I was in an AIDE, matte black."

The bottom dropped out of his stomach, now he remembered having pushed it to the very bottom hoping that embaressesment would never again come up. Carl was a Cape Nord native with an extensive Mancard and, as such, expected that they would be leading the assault. Instead they had placed under the command of a young waif of a Staff Sargent.

That was fine, not being in command meant fewer responsiblities. They were confident that the Sargent would place them at the head of the entry team. They thought wrong; instead their job was to breach the wall and defend the entry point. Carl had fumed at this indignity. He was a Man for crying out loud.

When he requested (demanded) that he lead the assault he found himself re-assigned to the perimeter instead. When their target fled he almost let them get away. When questioned about it he had foolish responded that a true Man doesn't attack a defeated opponent. He wanted the Sargent to prove his Manhood.

The next 2 minutes were the most humiliating and painful of his life. His opponent, using an old AIDE, danced around his strikes and easily landing his own. They had to replace 35% of his plating, along with their hands.

"Sargent Maiuri." he whispered.

Thus named Claire gave a cold smile "Actually it's Lieutant now. Reports said you went AWOL 2 years back, guess that's a lie." the smile turned to a frown "It also seems you've forgotten the lesson I taught you. How about a refresher?"

Dominic was frozen, it had been 4 years ''and'' he had Integrated. There was no way he would lose a second time. The part of him that was Carl pointed out that it was that same attitude that had gotten pummeled in the first place. Whatever branch of the ZPA Claire nee Stuart was in they awarded merit at least partially based on how much ass you could kick.

With a snarl he leapt at the large Fuser, only to be met midway by a two fingered strike to his stomach. He doubled over boosting away with his lifters as he suppressed the urge to puke. He could hear a faint ringing in his ears, like he had stood too close to an explosion. The same ringing he heard when she struck him in Nextus. A quick check showed his lens were in no danger of failing.

He made himself invisible and prepared to strike. By the time he noticed her tail tracking him it was too late to avoid her strike. It was only because he did try that her arm grazed his shoulder instead of passing through it. The ringing in his ears abruptly stopped as most of his shoulder exploded. As he gaped at his severed arm he was very glad that he had already shut down his pain reception.

That hesitation was all the opening Claire/Mel needed. A pair of rapid strikes gave Dominic's left leg the same treatment. They de-Fused mid-leap, Mel pinning the Integrate to the ground as her jaws clamped around his head. Claire's tail lashed out fangs sinking deeply into the severed portion of the leg and tossing it down near his head. They stood there for a few seconds before he noticed the leg was beginning to dissolving.

"Nitric acid." Claire said in a bored tone.

He could practically ''feel'' the data flowing between the partners. They were on the cusp of Integration. If he tried to hack Mel, Claire would instantly know and she would kill him. If he tried to attack Claire, Mel would know before he could finish twitching and she would kill him. The fight had taken seconds and now he was completely trapped beaten by naked meat and a mech.

"Root." he didn't argue.

Claire wasted no time locking him out of everything except life support, consciousness, and basic senses. She could hand him over to someone else, maybe the Marshals would take him. She Fused up and sat down to wait. The others should be along shortly.

Tiger frowned when he saw Claire/Mel sitting next to an immobilized grizzly Integrate “I’m getting sloppy.”

She tapped Dominic's head "What are we going to do with him?"

He shrugged " I have no problem with turning him over to the Marshals."

She nodded "Did you bring Mel's kit?"

"Yeah, come around front and we'll get her squared away."

"Who was that guy anyway?" Ajax asked.

"Remember that smash and grab we pulled with MRS?"

"Yeah, wait was that?"

"Yup."

Ajax shrugged "Well, you can't fix stupid."

Claire/Mel nodded as they came around into the front yard they saw Tiger opening the trailer of a skimmer truck parked in the driveway. Mel slid off into Walker mode before they went up the ramp into the mobile maintenance bay. It was a little cramped with everyone inside, especially once Tiger closed it. Mel settled herself in the middle of the room before powering down.

"I'm glad you sent me Mel's updated specs. You did a good job bringing her up to Ghost-spec so all she really needs are the specialty items."

"Stealth coating?" Claire asked.

"Better."

Claire gave a squeal, jumping up and down with joy. It was girliest thing any of them had every seen her do. Tiger just smiled as he started swapping out Mel's old plating.

Bobbie was very confused "I'm lost what's Ghost-spec?"

"Ghost-spec is like Mil-spec but better. On the official paperwork we're known as Task Force Stalker but we're called Ghosts. Always have been, even during the Brush Wars."

"Um, are you sure we should be hearing this. I mean we're civilians."

He shrugged " You guys have seen enough that you deserve full disclosure. I was just a squad leader in the original but ended up running it before we were disbanded at the end of the war. After moving out here It became my Task Force during the Nextus-Sturmhaven War. I kept that one small, a single platoon, but that was all we really needed. Top brass wanted to go public with us and our achievements, I wouldn't let 'em. Especially since they had been all hush hush with the RIDE program"

"What about weapons?" Claire asked.

Tiger frowned "We'll get to that now hush." Claire wilted a bit as he began installing other equipment "Now where was I? Right Nextus, we carried out stealth, counter-stealth, and miliatary/industrial espionage. When the war came to an end we signed on to work infiltration for the ZPA. We've expanded over the years to counter-intelligence and added espionage back into our responsiblities. Along with monitoring the global political situation."

"Including Integrates." Sam said.

His muzzle twitched into a smile "Obviously, we steer clear of politics in general. The ZPA focus on keeping the planet as whole safe from other threats."

"Like?"

"Earth." Claire growled, literally.

Tiger gave her a nod "Keep it brief, I'll pass them some of your memories."

"My real mission was to conduct espionage and sabatoge on Earth. It was going to be a 5 year mission but someone tipped off the Terran Intelligence Agency."

"You think it was that Mengsk guy you and Heather were talking about?"

Tiger grimaced "Think? Ha, we ''know'' it was him. The only reason I haven't done anything is because Tassadar wants names and I think he wants the first crack at him."

Ajax grunted "I think ''every'' Ghost wants a crack at him Sir."

Mike/Aug nodded and Mosley looked positively murderous "No arguements here.Bastard wanted to have me ''studied'' after my Integration." She shuddered. "No points for guessing what he meant by ''that''."

Tiger nodded as he woke Mel up "Now, on the subject of weapons." he led them over to a crate.

Claire gasped; inside the crate was a gun in matte grey. It was large but still small enough to be used in or out of Fuser. Its barrel was mounted beneath a rectangular cooling unit topped by square cooling fins. The stock's forend had lightening holes and a rail that connected to its battery housing. Mounted atop the gun was a boxy scope sitting infront of 5 angled cylinders the last directly above the trigger and pistol grip. It was practically a work of art.

She grunted as she carefully lifted it out "Its heavier than I thought it'd be." she braced it against her shoulder and did a few quick draws.

He smiled "It's called the Mark 14 Variable Plasma Rifle."

Mel giggled "What happened to Vipers 1 thru 13?" Claire asked with a smile.

"Hardy har har. It has 2 configurations. Basic configuration is your standard assault weapon with selective fire; burst or fully automatic. Configuration 2 is AMR/HPC support, single shot only. It can also be powered from an external source, just have to toggle the feed."

Stamped on the top of the stock was the serial number LN2. “The tech boys insisted you receive the first one. Its based on schematics you brought back. I’ve also got the codes so you can fabb replacement parts and geist missiles for the launcher I’ve given Mel. Now before you all go running off I need to make Sam a proper DIN, shouldn't take long."

In short order Sam had removed her DIN and was letting Tiger scan the port on the back of her hand. In the space of a few minutes he had a new DIN for her. In minutes Tiger had made a DIN that was orders of magnitutude above what any Enclave Technomancer could. Then there was the comm laser he attatched it to. Only a centimer in diameter it had more power than her old unit.

Once Tiger confirmed its function with a hand shake she received a data packet. It was Claire's memories, not everything but, it was all neatly indexed. She would have to watch them later or they'd miss the raid.

BREAK LINE

Sam was about ready to panic. They had ten minutes to get to the meeting point, which was 20 minutes away. Claire had them running full speed out of the safe zone. They didn’t make it very far before she had them all stop.

“Everyone’s geared up right?” Claire asked.

Ajax and Mosley both wore light plated mail armor and carried a shield and sword. Mike/Aug wore lamellar armor made of small rectangular plates and carried a slim rapier. Like he Sam he used a mix of melee and magical combat. Mel didn’t wear any armor but had a wide range of high level AoE spells both offensive and defensive. There was a round of confirmation.

“Good, I’m not technically supposed to do this but I doubt they’ll care too much.” She pulled up a menu.

“Do what?” Mike/Aug asked.

She made a few selections “This.”

There was a flash, indicating they had teleported. The forest they had been standing in was replaced by a high ceilinged rock tunnel. Sam looked around and recognized the markers for the last safe zone of the 74th floor dungeon. Claire didn’t wait for them to ask questions before leading them the rest of the way to the boss chamber.

It was the largest raid group Sam had ever seen, let alone been a part of. Over 70 players, more once she remembered that RIDEs had their own accounts. They had almost 2 dozen known Integrates and probably at least another 5 that were staying hidden. Of all the teams there they were the only one unaligned with a guild. It took a few more minutes to get everyone gathered then the raid leader gave a speech about staying with your team and how xp and drops would be divided.

As she looked around Sam felt out of place with her team, even though she could tentatively call them her friends. The Ghosts were so at ease, like they weren’t about to walk into the jaws of virtual death. Ajax and Mosley were joking with Claire about things that had happened on previous raids and missions. Mike/Aug was talking about game mechanics with Mel. It was a reminder to her that she still knew next to nothing about her cousin anymore.

The massive doors creaked open and the group streamed inside the amphitheater sized room. When the first player stepped inside the whole place lit up revealing the boss of the 74th floor. It was 3 meters of headless dark purple plate armor. It stood there, its sword embedded in the floor. Its name and HP appeared; Crom the Dulahan Lord, he had 5 HP bars.

"I know what you're thinking Sam," Mel said "but the bosses down here are on a different scale."

"Then why are you the only people unFused?"

Before she could press the issue the battle began in earnest. A dozen large black dogs poured out from caves lining the walls, Fairy Hounds. Their main job was to help keep the busy so the main teams could focus on Crom.

"Remember your number."

Sam remembered she was 6. Mike/Aug were 5, Mosley 4, Ajax 3, Mel 2, and Claire 1. Mosley said it was to make it easier to do callouts and give give commands. One syllable did take less time to produce.

"3, 4 we need to group then togther for 2. 5 and 6 you're on support."

Sam did her best to anticipate her friends providing heals and buffs whenever she could. Mike/Aug was doing much the same with his debuffs. She admired the ease with which the others worked together. Mel, Ajax and Mosley did their best to corral the Fairy Hounds. Whenever 2 were close enough Mel would hit them with one of her spells.

A few times one of the Hounds would make a break for it only to be cut off and driven back by her saber or Mike/Aug's rapier. If it weren't for the constant strain Sam would almost have called it easy. ''Then again she I am working for real soldiers.'' She thought wryly.

Under Claire's calm, almost lazy, direction they eliminated all of the Fairy Hounds in about 45 minutes. They kept their gaurd up, they didn't know if or when the Hounds might respawn. Sam was already starting to feel a little drained. Who knew a raid would be so tiring, Claire had prevent what would have been her first one.

Taking a deep breath She risked a glance over at the main battle. It wasn't going nearly as well as theirs had. Crom had already defeated a quarter of the main raid group and they had only just finished taking out his first HP bar.

Claire frowned, Mel sighed "They didn't listen to us." They all looked at her. "If we don’t hurry the whole raid is going to fall apart.”

“Why?”

“Crom is just as capable of memorizing patterns as we are. If we don’t hurry he’ll screw us when he decides to counter attack by breaking ''their'' rotation pattern apart.”

It took a few minutes to get their team worked into the rotation. Unfortunately they were only able to spend another 10 minutes chipping away at Crom's HP. Despite their team's best efforts Mel’s prediction still came painfully true.

"Hit the deck!" Mel shouted.

Years of rough housing with her cousins came back to her as Sam went limp and dropped to the ground. Crom lashed out at them mid rotation, his blade knocking everyone to the ground with varying amounts of damage. She looked around as another handful of players died.

Sam quickly recovered scrambling back to her feet with the rest of her team. Thanks to Mel quick warning they were the only team that wasn't caught flat-footed by Crom's next swing. Mosley and Ajax locked shields preventing him from killing another batch of downed players.

Claire was still on her hands and knees. She looked around at the other downed players and had a flash of panic. They had to do something or the raid would fall apart and they would all end up dead. But what could they do alone? Mel met her panicked eyes with her own calm ones and at that moment something passed between them.

Claire surged to her feet heading towards Mel.

"5, 6 the wounded! 3, 4 stall him!"

She knew when she reached Mel there would be no turning back. She gave the Fuse command. They weren't alone anymore, they hadn't been alone for almost 3 months. They had each other.

"Half my heart to make you whole," one of them said

"My strength to purify your weakness." The other finished.

Fused in both worlds she abandoned the use of their beloved menu in favor of the more efficient thought commands. She raised their left hand and launched a salvo of spells at Crom. He reeled back, breastplate derezzing as they destroyed it.

She swiped their left hand across the hilt of their blade and came away, it came away grasping a second. She blurred as they crossed the distance catching his blade's overhead strike in a double block. With a yank she forced his blade up and away. Her twin blades ignited into the blue white glow of special skill.

"This is the Black Blade,Laevateinn." Everyone was staring at her. Laevateinn was one of a kind, dropped for the first player to kill Surtr. The more you killed with it, the higher its damage became. If you used its special the damage modifier was reset to 0. A small price to pay if it meant saving lives. Her two halves in agreement she verbalized the command "Dual Sonic."

She was in motion again slashing at Crom's pale exposed flesh. She ducked a swing and viciously attacked the opening in his guard. But he was just as unforgiving. They trade blows hers landing more than his. He forced an opening and tried another overhead strike which She caught between their blades.

She didn't just bellow. She roared as she yanked their swords apart. His blade shattering as the damage overwhelmed it. He hesitated for a microsecond, the AI unsure of what to do. That was all the time she needed. She rushed him and cut clean through with Laevateinn, shattering him into countless points of light.

A massive banner appeared in the air declaring her victorious. She staggered back Laevateinn vanishing from her left hand, its skill complete. She collapsed onto her butt, tired and head aching. As her team gathered round she gave a weak smile.

"I feel terrible. Just gonna log out, maybe get some shut eye."

"Take my bed." Ajax said.

She nodded closing her eyes and opening them in the real. She felt like shit as she trudged up the stairs to the guest room Ajax was using. She kicked the door closed behind her before collapsing on the bed. Her wings splayed out to catch the sunlight filtering through the blinds. Maybe she would feel better when she woke.

Back in Oz there was little speculation about why Claire and Mel had logged out. Mike/Aug, Ajax, Sam and Mosley led the way down the staircase into the first town on the 75th floor. The other players treated them with anything from jovial friendship to thinly veiled disgust, mostly from the closet Inties.

Sam was relieved when they finally picked an Inn and logged out. Thanks to Claire/Mel the raid hadn't taken nearly as long as it should have. ''Then again if they hadn't Fused the raid would have been over even sooner.'' Sam thought wryly.

She stretched and went into the kitchen were Tiger was talking to her mom. She ignored them as she made a beeline for the fridge and the crunchy dill pickles inside. Enclave life had always chafed her the wrong way. It was good to be back in civilization ''and'' out in the open, at least with her family.

Mosley wandered in and sat down at the table joining Bobbie and Tiger's discussion about something computer related. Sam tuned them out as she walked back into the family room. Ajax had gone somewhere while Mike and Aug had deFused and were talking about sports. She Went up to her room and lay down on her bed before starting to watch Claire's memories.

BREAK LINE

''Earth Orbit, 2501 AD''

Stuart took a deep calming breath. He did his best to ignore the warning klaxons blaring in his ears as he finished overriding the shuttle's emergency systems. This was going to be tricky, the stolen IDE he had in the cargo hold wasn't properly rated for-entry. There was a shout as a full cyborg rounded the corner, gun drawn. It was quickly silenced as Stuart's combat knife, also stolen, buried itself in his head.

He tugged it free as he ran past, the gun would just slow him down at this point. He sprinted down to the cargo hold making quick work of additional armed interference along the way. He slid into his IDE and ran the start up sequence. Automated systems aboard the ship announced the impending failure of its hull.

It took him a few minutes to get in position behind his chosen bulkhead before the alarm on his chrono beeped at him. He braced himself and fired into the engineering deck. There was a half second of silence. Then everything went white as the ship's tokamak exploded. Stuart had a fraction of a second to think he might have made a mistake before blacking out.

Consciousness was slow to return and painful when it did. His head pounded in time with the rhythmic beeping of an EKG machine. So he was in a medical facility of some kind, not good. Past that he could hear a couple of voices talking quietly off to one side. The voices stopped and one of them came closer.

"Relax," the voice sounded like Ron Pearlman "you're safe here." Stuart struggled to open his eyes. "That's it nice and slow, there we go."

The man standing next to his bed was dressed in army fatigues. He was short, broad shoulder and in excellent physical condition despite his apparent age. What was left of his grey hair was cut into a perfect flat top. He had a wry half smile on his wrinkled face as he adjusted the bed to sit Stuart up.

He extended a hand "Helluva stunt you pulled up there kid. General Alphonso Knoxx, North American Army."

This was like meeting a celebrity. General Knoxx was the founder and leader of Task Force Stalker during the brush wars on Earth. Every Ghost had heard stories about this man. General Knoxx waited patiently as Stuart slowly reached out and shook it.

"It's an honor sir, Staff Sargent Stuart Maiuri, Zharus Planetary Authority."

He chuckled "One of Tiger's new Ghosts eh?"

"Yes, Sir." Stuart smiled weakly "I'm afraid my infiltration might have been compromised."

The other man laughed "Its a distinct possibility. Colonel John Carter, we've managed to rig the IDE to show that you died when the ship exploded. We moved quickly enough that we were able to destroy the actual time data. You were only dead for 2.7 seconds."

"Still, without a body it will only be a matter of time before someone else starts looking into it." Knoxx said "This location is secure for now but we need to start arranging for your extraction, Earth is no longer safe for you."

"You should be on your feet in a few days but you'll still need to rest a little longer." John said.

Stuart nodded "What about my mission?"

"Plenty of time for that later. It'll take time for our message to reach Tiger and hen we have to wait for him to respond. So for now rest, recover and start trying to figure out who tipped off the TIA."

BREAK LINE

''Atlantic Coast, South America, Earth, 2502 AD''

Everything was black. Stuart must have had his eyes closed. A few minutes passed before a transmission came in on a secure line.

'':This is Fuego. We've acquired transport, stand by.''

Stuart opened his eyes. He was surrounded by a thick heavy rain forest. It was pouring down rain but his stealth suit was sealed against water penetration. Now that his eyes were open he could hear the rain as well, must have dozed off. The clearing ahead of him rippled outward as a small craft descended on quiet lifters.

'':Roger that Fuego, I have eyes on, over._ Stuart transmitted.''

The tail ramp lowered and 4 figures quickly slipped out of it and over to the treeline. As quickly as it had come the craft lifted off and flew away. Like him they were all dressed in stealth suits, their active camoflage making them invisible to the naked eye. His VISR system painted them as moving green outlines and tagged each with a name.

'':We have 10 minutes to get inside Black Zone.'' Stuart transmitted.

'':Short window, let's move.'' Stuart's HUD identified the speaker as Hammond.

They quickly headed deeper into the forest soon spotting a pair of IDEs patroling in the distance. It was time to put General Knoxx's gift into action. Stuart used his new command neural implant to check into their local comm traffic. It was just the usual chatter between friends but they were constantly checking in with the base which meant killing them would just sound the alarm that much faster.

They skirted around the IDEs heading farther north before cutting back to the west again. They crested a hill and caught sight of their target facility. Above ground it was a massive complex of squat buildings but below the surface it opened up into a series of large R & D labs.

That factory was their target, get in, figure out what they’re making, steal data, and get out. He was also tasked with capturing or destroying any existing prototypes. The hard part would be getting back out after the alarm was raised. Stuart had no doubt that the facility personnel wouldn't hesitate to kill them if they were discovered.

They made short work of a group of guards that were lounging around. They waited a few seconds as Stuart's implant fed authorization codes to the vault door. There was a hiss as the cylindrical door rotated open allowing them to slip into the facility proper.

They passed through a decontamination airlock before entering one of the deserted side areas moving swiftly and silently to the local security station. They waited outside its vault door as Stuart's implant went to work once again. As soon as the opening was wide enough they tossed in a mix of smoke grenades and short range jammers. They waited for a 3 count before entering themselves and easily eliminating the disoriented soldiers inside.

In the blink of an eye Stuart had full control of the facility's local security systems. It was child’s play to rig the system on a loop, no back up would be coming for the defenders in this area. They changed the codes on their way out, every extra second was important.

They stuck to the side passages as they made their way deeper into the facility with minimal, almost nonexistent, resistance. The combination of their stealth gear and Stuart’s implant probably played a part in that. Their next stop was the server room which they would ''liberate'' of all its information.

They ran into a problem when they got there. The server room had single civilian technician inside. Civilians were non-combatants and therefore off limits. To make matters worse he had fully prosthetic body so they couldn’t just knock him out. As he turned facial recognition identified him as Doctor Karl Sanderson, an expert on cybernetics and data security who had been shanghaied into service.

'':Command, Hammond.''

'':Go ahead.''

'':We've got a civilian here, Dr Karl Sanderson. He's been pressed into service.''

'':Understood make his evac a priority.''

Now with the green light, Stuart tapped into his com '':Doctor Sanderson.''

His head snapped up and he looked around. '':Who is this? How did you get this com code?''

'':I know you’ve been forced into this job. How would you like to get out of here, forever.''

He slumped _:I wouldn’t be safe anywhere on Earth._

'':What about off world?''

'':My passport's been revoked.''

'':Smuggling one person off planet is pretty easy. Well, easier than smuggling a group anyway.''

'':You can do that?''

Stuart de-cloaked and offered his hand '':We can, but first we need to get you out of here.''

Dr. Sanderson shook it '':Easy enough, the newest IDEs are in workshop lambda. You could make a pretty big distraction with those.''

'':We'll head out as soon as we're finished here.''

They connected directly to the file server and copied everything before leaving behind several time bombs. They re-engaged their active camouflage and slipped out accompanied by Dr Sanderson. Workshop lambda was two levels below the server room; it also had a greater concentration of guards.

Sanderson surprised all of them by making himself into a distraction enabling them to quickly eliminate the guards. The way he kicked a few of the corpses proved that the man had his own reasons for wanting them dead. A quick check showed they had been tormenting the good Doctor since his interment began.

Workshop lambda was equal parts amazing and horrifying. There were hundreds of 3 meter mechs all standing in perfect little rows. The first production batch of the brand new Titan model IDE. This factory had to go.

'':Command, Hammond, you seeing this?''

'':Affirmative, Hammond. Intel confirmed. You have 14 mikes before Eclipse makes that place a crater.''

They had just finished powering up the IDEs when things went wrong. The nearby freight elevator came to life bringing a large group of off duty soldiers up from the next level. Their shift had just ended and they were still armed, mostly with light guns but a few with anti-IDE weapons.

'':Command can we get a hold on Eclipse?''

'':Negative, its already past PNR.''

'':Shit! We do *not* want to be here!''

Hammond's IDE rushed forward as he took the initiative, melee weapons making quick work of the anti-IDE guards. The main threat dealt with they all moved as the remaining guards opened fire on them. While annoying the small arms fire was far from dangerous to the IDEs. Especially as they displayed an interesting feature, hardlight shielding.

It wasn't nearly as powerful or efficient as the hardlight on Zharus but its existence was still worrying. It was a good thing the only copy of its plans was staying with him. They plowed through the remaining forces and restarted the freight elevator. Stuart fed a set of over-rides to the elevator safeties, they needed to be ''gone''.

They battered aside the doors and kicked on their lifters as the alarm sounded. They burned cavorite as they flew out the main gate they had scant seconds to make it to MSD. If they didn't. No, don't think about that just focus on getting there. There was a deafening roar behind them and Stuart risked a peak over his shoulder. There was a burning light overhead as a small sun plummeted toward the facility.They passed the MSD line painted on their HUDs and didn't stop, the further they got the better.

He knew what was coming and quickly looked away to protect his eyes from the blinding flash as the 5 and a half meter tungsten carbide rod made impact. The shock-wave was on them in less than a second. The displaced air tore whole trees from the ground and sent everything flying like ships in a hurricane. The IDEs crashed and bounced along the ground before slowly sliding half a klick to a stop.

Stuart was in pain '':Squad, sound off.'' he managed to groan.

There were all battered and bruised but everyone, even Dr Sanderson, had made it out alive and relativly intact. With some effort they managed to get their IDEs standing and clambered over a hill of trees, rock, and dirt to look back at the facility. It was gone, replaced by a massive jagged edged crater. There was a 400 meter ring around the crater, completely devoid of anything except scorched earth.

Stuart whistled appreciatively '':Damn, now *that's* how you destroy something.''

'':That's nothing. The original system used rods large enough to destroy '''''cities'''''.'' Buscemi said.

BREAK LINE

''Bavarian Alps, Europe, Earth, 2502''

Stuart straightened his "borrowed" gloves and pulled down his visor before checking again to make sure the uniform was clean of any stains. The uniform had belonged to a full borg security officer and barely fit Stuart's smaller frame. He stepped out of the security building as Holland finished stashing the stripped body of one of the former security officers. Hammond and Buscemi were already in position on the other side of the snow covered road.

It had been an interesting and harrowing 8 months working with Echo Squad. They were Knoxx's final group of Ghost operatives, once Echo was finished there would no more Earth trained Ghosts. They were a good squad, well trained and fun to be around, more than once they had dragged him out drinking or had him over for family celebrations.

Their mission this time was the rescue of a European Union researcher that the Terran Intelligence Agency had tasked with investigating something. Knoxx wanted to know what it was and get the woman safely on her way to Zharus where the rest of her family would be waiting. They had already completed their first objective, take over the security check point and pose as its guard detail.

'':Here they come.'' Holland transmitted as a small fully loaded, and wheeled, military skimmer came around the corner.

'':These disgues better work.'' Buscemi transmitted before signaling them to stop for inspection.

'':Two up front, two in back with the HVT between them. All lightly armed and very squishy.''

'':Roger that, drop 'em.''

Buscemi began speaking to the driver in rapid German, making general small talk as he checked the documentation on their tablet. The rest of squad quietly advanced on vehicle as the slipped combat knives into their hands. As the Buscemi was handing back the tablet they struck, knives sinking through necks and striking the brain stem.

Stuart grimaced as he pulled the blade out and dumped the body onto the roadway. The steady snowfall would cover the body soon enough and they would be long gone before the next group came by in 4 hours. He settled in next to the HVT as Holland climbed into the driver seat.

'':It's alright Dr. Magnussen. General Knoxx sent us to get you out of here.''

She sagged with relief ''Thank god, I'm dumping the details of everything they been having me do over to you now.''

'':Thank you, get comfortable it'll be a while before we get to the extraction point.''

They spent the next 40 minutes riding in silence as they kept a weather eye out for signs of trouble. When they got to the extraction point the sub-orbital was waiting for them, lifters primed and ready.They piled out weapons sweeping the surrounding forest as Hammond escorted Dr. Magnussen to the sub.

Stuart readied his weapon '':Everybody, quiet.'' There was silence on the radio. '':Where did all the noise go?''

The others readied their weapons and slowly backed up to the sub. It was too quiet; the only sounds they could hear now were the low whines of the sub’s lifters. He was worried now. There was a brief flash of movement in the woods. He blanched as his implant identified it. Stalkers, they were the TIA equivalent of secret police.

Stuart didn’t hesitate, immediately opening fire. His gauss rifle’s hypersonic rounds tearing through the low quality stealth armor with ease. Through the trees he caught sight of a camouflaged troop transport, adjusting his fire angle before pulling a second trigger and firing a small rocket at it.

By now the others had started shooting as they retreated into the sub. Stalkers began pouring out into the surrounding clearing first 5, then 10, then 20. Their numbers just kept growing, zerg tactics overwhelm the enemy with superior numbers.

The situation was rapidly deteriorating, he had to to get to cover. As he moved he saw white and pain exploded across his left thigh before he threw himself behind the stolen skimmer for cover. He looked down and confirmed one of the Stalkers had gotten lucky and grazed him. High velocity round tearing a chunk out of his leg.

He pulled the pin on a smoke grenade and lobbed it over the skimmer. Shortly after it detonated he followed it up with a frag, capitalizing on the smokescreen and basic reasoning that the Stalkers would ignore it as another smoke. His suspicions were confirmed when its explosion was accompanied by screams of pain.

'':Tell Knoxx, I'm sorry.''

Hammond said'':We aren't leaving you behind.''

'':You don't have a choice. I'm not going anywhere with this bum leg, finish the mission.''

'':But.''

A round clipped the sub's ramp '':Go!''

With a roar the sub took off accelerating flat out away from the clearing. Stuart wiped out all the comm codes in his implants and destroyed any data that could lead the TIA back to Knoxx, Zharus, or anything else. He braced the rifle against his shoulder and struggled to pull himself upright. If he was going to die, then he was taking as many of them with him as he could.

Laying atop the hood he fired his remaining rocket at a nearby cluster of enemies, as always doing his best to ignore their pain. He emptied his first magazine and slipped behind the skimmer again ejecting the empty magazine and slamming in a full one. He lay on his stomach as he fired trying to make every shot count.

His weeks spent on the firing range paid off, each shot hitting and while not all were fatal they were certainly debilitating. He pulled the trigger again and the rifle clicked, empty. He threw his remaining grenade before rolling over and pulling himself into a sitting position before changing loading his last mag.

He looked up, seeing Stalkers exiting the woods in front of him. He opened fire, again each shot killing or mortally wounding an advancing foe before the rifle started clicking. He chucked it at someone's stomach making them double over in pain as he pulled his side arm from its holster on his right thigh and finishing the gasping man off.

Stuart got off another dozen shots before someone shot his left shoulder causing him to drop it in pain. That same soldier quickly advanced bending down to grab him only to get 18 centimeters of knife blade shoved and twisted into his throat. Stuart placed his final grenade on the ground next to his left hand, putting a finger through the pin's ring as the arm hung useless at his side.

He ripped the dieing man's knife from the sheath on his shoulder before pushing him aside. With the ease of long practice he spin the knife around to grip it by the blade befoe taking careful aim and hurling it at the nearest Stalker. Stuart struggled to sit up further, right hand now firmly wrapped around his final grenade.

They had him surrounded, but they weren't shooting at him anymore. It confirmed what Stuart was thinking, they wanted him alive. They wouldn't get anything from his implants which meant they would resort to interrogation and torture. Stuart had no intention of going through that.

He gave a weak smile "Shel kek nem ron." He pulled the pin on the grenade and held it in front of him for all to see. Before he could drop it his hand was crushed by an iron grip keeping safety lever on the grenade. He struggled with what little strength he had left before it was ripped from his hand and hurled into the woods as blood loss caught up to him and he passed out.

BREAK LINE

''Location Unknown, Date Unknown''

Tied to a chair there was little Stuart could do. He had grown thinner, his muscles atrophied from a combination of disuse and minor malnutrition. His wounds had been allowed to completely heal before they started the "interrogations". They had done something to screw up his internal chrono. He had no idea how long he had been there.

"Prisoner 24601." there was the simulated sound of rustling paper. "My my, you have been here a while haven't you?" a hand lifted his chin "You've given us nothing but shit answers." They were trying to break him, turn him to their side. "Let's try this again." Looking up he could see that the speaker was a blonde man in a clean black suit and tie. "Name?"

"Kris Kringle."

With a sigh the man punched him "Name." he said more insistently.

"Edmond...Dontes." Stuart wheezed.

He punched Stuart in the jaw "Name!" he yelled.

Stuart spit in his face "Inigo...Montoya."

There was a tiny thread keeping him sane. The others had gotten away. They were safe and soon enough the TIA would get sick of his bullshit and either kill him or, more likely, just dump him somewhere to die. If and when they did he would have a chance to live.

"I don't know who you think you're protecting. We shot down Dr. Magnussen's sub before it could even reach orbit."

His statement was accompanied by images and video projecting on the walls of small room. It couldn't be true, he'd seen them escape. He knew how easily digital video and images could be faked. It was a lie it had to be...but...what if it wasn't? That niggling little doubt finally snapped his thread, it just wasn't the _right_ thread.

The man frowned, clearly talking to someone on the comms. His frown deepened, clearly he was getting bad news. He turned his back on Stuart as he continued speaking on the comms. There were several minutes of silence before he huffed and turned back around pulling on a pair of gloves.

He drew his gun "It seems the time has come for us to be deprived of your...pleasant company, permanently." He crouched next to Stuart "This is your last chance to live. What is your name? Who do you work for?" silence "Well, I guess this is the end for you." As he started to pull back Stuart lunged for his neck.

He stared blankly at the dead agent on the floor. Oxygen deprivation had killed him long before he bled to death. Soon enough Stuart would be following him. The agent had managed to get off a handful of shots, a lucky one even managed to hit him.

Had it been hours or just minutes since all that had been done? Everything was getting blurry, going dark just like it had when he nearly bled out in Germany. His eyes sank closed as his breathing grew ragged. The sound from videos abruptly stopped as someone opened the door. He heard snatches of a rolling fluid language and felt a hand pressed to his neck.

There was a pause then more shouting as the first hand was replaced by a second. He fell as someone had cut the ropes that were binding him. He was carefully laid down on something soft, a stretcher? His eyes opened briefly and he saw one of the men. There was a prick on his neck and he started to fall asleep.

''Location Unknown, Date Unknown''

Stuart woke slowly to the steady beep of an EKG. A quick check confirmed that yes, he was still alive and no he was not restrained. He carefully pushed himself into a sitting position, his weakened muscles protesting a little at their sudden use. The room was simply furnished; bed, a few chairs, night stand and a lamp. With a moments hesitation he pressed the nurse's call button.

There was the sound of running in hallway and the door to his room flew open as the nurse answered the summons. When she saw him, up and awake, she shouted down the hallway in the same language he heard during his rescue. She waited for a response before crossing the room in 3 strides and beginning the basic check-up procedure.

She was just finishing when the door opened a second time and a second nurse walked in carrying a tray of food closely followed by someone else. He was tall, narrow shouldered. He was bald sporting a full beard and mustache. He was bald. His black beard and mustache were shot through with streaks of gray and his face was weathered from age and harsh living. His implant's facial recognition identified the man, Imran Zakaev.

He was clad simply in flecktarn camo pants, green brown shirt, long leather overcoat and heavy combat boots. He moved a chair next to the bed and sat down single arm resting casually in his lap. The second nurse spoke to him as she set down the food, he responded and both nurses left the room with a nod.

His gravely voice had only a hint of a Russian accent "You must be hungry. Please, eat, we can discuss business when you are finished."

Even though it was hospital food it was much better then the gruel he had been fed while in TIA custody. He was careful not to eat to quickly it would have been both rude and unhealthy. While he ate Zakhaev sat silently, likely speaking to people over a private comm channel.

"Thank you." Stuart said.

Zakhaev gave a wan smile "Your rescue was a happy accident. We've been hoping to find you ever since Alfonso told us of your capture."

"How long?"

"6 months, that's how long you were with."

"That’s how long it took them to break me."

Zakhaev nodded "Yes, but it wasn’t in the manner they were hoping for.”

“My chances of going home are still probably nil.”

He smirked “Actually, a ship will be arriving in 7 months. There will be an extraction team on board.”

“Oh...”

“Until then you’ll just have to find a way to keep busy.”

“If ya’ll are going to be running any ops I’d be happy to help.”

“Not until the doctors clear you, not even RO. I mean it.” Stuart hung his head “Hey,” Zakhaev put his hand his shoulder “You’ve literally been through hell. You need to _recover_ before you do anything else.”

Zakhaev gave him a pat on the shoulder before leaving with the empty tray. Stuart sighed, maybe tomorrow he would finally check out Virtual Life. It seemed that everyone else on the planet used it for at least 1 thing so why not?

User:Oddoneout

2014-04-05T01:04:23Z

Oddoneout: New story

Hello, new here. Hoping to learn the ropes and post a story eventually.

[[User:Oddoneout/Ghosts: The Return|Ghosts: The Return]]

[[User:Oddoneout/Ghosts:Ghost Stories|Ghosts: Ghost Stories]]

{{author page|Oddoneout}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Oddoneout}}

Category talk:FreeRIDErs

2014-02-06T12:01:14Z

Oddoneout: Blanked the page

User talk:JonBuck

2014-02-06T12:00:20Z

Oddoneout:

Yay! I can log in and edit again! --[[User:JonBuck|Buck]] ([[User talk:JonBuck|talk]]) 22:46, 22 May 2012 (UTC)
:Works from home, too. --[[User:JonBuck|Buck]] ([[User talk:JonBuck|talk]]) 06:18, 23 May 2012 (UTC)

----

Thank you for the notes at my story. They not only helped to make it easier to read, but have also helped me to improve my writing.
Again, thanks for the help and for having stopped by. [[User:Pocsock|Pocsock]] 20:10, 27 August 2007 (EDT)

Are you going to put your 'here and there' storys up on this page?

--[[User:137.186.98.61|137.186.98.61]] 03:35, 2 October 2007 (EDT)

:Probably not, as I don't intend to post anything self-referential. --[[User:JonBuck|Buck]] 11:12, 2 October 2007 (EDT)

==Permission to use an image?==

Didn't think of it until after I logged off but I needed a pic as an example of the structure of a 'furry' leg so I decided to use http://deer.transform.to/SL/FullFox.jpg with the idea that I can ask you when I see you tomorrow or whenever and remove it or leave it up without having to worry about image copyrights or anything like that in the meantime.

--[[User:Devin|Devin]] 06:17, 2 October 2007 (EDT)

==Thanks==
Thanks for the welcome! Actually this is my first wiki, but I'm a quick study.
--[[User:Leasara|Leasara]] 22:31, 10 January 2008 (EST)

== Uploading Artwork ==

I do have permission to upload them, I've edited the files' descriptions to reflect that. Sorry about that :)
--[[User:Leasara|Leasara]] 13:56, 12 January 2008 (EST)

==A Quick question==

I've always enjoyed reading your "Winds of Change" stories and would like to thank you for creating such an interesting story universe. I was wondering what happened to the Round Robins. Will they ever be finished? --[[User:66.19.201.165|66.19.201.165]] 01:19, 14 April 2008 (EDT)

:The Great Round Robin ''is'' finished. Keep in mind that one was written from late 1996-1997. So the lives of the three authors have changed rather radically. The Teen Round Robin won't be completed for the same reasons. It's just not in the cards. But thanks for reading and enjoying. --[[User:JonBuck|Buck]] 03:12, 14 April 2008 (EDT)

== A Question About the Process of Changing ==
I was wondering, in the Paradise setting, do the changes only take place in August? And, if so, do they all happen on a certain day, or just anytime in the month? I know you're probably busy, but I want to make sure that I don't mess up any facts if I write a story. --[[User:Closerhenry|Closerhenry]] 09:06, 24 November 2013 (EDT)

:Until about 2008 or so all Changes were on one day in August. But as more and more people Change in later years it eventually gets distributed throughout the year. Mostly in August to start, then by 2012 through about half the year. Once the RDF is broken it puts less of a "load" on reality to spread things out with the larger Changes. --[[User:JonBuck|Buck]] ([[User talk:JonBuck|talk]]) 03:48, 27 November 2013 (CST)

== A Question on Formatting ==
On the Help page for posting stories, it contains a link to a HTML to Wiki Text converter. There are four options for converting HTML text into something, and I was wondering which option was the correct option. The four were as following: HTML to Wikipedia, HTML to Trac wiki, HTML to Google Code wiki, and HTML to MoinMoin wiki. --[[User:Closerhenry|Closerhenry]] 19:07, 27 November 2013

== Anon's, spam-bots and sub-talk-page / entries ==

It's happened all over the place, sadly. Just shows that there are holes in the spam-protection. I'd up the level of it, but ATM I have no easy way to do that without annoying a hell of a lot of people. [[User:ShadowWolf|ShadowWolf]] 19:18, 19 May 2008 (EDT)

Also, re: Jon's question about how an anon could edit in the user namespace: That particular page wasn't in the user namespace, it was in the user_talk namespace. I'd rather not lock that down against anon edits if we can at all help it. [[User:Bryan|Bryan]] 20:35, 19 May 2008 (EDT)

From MarkDrake on 10-11-08

How do I upload my stories up on this site?
:Go to the [[Help:Posting stories]] page. --[[User:JonBuck|Buck]] 15:12, 11 October 2008 (EDT)

== Request ==

From WolfyDrake95, 8 Feb 09

Sorry about creating a new section!

I was reading your stories (and JetFire's and Matthias' too. But that's beside the point) in Paradise and I was hoping you'd allow me to write in your story universe Paradise. I sent you a couple of emails but you didn't reply :( . If I have your permission I hope you will check it when my story's done: I'm an amateur, and I don't want to screw up anything, especially other people's story universe! Can you drop me an email at drake_halounity@hotmail.com or my talk page? Thanks. I know I'm probably not as good as the other veterans here, but I hope you'll give me a chance!

PS Loved the Winds of Change :).

:I'm sorry I haven't gotten to your email yet. I've been very busy lately. You don't need my permission to write a Paradise story. :) --[[User:JonBuck|Buck]] 23:21, 8 February 2009 (EST)

::Thanks then. And sorry for spamming your inbox with a bunch of mail. Didn't know you were busy :). --[[User:WolfyDrake95]] 13.47, 9 February 2009

I have a request of my own. I've written a Paradise thing—not a story in and of itself, exactly, but an element in a story I had an idea to write—and was wondering if you might look it over and let me know if there are any problems with it.

[[User:Robotech_Master/Capsule_Review:_Changed:_The_Unveiling|RPG.net Capsule Review: Changed: The Unveiling]] —[[User:Robotech Master|Robotech Master]] 15:47, 9 June 2009 (UTC)

== the 'Comment Tag' template ==

This is still valid - it is and always has been independent of the "comments" tag extension that was pulled because of mis-use by spammers. <nowiki>{{comment tag}}</nowiki> inserts a little floated box that adds a quick link to the Talk page. -- [[User:ShadowWolf|ShadowWolf]] 01:30, 30 July 2009 (UTC)

== What's happened to your story "QED"? ==

I assume it has been eaten by the Shifti crash ... Are you planning to resurrect it?

I happen to be quite fond of that story and would like to see it continue.

--- Martin ([[User:Yet-another-martin|Yet-another-martin]] 15:52, 26 January 2011 (UTC))

:I haven't gotten around to putting it back up yet. Given that the story is fluff (Basically, something I write just to keep the juices flowing) I don't know when/if it'll continue. --[[User:JonBuck|Buck]] 17:41, 26 January 2011 (UTC)

I will comment that I found out about the story's existence after the crash, and would very very much like to read it, even if it isn't continued. Please upload it when you have the time. --[[User:Highduger|Highduger]] Feb 9 2011

==Shared Story Universe==
I want to start a shared story universe like Xanadu and other shared stories. Is there anything special that needs to be done for it? I tried looking for the answer but I couldn't find it. Thank you in advance. [[User:Richard Plunkett|Richard Plunkett]] ([[User talk:Richard Plunkett|talk]]) 00:56, 7 October 2012 (UTC)

:If there's anything special/needed for a shared setting it's a good opening story. Something that grabs the attention of potential writers and communicates the setting theme/flavor effectively. I've never seen a shared setting get off the ground from just posting setting notes and rules. --[[User:JonBuck|Buck]] ([[User talk:JonBuck|talk]]) 18:10, 7 October 2012 (UTC)

:And likewise, patience. And it also helps if you have a writing partner right at the start. (It helps stave off disappointment that nobody else has joined yet if you already have at least one person to share the setting with. :)

:Jon and I didn't get our third writer in FreeRIDErs until we'd posted several episodes of Integration, and ''that'' was after I posted two and Jon posted one prequel stories. Even now, hundreds of thousands of words later, we've only got four writers with stories actually posted in the setting.

:Don't be too disappointed if it takes a while for your setting to get off the ground. Many never do. --[[User:Robotech Master|Robotech Master]] ([[User talk:Robotech Master|talk]]) 15:38, 9 October 2012 (UTC)

:P.S. In my experiences most shared universes are born by accident, not crafted intentionally. For instance, when Jon sat down to write Paradise, I don't think he was thinking, "I feel like creating a shared universe today." The story simply proved compelling enough people wanted to write in the setting. (Of course, with FreeRIDErs we basically ''did'' sit down to create a shared universe, but even then, we would still have been happy writing it for ourselves and our readers if nobody else wanted to join in.)

:So ''do'' include a notice inviting people who want to write along to do so, but don't set yourself up for disappointment. You should at root be writing the story because writing it is compelling and enjoyable to ''you'', not just because you want other people to come join you. People want to join something where there's fun to be had, and if you aren't clearly having fun writing it all by yourself, they may not see any fun in joining you. Anyway, good luck with it! --[[User:Robotech Master|Robotech Master]] ([[User talk:Robotech Master|talk]]) 17:50, 9 October 2012 (UTC)

== About two of the Paradise stories ==
I'm aware that the two stories by WolfyDrake are now gone and have no links to them. I actually have both of these stories (I am pretty sure they were the final versions). Is it fine if I re-post these stories back into existence? --[[User:RiceFox|RiceFox]]

:Do '''not''' repost these stories. The author removed them for a reason. --[[User:JonBuck|Buck]] ([[User talk:JonBuck|talk]]) 00:16, 15 December 2013 (CST)

::Okay. I didn't know if there was a reason for their disappearance, so I asked before taking any further action. Thanks! :) [[User:RiceFox|Rice]] ([[User talk:RiceFox|talk]]) 00:36, 15 December 2013 (CST)

==Would Like to be an Author==
Hello, I've written a story for the FreeRIDErs Universe and would like to be added to the Author group. Also, I'm pretty new to wiki editing so if you could suggest somewhere for me to get some help with formatting I would greatly appreciate it.--[[User:Oddoneout|Oddoneout]] ([[User talk:Oddoneout|talk]]) 23:05, 5 February 2014 (CST)

:Hello and welcome! First, head on over to [[Help:Templates]] for formatting help. Also, make sure you put your name in a byline at the top of the story. I'll do some format fixing to add categories and add you to the Authors category as well. --[[User:JonBuck|Buck]] ([[User talk:JonBuck|talk]]) 23:18, 5 February 2014 (CST)
::Thank you.--[[User:Oddoneout|Oddoneout]] ([[User talk:Oddoneout|talk]]) 06:00, 6 February 2014 (CST)

User:Oddoneout/Ghosts: The Return

2014-02-06T11:59:24Z

Oddoneout: Protected "User:Oddoneout/Ghosts: The Return": Story page ([Edit=Allow only autoconfirmed users] (indefinite) [Move=Allow only autoconfirmed users] (indefinite))

{{Universe|FreeRIDErs}}{{title
|name=Ghosts: The Return
|author=Oddoneout
|user=Oddoneout}}

Sam couldn't believe it she was going to be late for the rendezvous. She couldn't help it that she lost track of time whenever she started navel gazing. Three months ago the young human woman named Samantha Maiuri had integrated with her Malti-Poo RIDE becoming a single techno-organic being. It was only a few hours later that she was snatched up and taken to an Enclave at the edge of the Dry Ocean. For her it was horrible, she wanted to go back to Aloha, top her friends and family. But she wouldn't, she didn't think they would all be able to accept what she had become. So she stayed away from them and slowly began to accept the idea that she was better off that way, after all they were just mech and meat. Now that she was away she was free to fully indulge her guilty pressure of playing MMORPGs.

Which is exactly what she was doing. She crested another hill as the grass have way to stone and the sky grew cloudy, ahead of her the Tower of Dusk reached high into the air. Oz was a fairly new MMO whose servers where run and maintained by a group of Integrates living in Aloha. They were 'very' strict about not letting people use their Intie powers to tip the game in their favor. The game was in a high fantasy setting with a special set of mechanics and to allow for mech and meat to play as a fusing pair. They could be separate when they needed or wanted to be but fusing provided its own advantages and disadvantages.

To everyone in the game Sam appeared as a black furred Malti-poo Fuser dressed in an ornate white and gold robe. Last month she had found a good group of fellow Intie players and joined their clan. Today was important because it was her first true raid boss. She was ecstatic and very glad she had put in the extra time to learn some decent offensive spells. As she jumped to clear a trench she caught sight of a RIDE and its partner before she was yanked downward into the trench.

"Slow down Sam. Let the mechie get beaten, then we'll have our run." The speaker was a heavily armored grizzly bear Integrate in Fuser disguise with a massive sword strapped to his back.

"Dominic's right," a hyena rouge spoke up "this should be good for a laugh if nothing else. It's practically impossible for an Intie to solo The Bone Hoard. There's no way a mechie can manage it even if they were fused."

"Especially with how they've got their settings done." another member spoke up drawing everyone's attention" They have their system assist and feedback canceler's turned off."

"How can anyone play like that? Even we have to use the system assist and without the canceler on things feel a little too real for most people to be comfortable."

"I had a cousin who played MMOs like that," Sam said "but he disappeared years ago."

Dominic asked the obvious question "Did he Integrate?"

She shook her head "I don't think so. He got a government job and we heard from him regularly for a few months. His last message said something about a new assignment, then nothing."

"Have you tried hacking?"

She nodded "His personnel file is there but it’s all dead ends."

He frowned "I'll put out some requests; someone has to know more about what happened to him."

A rattling announced the awakening of The Bone Hoard. The powerful raid boss burst from the ground, a giant serpentine skeleton one hundred meters long with dozens of pairs of legs and a wicked set of pincers. Red light shone from the empty sockets of its triangular head. Equally massive horns adorned its head. The HUD displayed five health bars and with her scanning skill Sam should have been able to see its level. Instead all she saw was a skull, anyone trying to fight it alone would spend more money than they would make, assuming they managed to kill it.

The person was instantly in motion covering the distance to the boss in a matter of seconds. One of its pincers shot forward only to be knocked aside and quickly severed by a plain looking black broadsword. He kept moving and severed the remaining pincer taking out the boss's main weapons and a portion of its first health bar in the process. The Bone Hoard's AI refused to let it settle into a pattern as it constantly adapted. Normally this would give it an enormous advantage, even against raid groups, but ultimately it's ability was rendered useless by one thing, speed. The solo player had been fast to begin with and only got faster as the battle moved into its second minute.

"Look at the HP," Dominic said "Do you see it?"

Sam nodded "Whenever he dodges he uses his free hand for some kind of unarmed DOT counterattack."

In the space of three minutes The Bone Hoard's HP had been cut down to only one and a half bars. It lashed out with one of its remaining legs throwing the swordsman off balance, disarming him with a quick follow up. He jumped away, he had to be fleeing either to rearm or to give up. He did neither, with a shout he charged straight at its head ducking under as it thrust forward in an attempt to swallow him. His right hand shot up and struck the bone plate under its mouth and The Bone Hoard shattered into glittering iridescent blue dust, killed by a single unFused and unassisted player in just over four minutes.

He slouched as he shook out his wrists. His RIDE retrieved the fallen sword. They seemed...subdued, disappointed, like things hadn't gone the way they were hoping. Dominic, as be fitting his status as raid leader, was the first to recover from the shock they had all received. He clambered out of the trench running towards and hailing the mystery duo. Sam followed after him a moment later.

"That was amazing! I've only ever heard of people soloing The Bone Hoard and they didn't do nearly as well as you just did." All true but why was he kissing up to mechie?

Now that Sam was closer she could see their mystery man was actually a mystery woman. She stood about a meter and a half tall. Her white blonde hair was in short pixie cut. The woman's broadsword was indeed the black color Sam had originally thought it was. Her RIDE tags were very unusual. She had a feline nose, the rounded ears of a lion, white fur, goat horns and a black cobra for a tail. Sam shuddered as both pairs of green eyes turned to look at her.

The woman's RIDE was easily the most bizarre mythical Sam had ever seen. She was easily the size of a large horse, marking her as a Heavy class RIDE. Her she had the body and head of a lion with the horns of a goat. Her white fur was the same as her partner's and her black cobra tail was staring intently at Dominic. A large pair of dark iridescent blue bird wings completed her appearance.

Finally the woman sighed "I was nine point three seconds off."

Her ride giggled “Aren’t you the one who’s always saying that it’s just a game Claire?”

Claire frowned “I know but the benchmark gives us a place to start looking.” She gestured and several windows appeared “The more important question is why y’all are here. This area is supposed to be closed off for maintenance. There was a game wide announcement yesterday.”

Dominic stiffened “Um, none of us were on yesterday.”

“They sent out a memo to everyone just in case, you should have gotten it as soon as you logged in.”

“We were all busy prepping for this raid. When I got on I came straight here, didn’t have time to check my messages and since you said this area is closed what are you doing here?”

“Obviously we’re here to perform the maintenance.” Her RIDE deadpanned

“Thank you Mel. Now, I’m going to need your player IDs.”

“So you can ban us?”

She laughed “I could ban you even without them but it’s not my job. I’ll pass the info on to one of the other GMs, they might have given y’all open access to this area. If they didn’t and think you need to be banned they’ll contact you so you can appeal your case.”

“Oh so it’s just that you’re lazy?”

“Yup, now that I can afford to be lazy I’ve gotten to the point where enabling God Mode is too much of a hassle. Easier just to go without and fight my way through. That’s also why I don’t use the assist and have the canceler disabled.” She frowned “But y’all already knew that didn’t you.”

Sam was suddenly nervous. Claire was clearly skilled IRL, how else could she beat a raid boss alone, and she somehow knew they had peeked at her settings. On top of that she was a GM and, Intie or not, could insta-ban them on a whim. Sam had read the message she was talking about and just assumed it was wrong or meant for non-Inties, in hindsight she realized she had just been fooling herself. She liked to think that she didn’t buy into the whole Integrates Ascendant thing at all. But seeing a human deftly manage what would be an extreme and time consuming challenge in mere minutes and then subtly hint that she ''knew'' exactly what they were. Half a dozen members of the raid team suddenly disconnected and Claire shook her head.

“Apparently you people buy into your own press ''way'' too much.” Mel said

“What did you do?” Dominic asked

“It’s not what we did but what they tried to do. Which was hack us. Claire and I have had extensive time to prep for a variety of things, one of the perks of having a forward thinking boss. As such we can easily shut you out when you try and hack us.”

“Hey boss, let’s just give them our IDs and go. No need to start a fight.” The speaker was a burgundy Allosaurus.

“You scared of mech and meat, Durendal?”

“When the flesh alone can kick that much ass? Hell yeah, I’m scared out of my scales right now. Besides Mel's right, this is just a game and it’s supposed to be for fun.” There was a quiet round of agreement “If the other GMs are willing to trust these two then we should too. Since they got the job they must be exceptionally skilled.”

Claire quirked a smile as she received several data packets “Roland Durendal, you named yourself after the paladin and his sword from the Matter of France?”

He shrugged “I used to study medieval literature as a hobby.”

“Claire,” Mel said “I’ve just finished submitting our report.”

She nodded “Good, unfortunately this is where we all part ways. To everyone who has transmitted their data, thank you for your cooperation. We’ll do our best to make sure you don’t get banned because of your raid leader. Please, direct any further questions to this com code.”

As the two logged out Sam came to a decision, she needed to move out of her Enclave and get away from the supremacy ideas that governed it. Another mage used a group teleport spell to bring them all back to a safe zone so they could all log out. When she opened her eyes in the real world Sam came to a second decision. Rather than another Enclave she would go back to her family, everyone had seen the now famous reunion footage of the Munn family with its long absent Integrate members. So for the first time in months she accessed her lifetime mailbox.

{{Separator|k}}

Claire Olivia Maiuri groaned as she got up from her cot and stretched after her marathon play session. Across the room Mel yawned as she carefully did the same, mindful of her wings. Their home was the cargo area of The Forward Unto Dawn. The Dawn was a D82-EST Darter, a single deck twenty meter sub-orbital, she bought after returning to Zharus proper just over three months ago. After five hard years her mission had finally ended and she had come home to Zharus.

At the time he had been Stuart Miles Maiuri, a person he no longer wanted to be. Luckily his bonus and hazard pay had made him a small fortune. If he was careful he would never have to work again. Because his dad had worked for Nextux RIDEWorks all his life, the first thing he decided to do was find a RIDE partner.

His post mission handler had suggested he try a small dealership in Nuevo San Antonio. He spent most of the day talking to the occasional RIDE who caught his attention. He had spent most of the day looking when he the owner said he wanted to introduce him to someone. In the back area was a RIDE named Melody, Mel for short.

She was an experimental unit, a Nextus RIDEWorks CMA(f)-ASA-001. The last of the half dozen produced and the only one who's RI had survived the program's termination. The original idea had been a variation on the one introduced by the Sturmhaven WLF-CSA-01As. A secondary RI core in the tail that would manage an extra sensor suite, long range communications, and point defense. The idea was for it to free up extra processing power to allow more accurate targeting and deliver artillery strikes from an unparallelled range. Unfortunately it ran into some of the same problems as the CSAs, the RIs wouldn't link.

In the end the secondary core idea had been scrapped when they succeed in producing a single RI core capable of doing the entire work load. That RI was Mel. The higher ups had been pleased with the results but not enough to overlook the price tag. Between the parts they needed and increased cost for the specialized RI core, it was less than a month after her First Boot that the project was scrapped.

She had honestly expect to have her core destroyed like her predecessors, luckily the RIDEWorks still "owned" her core, DE and weapons package. Rather than let Nextus destroy her, she had been discreetly sold her to their friend who owned the dealership. She had spent her weeks worrying about what would happen to her if Nextus found her. The owner introduced them and after an hour Mel and Stuart had begun discussing where they would live. She had made the suggestion that they get a sub-orbital as a starting point in case they had to run. After all, Nexts had been known to go to lengths to recover things, even if it never belonging to them.

As far as ASA's went she was on the smaller end of the spectrum, in Walker mode she stood at just over two meters and was half a meter taller in Fuser mode. The empty space in her tail's cobra head was retooled to house an extra set of sarium batteries. Her ASA chassis came equipped with two retractable plasma cannons and a particle beam cannon in her mouth.

They had just finished loading up their new D82-EST Darter when Nextus Material Recovery Service showed up. Stuart tried to talk them down and provided ample proof that he, and the dealership before him, had legal ownership over Mel and the weapons. When they refused to back down he sent a few messages and started stalling. It didn't take long for him to get a response.

The MRS Officers apologized for their mistake and attempted to make a ''very'' quick exit, promising that it would ''never'' happen again. Claire wouldn’t let them off that easily. She swore to them that if it ''did'' their boss would in serious trouble. Stuart was employed by the Zharus Planetary Authority and had, until recently, been conducting espionage, on Earth.

It was supposed to be a five year mission, seven counting travel, and everything had gone wrong from the first day off the boat. His cover had nearly been blown and it was only quick thinking and a quicker kill that had saved his life. He spent the next three years gathering Intel and practically living underground. After three years they were finally able to extract him. He spent a week being debriefed before they put him on indefinite leave and gave him a nice fat bonus. He had also been given a set of direct comm codes and told that if he needed anything to reach out to them.

Once cleared, she had upgraded her military cortical implant with quibitite. If she was in trouble she wanted to have the best chance of coming out on top. They spent almost a month traveling around Zharus. When they had been out in the Dry Ocean they ran into a group of Integrates who were looking to hire a temporary GM in their game, Oz.

It was an easy job. Mel and Claire were told to do their best to break everything in game and send their observations on to the Dev Team. Claire began checking her email and flagged several things for her implant to draft responses to before reading one from Sebastian, her ZPA handler. After five years and two months she would finally be able to see her family again. She sent out a flurry of emails letting everyone know she was in Aloha and would be flying to Nextus to see everyone at their family compound.

"Mel, I can finally introduce you to my family."

She perked up "I'll file a flight plan with ATC."

Claire stripped out of her underwear and went to take a shower while her implant began running the pre-flight checks. Everything checked out as she finished her shower, replies coming in as began to dry off. She sighed as she looked through her rather limited wardrobe. She ruled out her beloved combat gear, too many questions. After sorting through her crossover gifts she settled on a yellow sun dress Sebastian had sent her. His note had said she needed something she could 'actually' use instead of the usual gag gifts.

'':Mel, we need something for you to wear. As much fun as it would be to show up in a metal bikini, I don't think my family would like it.''

'':Can it be black? I was thinking of a nice sweater skirt combo.''

'':Sure, it'll match your tail.''

As they fused up Mel felt Claire's nervousness and did her best to comfort her. She reabsorbed the metal-kini anatomically correct RIDEs often wore for decency. Some of her hardlight winked out then came back up projecting her outfit of choice. She had chosen a knee length skirt and loose sleeved sweater complimenting her form and drawing attention up to her face and away from her chest. They stopped in the small kitchen and made a quick lunch of last night's take out before the lifters warmed up.

They sat down in the cockpit as they received a message from ATC approving them for departure. At twenty meters long the D82-EST Darter was a small transport craft. It had a lifting body design and top of the line heat shielding ensuring it could land without the use of its lifters. They had split the cargo area in half, turning the forward section into their living quarters/maintenance area with a bathroom and kitchen.

They taxied out of their hangar and into the civilian departure zone. No one would suspect that their modest little black and white craft was fully stealth capable…or armed. Claire had spared no expense in overhauling their home. The end result had been a ten percent increase in mobility and enough offensive power to take out a large military sub. Sebastian made sure what they were doing was within the letter of the law.

They dropped into virtual for a time compressed lesson as they waited their turn for takeoff. They walked through the basic stances of Claire’s duel sword style. She was critiquing her foot work on the first set of intermediate forms when they had to stop. They quickly began to pick up speed as the lifters’ output increased and the hardlight aero shielding adjusted for maximum speed and lift. The surface fell away beneath them as the sky gradually changed from blue to a star studded black.

{{Separator|k}}

Even at top speed, Sam had a long flight to the Aloha aerodrome but it gave her plenty of time to check the outgoing flights. Finally she found one that she could slip onto unnoticed. She slipped into the lobby and boarded the high speed sub. She settled into her seat to wait. She had gotten a surprise when she checked her mail.

Her cousin Stuart had finally turned up and was flying out to Nextus from Aloha. She had already checked and couldn’t find his name on any of the passenger manifests. She had waited five years. She could wait a few more hours. Without a second thought she logged back into Oz.

She had a message from Dominic waiting for her. She read it a few times before deleting it and removing herself from the guild. Now that she realized her emerging bigotry she was going to work hard to get rid of it. Her next order of business was getting to Taft where new players arrived fresh from the tutorial. She had heard rumor of a dungeon hidden beneath the town.

She made her way to the western part of town and stopped at a player owned shop to sell her guild gear. Most of the uniform was inferior to what she had been using before. She smoothed out her red robe and settled its armored plates into place as she re-equipped. Her old Hound Saber was a welcome change from the stereotypical mage staff she had been using for two weeks. The bonuses to her spell were less because of the change but she preferred being a red mage anyway.

She made her way to a massive cathedral. If the rumors were true the entrance to the bonus dungeon was hidden somewhere inside. As soon as she stepped inside she realized that just finding the entrance would be a chore. You could have easily fit a Starmaster into the main worship area. She started by checking the dozens of side rooms for anything odd.

There were a lot more than she thought. It took her the entire flight to thoroughly check half of the side rooms. She sighed as stood up on the sub. If the bonus dungeon did exist the GMs were keeping information about the entrance tightly controlled. It was probably filled with exclusive gear unobtainable anywhere else. Once outside the aerodrome she lifted into the Fuser/scooter traffic lanes and headed for her family's compound on the southern end of city. Sam was ten and a half kilometers away when she got a nasty shock when a familiar grizzly Fuser flew up next to her.

"Sam it’s nice too finally meet you IRL." Dominic said

She stiffened "How did you know?"

He smirked "I didn't. I noticed you decided to leave the guild."

"You said I could leave whenever I wanted. ''You'' said that neither mech nor meat could beat us but that GM this morning, she opened my eyes.” She shook her head “In some ways we are better than meat, but they have us beat in other areas.”

He snorted “Here in the real world they’re nothing compared to us.”

She stopped “Get bent Dominic. I don’t want anything to do with people like you anymore."

He sputtered "I'm trying to help you!" he grabbed her wrist "We are the next step in human evolution. You don't need mech or meat for anything!"

"Let go." a pulse gun formed on her wrist "I'm not afraid to shoot you."

He laughed "Both of your halves were civvie." he whispered "I'm ex-military; your little pop guns won't scratch me."

"How about mine?" a woman's voice asked

A feline hand landed on his head and he heard the whine of charging capacitors. How had she snuck up on him? He instinctively reached out to hack them and had to bite down on his tongue to keep from screaming. He felt thousands of tiny burning bites all over his body before his DIN burnt out. Even without it the sensations persisted and he had to concentrate just to maintain his disguise.

"Ah, you're one of ''those'' people. Too bad your little tricks are less than worthless against us." The speaker was a two and a half meters chimera Fuser. "Now, you can let her go or I can cut you in half."

Dominic felt a chill down his spine. These two were extremely dangerous. The fact that they had snuck up on, not just one but, two Integrates was proof of that. Their tone of voice was casual, like they had all been discussing the weather. His military instincts were screaming at him to run. But his pride as an Integrate wouldn't let him.

"I'm not scared of meat!"

She sighed "Wrong answer."

She lifted her hand and tapped two fingers against his hardlight. His systems suddenly started blaring half a dozen different warnings at him. What had they just done to him?

"Here's a little physics lesson for you. ''Everything'' has a frequency where it will resonate. Under certain conditions it can cause things to build up energy till they literally shake themselves apart. That's what’s happening to your hardlight emitters right now. They’ll fail sometime within the next ten minutes. I suggest that you get as far from Nextus as possible before they do."

They had him backed into a corner. “This isn’t over meat!” He vanished and ignoring how the chimera’s black tail tracked his progress as he flew. He had been completely humiliated. Somehow he would get back that damn mechie.

Sam took the opportunity become invisible and leave as well. She still had ten klicks left to get to the family compound. She quickly covered the remaining distance and landed on the lawn in front of the main house. Her aunts, uncles, cousins, and her mother’s parents were milling about. Her cousin Joseph and Dexter, his coyote RIDE, were talking to her parents. Everyone stopped when she revealed herself.

“Sam? Maria?” her mother asked

Sam nodded “We…I, go by Sam, but yes. It’s me, I’m back.”

She was engulfed by her family. She was given so many hugs and asked so many questions. She had trouble keeping up for a second. She sent the details over to everyone’s RIDEs. After a few minutes of time compressed sharing everyone was caught up.

“So, where’s Stuart?” there was ping on Sam’s sensors

She turned around. Standing several meters behind her was the same chimera Fuser from earlier. She was wearing a loose black sweater and matching knee length skirt. Her wings gave a nervous twitch, like she was trying not to run away. It took a few seconds but RIDE and rider finally seemed to come to an agreement.

The Fuser slowly split open and a young woman in a yellow sun dress stepped onto the lawn. Her white blonde hair was in a pixie cut. She had feline ears, swiveling at every sound and matching nose was twitching at every smell. She nervously thumbed the end of one of her goat horns while her black cobra headed tail curled around in front of her.

She hesitated before saying “Tadaima.”

Sam stared at her in disbelief. She used time compression to replay everything a dozen times to make sure she reached the right conclusion. Since her family lived and breathed crazy it made perfect sense. After all only one person in their family would use Japanese. Claire was her cousin Stuart.

Only one way to be sure "Stuart?"

She grinned nervously "Hey," she sniffed and her eyes widened "Sam you integrated? Last time we spoke you refused to even think about getting a RIDE."

Now it was turn Sam to smile "A lot can happen in five years. Why don't we all go inside?"

"No," Sam's Aunt Cathy, the youngest daughter, spoke up "You can't be Stuart. You can't be my son."

"Cathy." her husband warned

"No Bill, I don't want to hear it! There is no way that woman can be our son!"

"Before I left I got you a sterling silver bracelet. The note I put on it said that no matter what I put you though I wanted you to know how much I loved you."

"This bitch has probably been spying on us." Aunt Gina said "I'll bet she's here to try and scam us."

What little confidence Claire seemed to have built up disappeared. “This was a mistake.” She said as tears began welling up in her eyes before she fused with Mel. Sam and Joseph recovered first. Dexter quickly fusing with his partner.

'':Sam, I believe her. Only my brother, sister, would know that. Aunt Gina is just being a spiteful bitch.''

'':Normally she would lash out and bite right back. Do you think there's something wrong with her?''

'':Maybe, we’re lucky her RIDE wants her to stay.''

'':Yeah, it looks like Mel is trying to calm her down. You guys are with the Marshal right?''

'':We’re Diamond Stars, why?''

'':Can you find out what kind of RIDE Mel is?''

'':One step ahead of ya. I sent out an inquiry when we saw her enter the property and Dexter just got a match.''

Sam paled '':CMA(f)-ASA-001, skimmer mode is a high speed flier.''

'':I’ve read the report about them, project canceled due to quote unquote budget issues. I hope she isn’t still combat capable.''

'':She is. The only thing she’s missing is her hand carried weapon.''

'':Then let’s count that as a blessing.''

Behind them Gina had continued to spout increasingly caustic and illogical words. At last her Aunt Cathy seemed to remember ''who'' was talking and ignoring her. Everything was starting to fall apart. What should have been a happy family reunion was turning into a feud. As they finally got close enough Mel there was a smack from back on the porch.

“Regina, be quiet.” Geosaffati said to his third daughter.

Geosaffati J. Maiuri Junior, Pawpaw to his friends and family, stepped down from the front porch. The family patriarch eyed his assembled children and grandchildren, eyes settling on Joseph/Dexter, Sam and Claire/Mel. At just over 100 he had seen more than his fair share of fighting, first on Earth and then during the Sturmhaven Nextus War. On Earth, his skills hheld a high level management position and made a fortune in investments.

He was a big broad shouldered man who worked hard to maintain his physical health. What little hair he had left on his head was wispy gray and going white. White furred simian ears twitched atop his head as his tail lashed behind him. Even with his face marred by a frown you could still see the lines etched into it from years of laughing. Behind him stood his RIDE, MKY(m)-LMA-009L, Vinnie.

“Welcome home.”

Claire blinked as she felt a pair of strong arms wrapped around her. She hesitated before she gently reached out and hugged her grandfather. When they separated she took a few deep breaths. She could do this. She ‘’had’’ to do this. After a few seconds they broke part.

“Thanks Pawpaw. Mel, you can let me go now.”

“Aw, does this mean I can’t keep you?” she teased before they defused.

Claire and Mel had obviously spent a lot of time fused. Her nails had begun to narrow and were curved to a slight point. She had the slight beginnings of a muzzle, complete with short whiskers. She even had a slightly feline tongue and her canines were definitely getting longer. The real kicker was the fine layer of white fur that had recently started to cover her; most people missed it because it blended seamlessly with her skin tone.

“We keep each other. We’re partners, equals, and don’t let anyone try and tell you otherwise.”

“I’m glad you found such a good match.” Joseph said “Now let’s go inside. I’m sure y’all have quite the story to tell about working for the Zharus Planetary Authority.”

{{Separator|k}}

It had taken about an hour for Claire to finish telling her family about her job helping to bust a smuggling ring. That was the cover story she had been given. It would be in all the official records. It was also partially true. She was originally assigned to the Contraband Task force.

"You were on the Contraband Task force? Stu...Claire, that's impressive." Cathy said

"They wanted my eye for detail. You know better than anyone just how good I am at hiding in plain sight." Also true and she had been reassigned.

"So they wanted you to act as an observer?" Dexter asked

"Yeah." Also true.

"Then why have you changed so much? Everything I know about you shows that you were a lot more energetic. It's like you're a completely different person. What happened?" Claire looked away.

Joseph sighed "Sis, we're just trying to help. We can't do that if you won't let us."

Mel sheltered her with a wing "Its okay. Why don't we stay here tonight, hmm?"

"You'll have sleep in the family room. You're old room's been turned into an expansion of the workshop." Vinnie said

Mel started licking her ears "Come on Claire! You can't lie to me. We both want to!"

"Alright. Alright!" she said as she laughed "We can sleep here tonight! No more kitty bath! It tickles!"

"''That's'' why I do it." she said and gave one more sloppy lick "It was more fun when you had long hair."

"Maybe for you."

Mel smiled "I know for a 'fact' one of your favorite pictures is the aftermath of the first tongue bath."

Claire blushed as she slid out from under the wing "Tha-that's because it was the first one! It was a special event."

"Is that why you're grinning like an idiot?"

"I'm not like an idiot."

"Oh? Let me guess you ''are'' an idiot." Mel narrowed her eyes as she got off the RIDE couch.

"Damn right I am." She crossed her arms.

There was a full minute of silence "Well," Bill said "it’s nice to see you acting like yourself again."

Claire blinked and went red, brushing a hand along her right horn. Mel purred as she rubbed up against her. Sam watched all of this from the kitchen as she helped Pawpaw finish preparing dinner. Spaghetti with a three meat sauce, his specialty dish and a family favorite. Mentally, her Maria half was fully expressing itself by worrying over her cousin's biometrics.

"There's something wrong with her." Pawpaw said "Vinnie said her biometrics are wonky. So I know you can see it to."

Sam sighed "Maria thinks so too. I would've missed it if she hadn't split off to point it out."

He nodded "How is she?"

Sam frowned "That's part of the problem. We can't tell."

He chuckled "Not Claire, Maria. I don't know how Integration works but I know she's forever part of you now."

"Oh," she flushed at her blunder "never better, but she still wants a proper weapon. I've read some stuff about how it 'might' be possible to get one. But if get caught or something goes wrong I'd be in really deep trouble."

"Fritz, right?"

"How did you know?"

He smiled "Dear, I know people and he ''isn't'' as omnipotent as he wants everyone to believe. Besides that, there are other people you could ask for help. Especially if you're going back to live with your folks in Aloha. I know the Marshals have hired a lot of Integrates so you might be able to ask Joseph for some comm codes." he stepped into the doorway “Alright everyone time to eat.”

There is only one word that can be used to describe dinner with the Maiuri family, loud. Of the seventeen people, Joseph and Michael were the only two louder than the assembled mothers. It may have been louder than Claire liked but its familiarity was a welcome comfort. She noticed that Sam deliberately sat next to her. The paranoid part of her thought it was a statement about how she was probably going to be the next one to ‘ascend’.

"So Cous, I noticed you have some heavy fuse signs."

"Mel is a lot of RIDE for someone to handle."

“So…have you two considered…Integrating?” Sam asked.

Mel groaned from the other room “You know Claire ''killed'' the last person who asked us that right?”

“I only did that because she was trying to force it onto us. Besides we both know he probably survived.”

“Not for lack of trying on your part.”

She put her elbow on the table and rested her chin on her hand “If he had held still for another half a second I could’ve destroyed his brain and…what?” The table had gone silent “It was self-defense.”

“Based on the intel we have now I think ''pest control'' is a better term."

Sam couldn’t keep the disbelief out of her voice “Back up, you two walked away from a fanatic without being Integrated, how?”

“By frying his DIN port, shelling him from fifteen hundred kilometers and destroying sixty-seven percent of his body mass.” At Sam's incredulous look she shrugged and started twirling her loaded fork between her fingers "You asked."

Sam stared at the fork. "All things considered you are an excellent shot, but I recommend sticking to CQC." Mel said

She had seen before, it was a nervous habit. "So we should practice by taking pot shots at the Rodinian Nature Preserve? Aim for the deadest looking trees?"

Replace the fork with a knife. "Rohit would be pissed when she found out."

Claire had been telling half-truths "You mean if."

She was supposed to be on the task force but had done something else instead. "No, I mean ''when''. Someone will notice and she would be able to trace it back to us. I'd rather not have ‘'her'’ angry with us, pacifist or not."

Sam cleared her throat "All of this is very interesting but you still haven't answered my question."

She sighed "We have thought about it. For now it's not for us, maybe someday but it'll be because it’s what we want."

Sam nodded "Glad to hear that you aren't planning on rushing into it. Being an Integrate is nice, but it has its drawbacks."

"Like the fact that your leaders are all the bad kind of crazy."

"Among other problems, yes. On the subject of supremacists I'd like to know what you did to Dominic."

"He a friend of yours?"

She snorted "Not anymore."

Claire blinked “Alright, you’ll have to be more specific.”

“When he tried to hack you.”

“Oh that," she ate her forkful of spaghetti "not much to tell, I have a special program called Cardinal.”

“And…?” Sam asked.

She shrugged “That’s all I know.”

Sam groaned “You’re kidding.”

“Nope, the rest of the information is above my pay grade.”

At this point the rest of the table had returned to normal conversation. Claire and her father got into a discussion about RIDE maintenance. He really wanted a chance to give Mel a once over. It was strictly out of professional curiosity. Mel accepted the offer on the condition that it be performed at their house with their tools, a perfectly reasonable request.

They asked about Claire's co-workers on the task force, more half-truths. They asked about her crossrider party and the gifts she received, most were surprisingly useful. Why she had waited so long to contact them, she had been told to by her handler. What Sebastian, her handler, was like and why she even needed one. She said to keep her safe, a straight lie.

Regina wanted to know if Claire would be moving back to Nextus, no way in Hell. Then she wanted to know if Claire was planning to live in Sturmhaven like her. This earned a string of words in a language no one could identify and a small rant about idiotic feminists. When Claire had first returned to Zharus a Valkyrie had tried to force herself on him. Marshal intervention was the only thing that had prevented a fight from breaking out.

Right now they were living out of their sub. They were usually docked at the Aloha aerodome since they were working for Oz. Sam and Bobbie wanted to know more about that. Bobbie was a programmer and as always interested in learning more. Bobbie's hare and Keith's deer were both on their way back from running out to pick up dessert.

“I heard there’s a dungeon in Taft.” Sam said

“That’s right. A hundred sub-basements beneath a church, each one is a microcosm unto itself. We just made it down to the seventy-fourth yesterday.”

“It took you two months?”

“I spent sixty hours power leveling before I could start that dungeon. You could make it pretty far at your current level, but it would be time consuming.”

“Do you have any suggestions?”

“Once you find the entrance there’ll probably be some people you can party with, or you can go with me. Though, you’ll still have to find the entrance on your own.”

She groaned “I spent my sub flight over checking the side rooms and found nothing.”

“Sorry Cous, that’s the way it is. I’ll meet you there later.”

She shrugged “Alright, it’s not like I have anything better to do.”

“You could find a job.” Her mother said

Sam harrumphed. If she was looking for a job her best bet a Fuser based establishment, like a Fuser bar. She didn’t mind going back into that line of work. She might even go back to school. Online classes had a lot more appeal to her now. But it wouldn't do her any good if she just cheated her way through.

A few hours after dinner Claire was finally able to log into Oz and meet Sam in Taft. One second the room was empty, the next Claire was sitting in one the pews with Mel sprawled in the aisle. Sam had spent the entire time searching the church's remaining side rooms. She quirked an eyebrow but didn't say anything as she went back to searching. Half an hour later she sat down and leaned back against the alter, only to yelp as it slid backwards.

Sam sighed "Beneath the alter, how cliched."

"The entrance is different for everyone, but it’s always literally in the last place you look. That's why I couldn't help you find it."

"So I have to search this place every time?"

"Once you reach the first town it gives you a teleport spell. You can also use it to travel between the various floors."

They were able to start off on the fiftieth floor dungeon. Claire played as the forward guard drawing in the attention of the mobs and letting Sam get bonus xp and special items for killing them. The few times she attacked her blade would cut down groups at a time. When they reached the fifty fifth floor Claire took her to a blacksmith for new gear and upgrades. They spent the next several hours traipsing through the floor dungeons until they reached the seventy fourth floor.

By the time they got there Sam was several levels higher and had replaced most of her gear thrice over. They met up with other players along the way, several of which made no attempt to hide their Integrate status behind disguises. Sam soon joined them reveling in the new found freedom. The others shared stories about various raids, trades, duels and integrations. They made it halfway back to town before she noticed Claire and Mel were gone.

She dropped back into the real world and noticed her internal chronometer said it was close to four in the morning. They had probably logged out to go to sleep and she just hadn't been paying attention. She quietly stretched as she went down to the kitchen to get a snack. On her way back she peeked into the family room. Mel was lying awake in the middle of the room, her head resting on her paws. Claire was fast asleep on her back, half her face buried in Mel's scruff like it was a fuzzy living pillow.

As she turned to go back upstairs she heard the faintest of whimpers. She looked back and saw Claire start to twitch in her sleep as she whimpered again. Mel looked concerned as she shifted, trying to make her more comfortable without waking her up. When the whimpering continued, a part of Sam realized that she was intruding on something very 'very' private. The instant Claire began to thrash Mel fused up around her, staying on hands and knees as she interrupted whatever figment was tormenting Claire.

Sam watched as the Fuser took several deep breathes before curling up on the RIDE couch and seemingly going to sleep. She quietly returned to her room, never once noticing that the eyes of the cobra tail had been watching her the entire time. Everything about her cousin's odd behavior confirmed her theory. Something terrible had happened to Claire.

{{Separator|k}}

The first thing Sam noticed when she came down for breakfast was the twenty meter sub-orbital parked in the backyard. A quick query showed it was registered to, and owned by, Claire. She grabbed a bowl of cereal to eat as she went outside to take a closer look. When she stepped outside she could hear the voices coming from inside it.

"It's good to see you, I would've been here last night but I got caught up at the office."

"It’s okay, thanks for the crossover gift."

She laughed "I bet it got some strange looks when you opened it, but I always thought the traditional gifts were a little dumb."

As she stepped into the sub Sam recognized her older cousin Heather. The petite wolverine tagged ZPA employee was still half a head shorter than Claire. Her brown ears were almost completely hidden by her shoulder length dirty blonde hair. Sam heard the end of the comm discussion the two of them were secretly having as Heather broke the hug she had on Claire.

'':I'm sorry, if I had known where they were sending you I wouldn't have put your name up as a possible for The Ghosts.''

'':It’s okay, from what I heard I'd be dead if I had stayed with the task force.''

'':Still.''

"Heather allow me to reintroduce you to our cousin Samantha and her RIDE Maria."

Before she could blink Heather had wrapped her in a bone crushing hug. "Look at you two, all Integrated and furry!"

She returned the gesture "Thanks, what are The Ghosts?"

That wiped the smiles off their faces "Classified, and don't even try to dig up information on it. Integrate or not you won't find anything."

"Alright, alright you don't need to go biting my head off. Where are Mariko and Mel?"

"Over here." Mel called from the other room "Your Uncle was just finishing his inspection."

Bill shook his head as Mel was released from the cradle "You have an excellent chassis, looks like it could take just about anything. Like those wings, they weren't in the original design. At least not any of the drafts I’ve seen."

"I felt like I was in the wrong body. We tried a bunch of things but it wasn't until we were in Rodinia that we found an answer. They used a winged lioness as one of my bases."

He nodded recognizing the symptoms of body diaspora "Installing micro solar panels for solid state feathers, pretty clever idea."

"Glad you like, it was Claire's."

"It’s nice being on indefinite leave, lots of time to travel and just relax." Claire turned to Heather "Earlier you said there was some sort of convention I might like to go to?"

"That's right; it’s a convention for people with ASA RIDEs. Kind of like a RIDE or skimmer show, you can meet lots of people and learn more about maintenance and stuff. I thought it might do you some good to spend time with people you aren't related to."

"I do that in Oz."

She gave Sam a pleading look "You've been having nightmares."

She looked away "Maybe."

"There might be people who can help you."

"Claire," Heather put a hand on her shoulder "you're not alone anymore. If you're still having nightmares let us help you. At the very least let Mel help, she's your partner for crying out loud."

"I know that." she snapped "At least, I do intellectually. I'm trying but it’s not easy, it’s a hard
habit to break after three years."

Sam sighed "Let's make a deal. I had planned to take you shopping today, that dress is probably one of the few outfits you can actually use." Claire's blush confirmed this "So we'll go to the Con with you and, when you want to leave, we'll take you shopping for some real clothes. Deal?"

Claire groaned "Fine, you've got me backed into a corner."

Sam waved at her "And that's why I'm your favorite."

"Besides," she smirked "I could use proper pair of sweats anyway."

Now it was Sam's turn to groan as she punched Claire's shoulder. Stuart had never understood the appeal of being fashionably dressed. Ironically this had an incredible fashion sense, he could look downright amazing if he wanted to. But he would much rather run around in comfortable clothing regardless of whether or not was in style or matched.

Within an hour the five of them were on their way to the largest convention center in the polity. Artillery Support Armor was a bit of misnomer. The classification included everything from gunships and indirect fire to low orbit bombardment and sniper style direct fire units. This broad range meant they were also produced in an equal large range of sizes, mostly on the larger end of the scale. Thus they needed a convention center whenever they wanted to gather in large groups.

There were thousands of people and RIDEs packed into the center. They were even able to spot a few Integrates taking advantage of the crowd to wander around exposed to the world. They ended up meeting up with a few veterans of Nextus-Sturmhaven war. Whenever Mel was noticed she immediately became the center of attention and received everything from sympathy and comm codes to death threats.

Claire had just sat down in the food court when a hand landed on her shoulder "Excuse me ma'am," a feminine voice said "but it’s important that I speak to you."

Her tail hissed as it examined the woman behind her. She yanked her hand back in surprise, badger ears flattening. The fact that she didn't step away from Claire said she was used to getting what she wanted. Her accent marked her as belonging to the upper levels of the Nextus government.

Claire sighed "About what?" Why did Sam and Heather have to get food now.

"That RIDE belongs to you right? My superiors in the MRS want me to demand its return."

Mel growled "We're partners, we belong to each other. A few months I ago I had to send some of your co-workers packing."

She snorted "I heard about that."

"Lieutenant Colonel Steele, how nice to see you again." Heather, Fused with Mariko, walked over with a tray of food.

"D-Director, I...I didn't see you there."

"Oh course you didn't,” she sat down "I just got back with our food." she pushed out a chair "Please, sit down." It wasn't a request. "This is the second time Nextus has harassed one of my operatives. I thought I made it clear what would happen if this continued, regardless of 'who' was doing the harassing."

“I understand, but my superiors obviously don't." she pinched the bridge of her nose "This was supposed to be my weekend off, got it approved months ago. I just wanted to come here and enjoy the time with other people with ASAs. Then I got a call an hour ago and was told that facial rec placed you here and was given orders to try and convince you to hand you RIDE over to me."

"How long have you been partnered?"

She smiled tiredly "Fifteen years now, she’s a BDR(f)-ASA-014W. She ran into some of her friends who’ve already mustered put. I think this whole debacle is a sign that we should tender our resignation.”

“Any idea why your top brass is so interested in Mel?”

“Not a clue, someone in the military or one of the upper tiers might be putting them up to it. You know quid pro quo.”

Claire grunted “I ‘hate’ career politicians.”

There was a murmur of agreement “Well, I’ve bothered you enough.” Steele offered her hand and Claire shook it. “I’m going to find Cressa and get back to enjoying the convention.”

Sam showed up shortly after Steele left and they ate their late lunch. This time when Claire said she wanted to leave there were no objections. The trip had served its purpose which was to get introduce Claire to other people. A handful of the RIDEs gave Mel advice on how to help Claire deal with her night terrors.

Compared to everything that was happening at the convention shopping was uneventful. However Sam’s idea of shopping hadn’t included the half a dozen specialty stores Claire dragged them into. That aside, it was easy to find clothes for her. Convincing her to buy some of the more feminine ones was impossible. It took a while to talk her into defusing to actually try on different outfits. Her pragmatism about clothes had clearly crossed over with her.

They caught a lucky break, one of shops was run by an Integrate and Sam was able to try on real clothes for the first time in months. Claire refused to entertain anything that had frills or lace. Just about the only feminine clothes she bought were sundresses and a pair of sunhats. Everything else was t-shirts and shorts. As far as she was concerned indefinite leave was the same as retirement, just with better pay.

The entire time they were shopping Claire was doing something on the net. Sam’s fear of the mysterious Cardinal System was the only thing that prevented her from taking a closer peek. After all, just because she could look in on everything digital didn’t mean she should. Everyone was entitled to just as much privacy as she was. Then again, she could always ask.

“Claire, are you going to share the reason you’ve been on the net for the past six hours with the group?”

She was silent for a bit "Swear not tell anyone?"

"On pain of death."

"Therapy," she was blushing "you know I had a nightmare last night. The problem is I've been having them for several months now. They're less frequent now but I'm still having them. Cardinal was helping at first but now its doing more harm than good."

Heather swore "Nobody said you were given a copy of Cardinal."

"They probably didn't think it was important."

"Like Hell it isn't. Who authorized it?"

She shrugged "Romulus something or other."

Heather groaned "Romulus Mengsk?" a nod "That power hungry idiot. Cardinal is designed for rapid tactical analysis not psychiatric care. Do you at least have control over it?"

"Umm..."

Sam frowned "I'm guessing this Mengsk person didn't tell you that you could adjust it."

Claire snorted "He didn't say much of anything about it. I could probably hack it."

"Don't," Mariko said "I'll pass over the control codes so you can disable it, take an image before you adjust it."

"Hopefully Tassidar will throw him out on his ass, politics be damned."

"Um, are you sure its okay for you guys to discuss this in fornt of me?"

"Its useless to anyone else you might know."

Sam briefly thought of Fritz "I'm not sure about that."

"The Bosscat wouldn't be able to do anything useful with the information. Even if he wants Mengsk to stay in power he knows better than to try anything."

"Wait the ZPA knows about Fritz?"

"We've had contact with certain individuals who brought him to our attention. We've been...monitoring the situation ever since."

"We understand you're scared of him but he's just a person. If it came down to a fight the odds are stacked 'against' his favor."

"Easy for you to say." Sam muttered.

{{Separator|k}}

Claire, stilled Fused with Mel yawned as she woke up the next morning.They had a very productive night in OZ, lots of level grinding with Sam. The boss room had been found and its raid was currently in the early planning stages. Depending on the information the scout teams gathered they might be able to clear it within a few days. But that was just wishful thinking on her part.

With most of Cardinal disabled Claire had been able to download a lucid dreaming app for her implant and get a direct look at her subconscious. If she ever saw Mengsk again he would be subjected to a swift and unbearably painful death. That bastard had tried to use Cardinal to brainwash her into becoming his obedient little puppet.It was easy enough to fix what he had changed and Mel kept meticulous notes on what they found. It was damning enough that he would probably be locked up for the rest of his life.

For the first time since coming back Claire really felt like herself. At breakfast she had a pointless argument with her brother (she lost), pounced on Vinnie, and generally made a minor nuisance of herself. Though she didn't say anything she could feel Mel's approval of the return towards her true normalcy. She knew she could never go all the way back, too much had happened, but she could get close.

Last night they had flown to Cascadia to visit one of Keith's friends and do a little sight seeing before heading back to Aloha. It had been going great until they announced that they were going to let some of the rain through the domes. It wasn't really dangerous, more of a minor annoyance, but it did force them to cut their tour short. They were almost to the aerodome when Claire put a hand on Sam's shoulder.

'':We're being followed.''

Sam checked her sensor '':Doesn't look like it.''

'':Trust me we are, take your parents and get back to The Dawn. I, we, will handle this.''

Sam noticed the hesitation with the pronouns '':Alright.''

It took only a few minutes for them to be out of sight "You can come out now."

From under a nearby awning stepped a red panda Fuser "Corporal Mort and Private Eugene," she shook the offered hand "its a pleasure to meet you ma'am."

A fellow Ghost "Likewise, now let's get down to brass tacks. Why were you following us?"

He offered he a tablet "Emergency orders, direct from Colonel Tiger himself."

"I'm supposed to be on leave. Why didn't he just comm me?"

"He's been trying to."

Claire swore "I bet its something Mengsk imbedded in that copy of Cardinal. We're gonna have to get a full work up done on my implants."

Colonel Tiger Sauer was the founding member and commanding officer of the Ghosts. It had been he who sent her on indefinite leave, after approving her new partner. He was also an Integrate and gave every Ghost a special encryption key. There was no doubt in her or Mel's mind that he was fully aware Claire had family with her right now. If he was giving her direct orders there were no other options.

The mission was a simple extraction operation that required them to stop at the southern end of a mineral formation called the Towers. She wouldn't be required to fight anyone. All she had to do was fly in pick up the fire-team and fly them all out without attracting the attention of the local Enclave.

If Sam hadn’t been watching the entrance she would have missed Claire and Mel’s return. She could tell something was different as soon as they stepped aboard. Her parents didn’t notice Mel’s hardlight fur had become smooth armor.

“There’s been a slight change in our flight plan. Claire and I need to make a work related detour.”

“I thought everything Oz related was in Aloha.” Bobbie said.

“This is ZPA related. Need to pick up a survey team we have out in the Towers. They’re probably going to be tired. So, I want y’all to try and stay out of their way.”

“There might not be anyone for you to pick up. There’s an Enclave in the Towers and they have been known to forcibly remove tethers from RIDEs and they sometimes…encourage Integration in others.”

“Trust me the Enclave has no idea that they’re there. Its more towards the central section so they won't notice us either.”

"I don't know..."

"Sam we were able to sneak up on you and Dominic."

She winced "There's going to be a lot more than just two this time."

Claire/Mel shrugged "Two or 2000, numbers are only important if they're paying attention. Now, I'm going to grab something from my room and then we'll be off."

The trip from Cascadia to the Towers was very short. A straight line flight instead of an parabolic arc. Sam couldn't believe how fast The Dawn was Claire had done some major upgrades from its stock configuration. It was only very strict self-control that kept her from running a deep scan to find out what made her tick. That and Sam was worried that she might expose them if she did.

Claire had the loading ramp open before they even landed. Everything was still and it would have been eerily quiet if the wind stopped. They sat there for ten minutes before she kicked on her stealth and went to go talk to Claire. Except the cockpit was empty. A quick search proved both she and Mel had left The Dawn.

Throwing her worries aside she reached out and pinged Mel on the sidebands. Several seconds passed before Mel pinged her back letting her know she had met with the survey team and they were on their back. Sam walked into the back area and stood right in the entrance her sensors on full alert.

She stood there for fifteen minutes and was about to walk back in when an arm wrapped around her neck. She would've screamed if the a hand hadn't clamped over her mouth. She was quickly dragged backwards into the main cargo area as the ramp closed sealing up the ship.

A man's voice growled in her ear "If I where an enemy you'd be dead." she was released "Come on Probie, Mike and Aug need help with Mosley."

Mosley turned out to be a wounded Bandicoot Integrate being tapped on cheek by a Wombat Fuser "Come on Mosley stay with us!"

She caught the wrist before it could tap against her cheek again "Hit me again and I'll break your wrists."

The Fuser gave a sigh "Thank God you're alright. Ajax, Probie, give me a hand getting her to kitchen."

Ajax turned out to be an LSA black lab Fuser. When Sam made no move to follow he grabbed her wrist and dragged her forward. With a combination of lifter control and hand support they got Mosley settled on the kitchen table. Ajax opened a cabinet and gave a spare sarium battery to Mosley. Why had he called Sam been Probie?

"Where's Claire?" Sam asked, the quiet hum of the lifters answered her question.

"The LT is making sure we get out of here in one piece." Mosely answered "I know we asked for emergency evac but I didn't think they'd send the Ace of Aces herself." she looked over at Sam "Probie, front and center. I thought I knew every female Ghost and recruit we have."

Claire's voice came over their comms' '': Neither, she's my cousin.''

"That explains her lack of reflexes." Ajax said.

"I'm standing right here you know."

'':Where are y'all going to stay when we get to Aloha?'' Mel asked.

'':No idea. We were supposed to be out here for another week.''

"Um you guys can stay at my house." They looked at her. "Well its technically my parents house. But we've got plenty of room for guests."

"You'll have to run it by them first and I don’t think there is anyway they’ll let us stay for a week."

It was the second night after they arrived in Aloha. Ajax (Andrew and his RIDE Jackson), Mosley, Mike and Aug had spent the first day busily preparing their reports and getting some much needed rest. They had most of the day in Oz being brought up to speed on the raid strategy and gathering supplies. They had already spent most of the night out on the town, slowly going from bars up to clubs with Claire getting progressively drunker, probably because she was lounging on Mel’s back when they traveled, her hair now shoulder length.

“I had no idea Claire was a happy drunk.”

“Let’s just hope she stays that way.” Ajax said.

“What do you mean?”

“Pray that you never have to find out.” Mosley muttered as Claire babbled to Mel.

“What language is she speaking anyway?”

“No idea, she must have picked it up on her last assignment.” Aug said

Sam shook her head "We have about two hours till the bars close up for the night, any suggestions."

"Loch Ness, its on 32nd Street." Claire giggled as she motioned its general direction.

Mosley patted her head "No more for you."

Loch Ness turned out to be a rather upscale bar staffed only by marine Fusers. They grabbed seats at the bar proper, Claire half slumping over in hers. The place was surprisingly full for its location and the time of night. They were on their second round of drinks when a musk-ox Fuser walked over and started talking to Claire.

"What's cookin good lookin?" Sam frowned at his Cape Nord accent. "How about I buy you a drink."

Claire giggled "Sure, Edradour on the rocks."

What was she doing? She had agreed she wouldn't have another drink and why was Ajax smirking? Sam looked at the others. Mosley looked resigned while Mike and Aug just looked confused. Clearly the three of them were missing something. Claire's Scotch sat there for a minute before the Fuser said anything.

"Well aren't you going to drink it?"

"Nope, Mosley said no more for me so no more will I drink." she grinned.

He spluttered "But you said I could buy you a drink!"

"And you did, you didn't ask if I could drink it, which I can't." she shrugged.

He frowned "Well, then why don't we go somewhere else and you can have a drink there."

"She said no more so it doesn't matter where. I can't drink any."

"Then how about I take you over to my place. I got a nice hotel room just down the street." He gave her a winning smile.

Claire let out a laugh and patted him on the cheek "You are just to cute, but I'm not that kind of crossrider."She winked at Mosley.

"Then your friend can come to." his grin widened "How about it?"

"Mm, no."

"Aw come on it'll be fun."

Mike/Aug grabbed his arm as he tried drape it around her shoulders "Dude, she said no.

"Stay outta this." The man sneered, jerking his arm free and spilling Claire's Scotch.

Sam blinked and almost missed it. There was a massive crash as Claire slammed the Fuser face first into the bar. They all heard the crunch of metal as his muzzle deformed. He stumbled backwards as Claire stood up. Gone was the happily giggling drunk from a fraction of a second ago.

The man took a swing at her and she just seemed to slide out of the way. He swung again and she slipped around behind him grabbing his tail and yanking him into a spin towards the front. Mosley pinched the bridge of her nose while Ajax was laughing so hard he had fallen out of his seat. She slipped past his strikes again and again before counter attacking. This time Sam missed it because of Mel, but she still heard the rending crash as the man broke through the wall and landed in the street.

Before Claire could take another step she was engulfed by Mel. She put her hands over her heart, eyes closed, as she took deep breaths. Sam could hear the blaring of police sirens as the APD showed up.

{{series bar
|series=Ghost's of Zharus
|previous=None
|next=}}

[[Category:Story]][[Category:Chimera]][[Category:Transgender]][[Category:Bear]][[Category:Anthropomorphic]][[Category:Dog]] [[Category:FreeRIDErs]] [[Category:Oddoneout]]

User:Oddoneout/Ghosts: The Return

2014-02-06T11:57:59Z

Oddoneout: various spelling fixes and editing area that sounded awkward

{{Universe|FreeRIDErs}}{{title
|name=Ghosts: The Return
|author=Oddoneout
|user=Oddoneout}}

Sam couldn't believe it she was going to be late for the rendezvous. She couldn't help it that she lost track of time whenever she started navel gazing. Three months ago the young human woman named Samantha Maiuri had integrated with her Malti-Poo RIDE becoming a single techno-organic being. It was only a few hours later that she was snatched up and taken to an Enclave at the edge of the Dry Ocean. For her it was horrible, she wanted to go back to Aloha, top her friends and family. But she wouldn't, she didn't think they would all be able to accept what she had become. So she stayed away from them and slowly began to accept the idea that she was better off that way, after all they were just mech and meat. Now that she was away she was free to fully indulge her guilty pressure of playing MMORPGs.

Which is exactly what she was doing. She crested another hill as the grass have way to stone and the sky grew cloudy, ahead of her the Tower of Dusk reached high into the air. Oz was a fairly new MMO whose servers where run and maintained by a group of Integrates living in Aloha. They were 'very' strict about not letting people use their Intie powers to tip the game in their favor. The game was in a high fantasy setting with a special set of mechanics and to allow for mech and meat to play as a fusing pair. They could be separate when they needed or wanted to be but fusing provided its own advantages and disadvantages.

To everyone in the game Sam appeared as a black furred Malti-poo Fuser dressed in an ornate white and gold robe. Last month she had found a good group of fellow Intie players and joined their clan. Today was important because it was her first true raid boss. She was ecstatic and very glad she had put in the extra time to learn some decent offensive spells. As she jumped to clear a trench she caught sight of a RIDE and its partner before she was yanked downward into the trench.

"Slow down Sam. Let the mechie get beaten, then we'll have our run." The speaker was a heavily armored grizzly bear Integrate in Fuser disguise with a massive sword strapped to his back.

"Dominic's right," a hyena rouge spoke up "this should be good for a laugh if nothing else. It's practically impossible for an Intie to solo The Bone Hoard. There's no way a mechie can manage it even if they were fused."

"Especially with how they've got their settings done." another member spoke up drawing everyone's attention" They have their system assist and feedback canceler's turned off."

"How can anyone play like that? Even we have to use the system assist and without the canceler on things feel a little too real for most people to be comfortable."

"I had a cousin who played MMOs like that," Sam said "but he disappeared years ago."

Dominic asked the obvious question "Did he Integrate?"

She shook her head "I don't think so. He got a government job and we heard from him regularly for a few months. His last message said something about a new assignment, then nothing."

"Have you tried hacking?"

She nodded "His personnel file is there but it’s all dead ends."

He frowned "I'll put out some requests; someone has to know more about what happened to him."

A rattling announced the awakening of The Bone Hoard. The powerful raid boss burst from the ground, a giant serpentine skeleton one hundred meters long with dozens of pairs of legs and a wicked set of pincers. Red light shone from the empty sockets of its triangular head. Equally massive horns adorned its head. The HUD displayed five health bars and with her scanning skill Sam should have been able to see its level. Instead all she saw was a skull, anyone trying to fight it alone would spend more money than they would make, assuming they managed to kill it.

The person was instantly in motion covering the distance to the boss in a matter of seconds. One of its pincers shot forward only to be knocked aside and quickly severed by a plain looking black broadsword. He kept moving and severed the remaining pincer taking out the boss's main weapons and a portion of its first health bar in the process. The Bone Hoard's AI refused to let it settle into a pattern as it constantly adapted. Normally this would give it an enormous advantage, even against raid groups, but ultimately it's ability was rendered useless by one thing, speed. The solo player had been fast to begin with and only got faster as the battle moved into its second minute.

"Look at the HP," Dominic said "Do you see it?"

Sam nodded "Whenever he dodges he uses his free hand for some kind of unarmed DOT counterattack."

In the space of three minutes The Bone Hoard's HP had been cut down to only one and a half bars. It lashed out with one of its remaining legs throwing the swordsman off balance, disarming him with a quick follow up. He jumped away, he had to be fleeing either to rearm or to give up. He did neither, with a shout he charged straight at its head ducking under as it thrust forward in an attempt to swallow him. His right hand shot up and struck the bone plate under its mouth and The Bone Hoard shattered into glittering iridescent blue dust, killed by a single unFused and unassisted player in just over four minutes.

He slouched as he shook out his wrists. His RIDE retrieved the fallen sword. They seemed...subdued, disappointed, like things hadn't gone the way they were hoping. Dominic, as be fitting his status as raid leader, was the first to recover from the shock they had all received. He clambered out of the trench running towards and hailing the mystery duo. Sam followed after him a moment later.

"That was amazing! I've only ever heard of people soloing The Bone Hoard and they didn't do nearly as well as you just did." All true but why was he kissing up to mechie?

Now that Sam was closer she could see their mystery man was actually a mystery woman. She stood about a meter and a half tall. Her white blonde hair was in short pixie cut. The woman's broadsword was indeed the black color Sam had originally thought it was. Her RIDE tags were very unusual. She had a feline nose, the rounded ears of a lion, white fur, goat horns and a black cobra for a tail. Sam shuddered as both pairs of green eyes turned to look at her.

The woman's RIDE was easily the most bizarre mythical Sam had ever seen. She was easily the size of a large horse, marking her as a Heavy class RIDE. Her she had the body and head of a lion with the horns of a goat. Her white fur was the same as her partner's and her black cobra tail was staring intently at Dominic. A large pair of dark iridescent blue bird wings completed her appearance.

Finally the woman sighed "I was nine point three seconds off."

Her ride giggled “Aren’t you the one who’s always saying that it’s just a game Claire?”

Claire frowned “I know but the benchmark gives us a place to start looking.” She gestured and several windows appeared “The more important question is why y’all are here. This area is supposed to be closed off for maintenance. There was a game wide announcement yesterday.”

Dominic stiffened “Um, none of us were on yesterday.”

“They sent out a memo to everyone just in case, you should have gotten it as soon as you logged in.”

“We were all busy prepping for this raid. When I got on I came straight here, didn’t have time to check my messages and since you said this area is closed what are you doing here?”

“Obviously we’re here to perform the maintenance.” Her RIDE deadpanned

“Thank you Mel. Now, I’m going to need your player IDs.”

“So you can ban us?”

She laughed “I could ban you even without them but it’s not my job. I’ll pass the info on to one of the other GMs, they might have given y’all open access to this area. If they didn’t and think you need to be banned they’ll contact you so you can appeal your case.”

“Oh so it’s just that you’re lazy?”

“Yup, now that I can afford to be lazy I’ve gotten to the point where enabling God Mode is too much of a hassle. Easier just to go without and fight my way through. That’s also why I don’t use the assist and have the canceler disabled.” She frowned “But y’all already knew that didn’t you.”

Sam was suddenly nervous. Claire was clearly skilled IRL, how else could she beat a raid boss alone, and she somehow knew they had peeked at her settings. On top of that she was a GM and, Intie or not, could insta-ban them on a whim. Sam had read the message she was talking about and just assumed it was wrong or meant for non-Inties, in hindsight she realized she had just been fooling herself. She liked to think that she didn’t buy into the whole Integrates Ascendant thing at all. But seeing a human deftly manage what would be an extreme and time consuming challenge in mere minutes and then subtly hint that she ''knew'' exactly what they were. Half a dozen members of the raid team suddenly disconnected and Claire shook her head.

“Apparently you people buy into your own press ''way'' too much.” Mel said

“What did you do?” Dominic asked

“It’s not what we did but what they tried to do. Which was hack us. Claire and I have had extensive time to prep for a variety of things, one of the perks of having a forward thinking boss. As such we can easily shut you out when you try and hack us.”

“Hey boss, let’s just give them our IDs and go. No need to start a fight.” The speaker was a burgundy Allosaurus.

“You scared of mech and meat, Durendal?”

“When the flesh alone can kick that much ass? Hell yeah, I’m scared out of my scales right now. Besides Mel's right, this is just a game and it’s supposed to be for fun.” There was a quiet round of agreement “If the other GMs are willing to trust these two then we should too. Since they got the job they must be exceptionally skilled.”

Claire quirked a smile as she received several data packets “Roland Durendal, you named yourself after the paladin and his sword from the Matter of France?”

He shrugged “I used to study medieval literature as a hobby.”

“Claire,” Mel said “I’ve just finished submitting our report.”

She nodded “Good, unfortunately this is where we all part ways. To everyone who has transmitted their data, thank you for your cooperation. We’ll do our best to make sure you don’t get banned because of your raid leader. Please, direct any further questions to this com code.”

As the two logged out Sam came to a decision, she needed to move out of her Enclave and get away from the supremacy ideas that governed it. Another mage used a group teleport spell to bring them all back to a safe zone so they could all log out. When she opened her eyes in the real world Sam came to a second decision. Rather than another Enclave she would go back to her family, everyone had seen the now famous reunion footage of the Munn family with its long absent Integrate members. So for the first time in months she accessed her lifetime mailbox.

{{Separator|k}}

Claire Olivia Maiuri groaned as she got up from her cot and stretched after her marathon play session. Across the room Mel yawned as she carefully did the same, mindful of her wings. Their home was the cargo area of The Forward Unto Dawn. The Dawn was a D82-EST Darter, a single deck twenty meter sub-orbital, she bought after returning to Zharus proper just over three months ago. After five hard years her mission had finally ended and she had come home to Zharus.

At the time he had been Stuart Miles Maiuri, a person he no longer wanted to be. Luckily his bonus and hazard pay had made him a small fortune. If he was careful he would never have to work again. Because his dad had worked for Nextux RIDEWorks all his life, the first thing he decided to do was find a RIDE partner.

His post mission handler had suggested he try a small dealership in Nuevo San Antonio. He spent most of the day talking to the occasional RIDE who caught his attention. He had spent most of the day looking when he the owner said he wanted to introduce him to someone. In the back area was a RIDE named Melody, Mel for short.

She was an experimental unit, a Nextus RIDEWorks CMA(f)-ASA-001. The last of the half dozen produced and the only one who's RI had survived the program's termination. The original idea had been a variation on the one introduced by the Sturmhaven WLF-CSA-01As. A secondary RI core in the tail that would manage an extra sensor suite, long range communications, and point defense. The idea was for it to free up extra processing power to allow more accurate targeting and deliver artillery strikes from an unparallelled range. Unfortunately it ran into some of the same problems as the CSAs, the RIs wouldn't link.

In the end the secondary core idea had been scrapped when they succeed in producing a single RI core capable of doing the entire work load. That RI was Mel. The higher ups had been pleased with the results but not enough to overlook the price tag. Between the parts they needed and increased cost for the specialized RI core, it was less than a month after her First Boot that the project was scrapped.

She had honestly expect to have her core destroyed like her predecessors, luckily the RIDEWorks still "owned" her core, DE and weapons package. Rather than let Nextus destroy her, she had been discreetly sold her to their friend who owned the dealership. She had spent her weeks worrying about what would happen to her if Nextus found her. The owner introduced them and after an hour Mel and Stuart had begun discussing where they would live. She had made the suggestion that they get a sub-orbital as a starting point in case they had to run. After all, Nexts had been known to go to lengths to recover things, even if it never belonging to them.

As far as ASA's went she was on the smaller end of the spectrum, in Walker mode she stood at just over two meters and was half a meter taller in Fuser mode. The empty space in her tail's cobra head was retooled to house an extra set of sarium batteries. Her ASA chassis came equipped with two retractable plasma cannons and a particle beam cannon in her mouth.

They had just finished loading up their new D82-EST Darter when Nextus Material Recovery Service showed up. Stuart tried to talk them down and provided ample proof that he, and the dealership before him, had legal ownership over Mel and the weapons. When they refused to back down he sent a few messages and started stalling. It didn't take long for him to get a response.

The MRS Officers apologized for their mistake and attempted to make a ''very'' quick exit, promising that it would ''never'' happen again. Claire wouldn’t let them off that easily. She swore to them that if it ''did'' their boss would in serious trouble. Stuart was employed by the Zharus Planetary Authority and had, until recently, been conducting espionage, on Earth.

It was supposed to be a five year mission, seven counting travel, and everything had gone wrong from the first day off the boat. His cover had nearly been blown and it was only quick thinking and a quicker kill that had saved his life. He spent the next three years gathering Intel and practically living underground. After three years they were finally able to extract him. He spent a week being debriefed before they put him on indefinite leave and gave him a nice fat bonus. He had also been given a set of direct comm codes and told that if he needed anything to reach out to them.

Once cleared, she had upgraded her military cortical implant with quibitite. If she was in trouble she wanted to have the best chance of coming out on top. They spent almost a month traveling around Zharus. When they had been out in the Dry Ocean they ran into a group of Integrates who were looking to hire a temporary GM in their game, Oz.

It was an easy job. Mel and Claire were told to do their best to break everything in game and send their observations on to the Dev Team. Claire began checking her email and flagged several things for her implant to draft responses to before reading one from Sebastian, her ZPA handler. After five years and two months she would finally be able to see her family again. She sent out a flurry of emails letting everyone know she was in Aloha and would be flying to Nextus to see everyone at their family compound.

"Mel, I can finally introduce you to my family."

She perked up "I'll file a flight plan with ATC."

Claire stripped out of her underwear and went to take a shower while her implant began running the pre-flight checks. Everything checked out as she finished her shower, replies coming in as began to dry off. She sighed as she looked through her rather limited wardrobe. She ruled out her beloved combat gear, too many questions. After sorting through her crossover gifts she settled on a yellow sun dress Sebastian had sent her. His note had said she needed something she could 'actually' use instead of the usual gag gifts.

'':Mel, we need something for you to wear. As much fun as it would be to show up in a metal bikini, I don't think my family would like it.''

'':Can it be black? I was thinking of a nice sweater skirt combo.''

'':Sure, it'll match your tail.''

As they fused up Mel felt Claire's nervousness and did her best to comfort her. She reabsorbed the metal-kini anatomically correct RIDEs often wore for decency. Some of her hardlight winked out then came back up projecting her outfit of choice. She had chosen a knee length skirt and loose sleeved sweater complimenting her form and drawing attention up to her face and away from her chest. They stopped in the small kitchen and made a quick lunch of last night's take out before the lifters warmed up.

They sat down in the cockpit as they received a message from ATC approving them for departure. At twenty meters long the D82-EST Darter was a small transport craft. It had a lifting body design and top of the line heat shielding ensuring it could land without the use of its lifters. They had split the cargo area in half, turning the forward section into their living quarters/maintenance area with a bathroom and kitchen.

They taxied out of their hangar and into the civilian departure zone. No one would suspect that their modest little black and white craft was fully stealth capable…or armed. Claire had spared no expense in overhauling their home. The end result had been a ten percent increase in mobility and enough offensive power to take out a large military sub. Sebastian made sure what they were doing was within the letter of the law.

They dropped into virtual for a time compressed lesson as they waited their turn for takeoff. They walked through the basic stances of Claire’s duel sword style. She was critiquing her foot work on the first set of intermediate forms when they had to stop. They quickly began to pick up speed as the lifters’ output increased and the hardlight aero shielding adjusted for maximum speed and lift. The surface fell away beneath them as the sky gradually changed from blue to a star studded black.

{{Separator|k}}

Even at top speed, Sam had a long flight to the Aloha aerodrome but it gave her plenty of time to check the outgoing flights. Finally she found one that she could slip onto unnoticed. She slipped into the lobby and boarded the high speed sub. She settled into her seat to wait. She had gotten a surprise when she checked her mail.

Her cousin Stuart had finally turned up and was flying out to Nextus from Aloha. She had already checked and couldn’t find his name on any of the passenger manifests. She had waited five years. She could wait a few more hours. Without a second thought she logged back into Oz.

She had a message from Dominic waiting for her. She read it a few times before deleting it and removing herself from the guild. Now that she realized her emerging bigotry she was going to work hard to get rid of it. Her next order of business was getting to Taft where new players arrived fresh from the tutorial. She had heard rumor of a dungeon hidden beneath the town.

She made her way to the western part of town and stopped at a player owned shop to sell her guild gear. Most of the uniform was inferior to what she had been using before. She smoothed out her red robe and settled its armored plates into place as she re-equipped. Her old Hound Saber was a welcome change from the stereotypical mage staff she had been using for two weeks. The bonuses to her spell were less because of the change but she preferred being a red mage anyway.

She made her way to a massive cathedral. If the rumors were true the entrance to the bonus dungeon was hidden somewhere inside. As soon as she stepped inside she realized that just finding the entrance would be a chore. You could have easily fit a Starmaster into the main worship area. She started by checking the dozens of side rooms for anything odd.

There were a lot more than she thought. It took her the entire flight to thoroughly check half of the side rooms. She sighed as stood up on the sub. If the bonus dungeon did exist the GMs were keeping information about the entrance tightly controlled. It was probably filled with exclusive gear unobtainable anywhere else. Once outside the aerodrome she lifted into the Fuser/scooter traffic lanes and headed for her family's compound on the southern end of city. Sam was ten and a half kilometers away when she got a nasty shock when a familiar grizzly Fuser flew up next to her.

"Sam it’s nice too finally meet you IRL." Dominic said

She stiffened "How did you know?"

He smirked "I didn't. I noticed you decided to leave the guild."

"You said I could leave whenever I wanted. ''You'' said that neither mech nor meat could beat us but that GM this morning, she opened my eyes.” She shook her head “In some ways we are better than meat, but they have us beat in other areas.”

He snorted “Here in the real world they’re nothing compared to us.”

She stopped “Get bent Dominic. I don’t want anything to do with people like you anymore."

He sputtered "I'm trying to help you!" he grabbed her wrist "We are the next step in human evolution. You don't need mech or meat for anything!"

"Let go." a pulse gun formed on her wrist "I'm not afraid to shoot you."

He laughed "Both of your halves were civvie." he whispered "I'm ex-military; your little pop guns won't scratch me."

"How about mine?" a woman's voice asked

A feline hand landed on his head and he heard the whine of charging capacitors. How had she snuck up on him? He instinctively reached out to hack them and had to bite down on his tongue to keep from screaming. He felt thousands of tiny burning bites all over his body before his DIN burnt out. Even without it the sensations persisted and he had to concentrate just to maintain his disguise.

"Ah, you're one of ''those'' people. Too bad your little tricks are less than worthless against us." The speaker was a two and a half meters chimera Fuser. "Now, you can let her go or I can cut you in half."

Dominic felt a chill down his spine. These two were extremely dangerous. The fact that they had snuck up on, not just one but, two Integrates was proof of that. Their tone of voice was casual, like they had all been discussing the weather. His military instincts were screaming at him to run. But his pride as an Integrate wouldn't let him.

"I'm not scared of meat!"

She sighed "Wrong answer."

She lifted her hand and tapped two fingers against his hardlight. His systems suddenly started blaring half a dozen different warnings at him. What had they just done to him?

"Here's a little physics lesson for you. ''Everything'' has a frequency where it will resonate. Under certain conditions it can cause things to build up energy till they literally shake themselves apart. That's what’s happening to your hardlight emitters right now. They’ll fail sometime within the next ten minutes. I suggest that you get as far from Nextus as possible before they do."

They had him backed into a corner. “This isn’t over meat!” He vanished and ignoring how the chimera’s black tail tracked his progress as he flew. He had been completely humiliated. Somehow he would get back that damn mechie.

Sam took the opportunity become invisible and leave as well. She still had ten klicks left to get to the family compound. She quickly covered the remaining distance and landed on the lawn in front of the main house. Her aunts, uncles, cousins, and her mother’s parents were milling about. Her cousin Joseph and Dexter, his coyote RIDE, were talking to her parents. Everyone stopped when she revealed herself.

“Sam? Maria?” her mother asked

Sam nodded “We…I, go by Sam, but yes. It’s me, I’m back.”

She was engulfed by her family. She was given so many hugs and asked so many questions. She had trouble keeping up for a second. She sent the details over to everyone’s RIDEs. After a few minutes of time compressed sharing everyone was caught up.

“So, where’s Stuart?” there was ping on Sam’s sensors

She turned around. Standing several meters behind her was the same chimera Fuser from earlier. She was wearing a loose black sweater and matching knee length skirt. Her wings gave a nervous twitch, like she was trying not to run away. It took a few seconds but RIDE and rider finally seemed to come to an agreement.

The Fuser slowly split open and a young woman in a yellow sun dress stepped onto the lawn. Her white blonde hair was in a pixie cut. She had feline ears, swiveling at every sound and matching nose was twitching at every smell. She nervously thumbed the end of one of her goat horns while her black cobra headed tail curled around in front of her.

She hesitated before saying “Tadaima.”

Sam stared at her in disbelief. She used time compression to replay everything a dozen times to make sure she reached the right conclusion. Since her family lived and breathed crazy it made perfect sense. After all only one person in their family would use Japanese. Claire was her cousin Stuart.

Only one way to be sure "Stuart?"

She grinned nervously "Hey," she sniffed and her eyes widened "Sam you integrated? Last time we spoke you refused to even think about getting a RIDE."

Now it was turn Sam to smile "A lot can happen in five years. Why don't we all go inside?"

"No," Sam's Aunt Cathy, the youngest daughter, spoke up "You can't be Stuart. You can't be my son."

"Cathy." her husband warned

"No Bill, I don't want to hear it! There is no way that woman can be our son!"

"Before I left I got you a sterling silver bracelet. The note I put on it said that no matter what I put you though I wanted you to know how much I loved you."

"This bitch has probably been spying on us." Aunt Gina said "I'll bet she's here to try and scam us."

What little confidence Claire seemed to have built up disappeared. “This was a mistake.” She said as tears began welling up in her eyes before she fused with Mel. Sam and Joseph recovered first. Dexter quickly fusing with his partner.

'':Sam, I believe her. Only my brother, sister, would know that. Aunt Gina is just being a spiteful bitch.''

'':Normally she would lash out and bite right back. Do you think there's something wrong with her?''

'':Maybe, we’re lucky her RIDE wants her to stay.''

'':Yeah, it looks like Mel is trying to calm her down. You guys are with the Marshal right?''

'':We’re Diamond Stars, why?''

'':Can you find out what kind of RIDE Mel is?''

'':One step ahead of ya. I sent out an inquiry when we saw her enter the property and Dexter just got a match.''

Sam paled '':CMA(f)-ASA-001, skimmer mode is a high speed flier.''

'':I’ve read the report about them, project canceled due to quote unquote budget issues. I hope she isn’t still combat capable.''

'':She is. The only thing she’s missing is her hand carried weapon.''

'':Then let’s count that as a blessing.''

Behind them Gina had continued to spout increasingly caustic and illogical words. At last her Aunt Cathy seemed to remember ''who'' was talking and ignoring her. Everything was starting to fall apart. What should have been a happy family reunion was turning into a feud. As they finally got close enough Mel there was a smack from back on the porch.

“Regina, be quiet.” Geosaffati said to his third daughter.

Geosaffati J. Maiuri Junior, Pawpaw to his friends and family, stepped down from the front porch. The family patriarch eyed his assembled children and grandchildren, eyes settling on Joseph/Dexter, Sam and Claire/Mel. At just over 100 he had seen more than his fair share of fighting, first on Earth and then during the Sturmhaven Nextus War. On Earth, his skills hheld a high level management position and made a fortune in investments.

He was a big broad shouldered man who worked hard to maintain his physical health. What little hair he had left on his head was wispy gray and going white. White furred simian ears twitched atop his head as his tail lashed behind him. Even with his face marred by a frown you could still see the lines etched into it from years of laughing. Behind him stood his RIDE, MKY(m)-LMA-009L, Vinnie.

“Welcome home.”

Claire blinked as she felt a pair of strong arms wrapped around her. She hesitated before she gently reached out and hugged her grandfather. When they separated she took a few deep breaths. She could do this. She ‘’had’’ to do this. After a few seconds they broke part.

“Thanks Pawpaw. Mel, you can let me go now.”

“Aw, does this mean I can’t keep you?” she teased before they defused.

Claire and Mel had obviously spent a lot of time fused. Her nails had begun to narrow and were curved to a slight point. She had the slight beginnings of a muzzle, complete with short whiskers. She even had a slightly feline tongue and her canines were definitely getting longer. The real kicker was the fine layer of white fur that had recently started to cover her; most people missed it because it blended seamlessly with her skin tone.

“We keep each other. We’re partners, equals, and don’t let anyone try and tell you otherwise.”

“I’m glad you found such a good match.” Joseph said “Now let’s go inside. I’m sure y’all have quite the story to tell about working for the Zharus Planetary Authority.”

{{Separator|k}}

It had taken about an hour for Claire to finish telling her family about her job helping to bust a smuggling ring. That was the cover story she had been given. It would be in all the official records. It was also partially true. She was originally assigned to the Contraband Task force.

"You were on the Contraband Task force? Stu...Claire, that's impressive." Cathy said

"They wanted my eye for detail. You know better than anyone just how good I am at hiding in plain sight." Also true and she had been reassigned.

"So they wanted you to act as an observer?" Dexter asked

"Yeah." Also true.

"Then why have you changed so much? Everything I know about you shows that you were a lot more energetic. It's like you're a completely different person. What happened?" Claire looked away.

Joseph sighed "Sis, we're just trying to help. We can't do that if you won't let us."

Mel sheltered her with a wing "Its okay. Why don't we stay here tonight, hmm?"

"You'll have sleep in the family room. You're old room's been turned into an expansion of the workshop." Vinnie said

Mel started licking her ears "Come on Claire! You can't lie to me. We both want to!"

"Alright. Alright!" she said as she laughed "We can sleep here tonight! No more kitty bath! It tickles!"

"''That's'' why I do it." she said and gave one more sloppy lick "It was more fun when you had long hair."

"Maybe for you."

Mel smiled "I know for a 'fact' one of your favorite pictures is the aftermath of the first tongue bath."

Claire blushed as she slid out from under the wing "Tha-that's because it was the first one! It was a special event."

"Is that why you're grinning like an idiot?"

"I'm not like an idiot."

"Oh? Let me guess you ''are'' an idiot." Mel narrowed her eyes as she got off the RIDE couch.

"Damn right I am." She crossed her arms.

There was a full minute of silence "Well," Bill said "it’s nice to see you acting like yourself again."

Claire blinked and went red, brushing a hand along her right horn. Mel purred as she rubbed up against her. Sam watched all of this from the kitchen as she helped Pawpaw finish preparing dinner. Spaghetti with a three meat sauce, his specialty dish and a family favorite. Mentally, her Maria half was fully expressing itself by worrying over her cousin's biometrics.

"There's something wrong with her." Pawpaw said "Vinnie said her biometrics are wonky. So I know you can see it to."

Sam sighed "Maria thinks so too. I would've missed it if she hadn't split off to point it out."

He nodded "How is she?"

Sam frowned "That's part of the problem. We can't tell."

He chuckled "Not Claire, Maria. I don't know how Integration works but I know she's forever part of you now."

"Oh," she flushed at her blunder "never better, but she still wants a proper weapon. I've read some stuff about how it 'might' be possible to get one. But if get caught or something goes wrong I'd be in really deep trouble."

"Fritz, right?"

"How did you know?"

He smiled "Dear, I know people and he ''isn't'' as omnipotent as he wants everyone to believe. Besides that, there are other people you could ask for help. Especially if you're going back to live with your folks in Aloha. I know the Marshals have hired a lot of Integrates so you might be able to ask Joseph for some comm codes." he stepped into the doorway “Alright everyone time to eat.”

There is only one word that can be used to describe dinner with the Maiuri family, loud. Of the seventeen people, Joseph and Michael were the only two louder than the assembled mothers. It may have been louder than Claire liked but its familiarity was a welcome comfort. She noticed that Sam deliberately sat next to her. The paranoid part of her thought it was a statement about how she was probably going to be the next one to ‘ascend’.

"So Cous, I noticed you have some heavy fuse signs."

"Mel is a lot of RIDE for someone to handle."

“So…have you two considered…Integrating?” Sam asked.

Mel groaned from the other room “You know Claire ''killed'' the last person who asked us that right?”

“I only did that because she was trying to force it onto us. Besides we both know he probably survived.”

“Not for lack of trying on your part.”

She put her elbow on the table and rested her chin on her hand “If he had held still for another half a second I could’ve destroyed his brain and…what?” The table had gone silent “It was self-defense.”

“Based on the intel we have now I think ''pest control'' is a better term."

Sam couldn’t keep the disbelief out of her voice “Back up, you two walked away from a fanatic without being Integrated, how?”

“By frying his DIN port, shelling him from fifteen hundred kilometers and destroying sixty-seven percent of his body mass.” At Sam's incredulous look she shrugged and started twirling her loaded fork between her fingers "You asked."

Sam stared at the fork. "All things considered you are an excellent shot, but I recommend sticking to CQC." Mel said

She had seen before, it was a nervous habit. "So we should practice by taking pot shots at the Rodinian Nature Preserve? Aim for the deadest looking trees?"

Replace the fork with a knife. "Rohit would be pissed when she found out."

Claire had been telling half-truths "You mean if."

She was supposed to be on the task force but had done something else instead. "No, I mean ''when''. Someone will notice and she would be able to trace it back to us. I'd rather not have ‘'her'’ angry with us, pacifist or not."

Sam cleared her throat "All of this is very interesting but you still haven't answered my question."

She sighed "We have thought about it. For now it's not for us, maybe someday but it'll be because it’s what we want."

Sam nodded "Glad to hear that you aren't planning on rushing into it. Being an Integrate is nice, but it has its drawbacks."

"Like the fact that your leaders are all the bad kind of crazy."

"Among other problems, yes. On the subject of supremacists I'd like to know what you did to Dominic."

"He a friend of yours?"

She snorted "Not anymore."

Claire blinked “Alright, you’ll have to be more specific.”

“When he tried to hack you.”

“Oh that," she ate her forkful of spaghetti "not much to tell, I have a special program called Cardinal.”

“And…?” Sam asked.

She shrugged “That’s all I know.”

Sam groaned “You’re kidding.”

“Nope, the rest of the information is above my pay grade.”

At this point the rest of the table had returned to normal conversation. Claire and her father got into a discussion about RIDE maintenance. He really wanted a chance to give Mel a once over. It was strictly out of professional curiosity. Mel accepted the offer on the condition that it be performed at their house with their tools, a perfectly reasonable request.

They asked about Claire's co-workers on the task force, more half-truths. They asked about her crossrider party and the gifts she received, most were surprisingly useful. Why she had waited so long to contact them, she had been told to by her handler. What Sebastian, her handler, was like and why she even needed one. She said to keep her safe, a straight lie.

Regina wanted to know if Claire would be moving back to Nextus, no way in Hell. Then she wanted to know if Claire was planning to live in Sturmhaven like her. This earned a string of words in a language no one could identify and a small rant about idiotic feminists. When Claire had first returned to Zharus a Valkyrie had tried to force herself on him. Marshal intervention was the only thing that had prevented a fight from breaking out.

Right now they were living out of their sub. They were usually docked at the Aloha aerodome since they were working for Oz. Sam and Bobbie wanted to know more about that. Bobbie was a programmer and as always interested in learning more. Bobbie's hare and Keith's deer were both on their way back from running out to pick up dessert.

“I heard there’s a dungeon in Taft.” Sam said

“That’s right. A hundred sub-basements beneath a church, each one is a microcosm unto itself. We just made it down to the seventy-fourth yesterday.”

“It took you two months?”

“I spent sixty hours power leveling before I could start that dungeon. You could make it pretty far at your current level, but it would be time consuming.”

“Do you have any suggestions?”

“Once you find the entrance there’ll probably be some people you can party with, or you can go with me. Though, you’ll still have to find the entrance on your own.”

She groaned “I spent my sub flight over checking the side rooms and found nothing.”

“Sorry Cous, that’s the way it is. I’ll meet you there later.”

She shrugged “Alright, it’s not like I have anything better to do.”

“You could find a job.” Her mother said

Sam harrumphed. If she was looking for a job her best bet a Fuser based establishment, like a Fuser bar. She didn’t mind going back into that line of work. She might even go back to school. Online classes had a lot more appeal to her now. But it wouldn't do her any good if she just cheated her way through.

A few hours after dinner Claire was finally able to log into Oz and meet Sam in Taft. One second the room was empty, the next Claire was sitting in one the pews with Mel sprawled in the aisle. Sam had spent the entire time searching the church's remaining side rooms. She quirked an eyebrow but didn't say anything as she went back to searching. Half an hour later she sat down and leaned back against the alter, only to yelp as it slid backwards.

Sam sighed "Beneath the alter, how cliched."

"The entrance is different for everyone, but it’s always literally in the last place you look. That's why I couldn't help you find it."

"So I have to search this place every time?"

"Once you reach the first town it gives you a teleport spell. You can also use it to travel between the various floors."

They were able to start off on the fiftieth floor dungeon. Claire played as the forward guard drawing in the attention of the mobs and letting Sam get bonus xp and special items for killing them. The few times she attacked her blade would cut down groups at a time. When they reached the fifty fifth floor Claire took her to a blacksmith for new gear and upgrades. They spent the next several hours traipsing through the floor dungeons until they reached the seventy fourth floor.

By the time they got there Sam was several levels higher and had replaced most of her gear thrice over. They met up with other players along the way, several of which made no attempt to hide their Integrate status behind disguises. Sam soon joined them reveling in the new found freedom. The others shared stories about various raids, trades, duels and integrations. They made it halfway back to town before she noticed Claire and Mel were gone.

She dropped back into the real world and noticed her internal chronometer said it was close to four in the morning. They had probably logged out to go to sleep and she just hadn't been paying attention. She quietly stretched as she went down to the kitchen to get a snack. On her way back she peeked into the family room. Mel was lying awake in the middle of the room, her head resting on her paws. Claire was fast asleep on her back, half her face buried in Mel's scruff like it was a fuzzy living pillow.

As she turned to go back upstairs she heard the faintest of whimpers. She looked back and saw Claire start to twitch in her sleep as she whimpered again. Mel looked concerned as she shifted, trying to make her more comfortable without waking her up. When the whimpering continued, a part of Sam realized that she was intruding on something very 'very' private. The instant Claire began to thrash Mel fused up around her, staying on hands and knees as she interrupted whatever figment was tormenting Claire.

Sam watched as the Fuser took several deep breathes before curling up on the RIDE couch and seemingly going to sleep. She quietly returned to her room, never once noticing that the eyes of the cobra tail had been watching her the entire time. Everything about her cousin's odd behavior confirmed her theory. Something terrible had happened to Claire.

{{Separator|k}}

The first thing Sam noticed when she came down for breakfast was the twenty meter sub-orbital parked in the backyard. A quick query showed it was registered to, and owned by, Claire. She grabbed a bowl of cereal to eat as she went outside to take a closer look. When she stepped outside she could hear the voices coming from inside it.

"It's good to see you, I would've been here last night but I got caught up at the office."

"It’s okay, thanks for the crossover gift."

She laughed "I bet it got some strange looks when you opened it, but I always thought the traditional gifts were a little dumb."

As she stepped into the sub Sam recognized her older cousin Heather. The petite wolverine tagged ZPA employee was still half a head shorter than Claire. Her brown ears were almost completely hidden by her shoulder length dirty blonde hair. Sam heard the end of the comm discussion the two of them were secretly having as Heather broke the hug she had on Claire.

'':I'm sorry, if I had known where they were sending you I wouldn't have put your name up as a possible for The Ghosts.''

'':It’s okay, from what I heard I'd be dead if I had stayed with the task force.''

'':Still.''

"Heather allow me to reintroduce you to our cousin Samantha and her RIDE Maria."

Before she could blink Heather had wrapped her in a bone crushing hug. "Look at you two, all Integrated and furry!"

She returned the gesture "Thanks, what are The Ghosts?"

That wiped the smiles off their faces "Classified, and don't even try to dig up information on it. Integrate or not you won't find anything."

"Alright, alright you don't need to go biting my head off. Where are Mariko and Mel?"

"Over here." Mel called from the other room "Your Uncle was just finishing his inspection."

Bill shook his head as Mel was released from the cradle "You have an excellent chassis, looks like it could take just about anything. Like those wings, they weren't in the original design. At least not any of the drafts I’ve seen."

"I felt like I was in the wrong body. We tried a bunch of things but it wasn't until we were in Rodinia that we found an answer. They used a winged lioness as one of my bases."

He nodded recognizing the symptoms of body diaspora "Installing micro solar panels for solid state feathers, pretty clever idea."

"Glad you like, it was Claire's."

"It’s nice being on indefinite leave, lots of time to travel and just relax." Claire turned to Heather "Earlier you said there was some sort of convention I might like to go to?"

"That's right; it’s a convention for people with ASA RIDEs. Kind of like a RIDE or skimmer show, you can meet lots of people and learn more about maintenance and stuff. I thought it might do you some good to spend time with people you aren't related to."

"I do that in Oz."

She gave Sam a pleading look "You've been having nightmares."

She looked away "Maybe."

"There might be people who can help you."

"Claire," Heather put a hand on her shoulder "you're not alone anymore. If you're still having nightmares let us help you. At the very least let Mel help, she's your partner for crying out loud."

"I know that." she snapped "At least, I do intellectually. I'm trying but it’s not easy, it’s a hard
habit to break after three years."

Sam sighed "Let's make a deal. I had planned to take you shopping today, that dress is probably one of the few outfits you can actually use." Claire's blush confirmed this "So we'll go to the Con with you and, when you want to leave, we'll take you shopping for some real clothes. Deal?"

Claire groaned "Fine, you've got me backed into a corner."

Sam waved at her "And that's why I'm your favorite."

"Besides," she smirked "I could use proper pair of sweats anyway."

Now it was Sam's turn to groan as she punched Claire's shoulder. Stuart had never understood the appeal of being fashionably dressed. Ironically this had an incredible fashion sense, he could look downright amazing if he wanted to. But he would much rather run around in comfortable clothing regardless of whether or not was in style or matched.

Within an hour the five of them were on their way to the largest convention center in the polity. Artillery Support Armor was a bit of misnomer. The classification included everything from gunships and indirect fire to low orbit bombardment and sniper style direct fire units. This broad range meant they were also produced in an equal large range of sizes, mostly on the larger end of the scale. Thus they needed a convention center whenever they wanted to gather in large groups.

There were thousands of people and RIDEs packed into the center. They were even able to spot a few Integrates taking advantage of the crowd to wander around exposed to the world. They ended up meeting up with a few veterans of Nextus-Sturmhaven war. Whenever Mel was noticed she immediately became the center of attention and received everything from sympathy and comm codes to death threats.

Claire had just sat down in the food court when a hand landed on her shoulder "Excuse me ma'am," a feminine voice said "but it’s important that I speak to you."

Her tail hissed as it examined the woman behind her. She yanked her hand back in surprise, badger ears flattening. The fact that she didn't step away from Claire said she was used to getting what she wanted. Her accent marked her as belonging to the upper levels of the Nextus government.

Claire sighed "About what?" Why did Sam and Heather have to get food now.

"That RIDE belongs to you right? My superiors in the MRS want me to demand its return."

Mel growled "We're partners, we belong to each other. A few months I ago I had to send some of your co-workers packing."

She snorted "I heard about that."

"Lieutenant Colonel Steele, how nice to see you again." Heather, Fused with Mariko, walked over with a tray of food.

"D-Director, I...I didn't see you there."

"Oh course you didn't,” she sat down "I just got back with our food." she pushed out a chair "Please, sit down." It wasn't a request. "This is the second time Nextus has harassed one of my operatives. I thought I made it clear what would happen if this continued, regardless of 'who' was doing the harassing."

“I understand, but my superiors obviously don't." she pinched the bridge of her nose "This was supposed to be my weekend off, got it approved months ago. I just wanted to come here and enjoy the time with other people with ASAs. Then I got a call an hour ago and was told that facial rec placed you here and was given orders to try and convince you to hand you RIDE over to me."

"How long have you been partnered?"

She smiled tiredly "Fifteen years now, she’s a BDR(f)-ASA-014W. She ran into some of her friends who’ve already mustered put. I think this whole debacle is a sign that we should tender our resignation.”

“Any idea why your top brass is so interested in Mel?”

“Not a clue, someone in the military or one of the upper tiers might be putting them up to it. You know quid pro quo.”

Claire grunted “I ‘hate’ career politicians.”

There was a murmur of agreement “Well, I’ve bothered you enough.” Steele offered her hand and Claire shook it. “I’m going to find Cressa and get back to enjoying the convention.”

Sam showed up shortly after Steele left and they ate their late lunch. This time when Claire said she wanted to leave there were no objections. The trip had served its purpose which was to get introduce Claire to other people. A handful of the RIDEs gave Mel advice on how to help Claire deal with her night terrors.

Compared to everything that was happening at the convention shopping was uneventful. However Sam’s idea of shopping hadn’t included the half a dozen specialty stores Claire dragged them into. That aside, it was easy to find clothes for her. Convincing her to buy some of the more feminine ones was impossible. It took a while to talk her into defusing to actually try on different outfits. Her pragmatism about clothes had clearly crossed over with her.

They caught a lucky break, one of shops was run by an Integrate and Sam was able to try on real clothes for the first time in months. Claire refused to entertain anything that had frills or lace. Just about the only feminine clothes she bought were sundresses and a pair of sunhats. Everything else was t-shirts and shorts. As far as she was concerned indefinite leave was the same as retirement, just with better pay.

The entire time they were shopping Claire was doing something on the net. Sam’s fear of the mysterious Cardinal System was the only thing that prevented her from taking a closer peek. After all, just because she could look in on everything digital didn’t mean she should. Everyone was entitled to just as much privacy as she was. Then again, she could always ask.

“Claire, are you going to share the reason you’ve been on the net for the past six hours with the group?”

She was silent for a bit "Swear not tell anyone?"

"On pain of death."

"Therapy," she was blushing "you know I had a nightmare last night. The problem is I've been having them for several months now. They're less frequent now but I'm still having them. Cardinal was helping at first but now its doing more harm than good."

Heather swore "Nobody said you were given a copy of Cardinal."

"They probably didn't think it was important."

"Like Hell it isn't. Who authorized it?"

She shrugged "Romulus something or other."

Heather groaned "Romulus Mengsk?" a nod "That power hungry idiot. Cardinal is designed for rapid tactical analysis not psychiatric care. Do you at least have control over it?"

"Umm..."

Sam frowned "I'm guessing this Mengsk person didn't tell you that you could adjust it."

Claire snorted "He didn't say much of anything about it. I could probably hack it."

"Don't," Mariko said "I'll pass over the control codes so you can disable it, take an image before you adjust it."

"Hopefully Tassidar will throw him out on his ass, politics be damned."

"Um, are you sure its okay for you guys to discuss this in fornt of me?"

"Its useless to anyone else you might know."

Sam briefly thought of Fritz "I'm not sure about that."

"The Bosscat wouldn't be able to do anything useful with the information. Even if he wants Mengsk to stay in power he knows better than to try anything."

"Wait the ZPA knows about Fritz?"

"We've had contact with certain individuals who brought him to our attention. We've been...monitoring the situation ever since."

"We understand you're scared of him but he's just a person. If it came down to a fight the odds are stacked 'against' his favor."

"Easy for you to say." Sam muttered.

{{Separator|k}}

Claire, stilled Fused with Mel yawned as she woke up the next morning.They had a very productive night in OZ, lots of level grinding with Sam. The boss room had been found and its raid was currently in the early planning stages. Depending on the information the scout teams gathered they might be able to clear it within a few days. But that was just wishful thinking on her part.

With most of Cardinal disabled Claire had been able to download a lucid dreaming app for her implant and get a direct look at her subconscious. If she ever saw Mengsk again he would be subjected to a swift and unbearably painful death. That bastard had tried to use Cardinal to brainwash her into becoming his obedient little puppet.It was easy enough to fix what he had changed and Mel kept meticulous notes on what they found. It was damning enough that he would probably be locked up for the rest of his life.

For the first time since coming back Claire really felt like herself. At breakfast she had a pointless argument with her brother (she lost), pounced on Vinnie, and generally made a minor nuisance of herself. Though she didn't say anything she could feel Mel's approval of the return towards her true normalcy. She knew she could never go all the way back, too much had happened, but she could get close.

Last night they had flown to Cascadia to visit one of Keith's friends and do a little sight seeing before heading back to Aloha. It had been going great until they announced that they were going to let some of the rain through the domes. It wasn't really dangerous, more of a minor annoyance, but it did force them to cut their tour short. They were almost to the aerodome when Claire put a hand on Sam's shoulder.

'':We're being followed.''

Sam checked her sensor '':Doesn't look like it.''

'':Trust me we are, take your parents and get back to The Dawn. I, we, will handle this.''

Sam noticed the hesitation with the pronouns '':Alright.''

It took only a few minutes for them to be out of sight "You can come out now."

From under a nearby awning stepped a red panda Fuser "Corporal Mort and Private Eugene," she shook the offered hand "its a pleasure to meet you ma'am."

A fellow Ghost "Likewise, now let's get down to brass tacks. Why were you following us?"

He offered he a tablet "Emergency orders, direct from Colonel Tiger himself."

"I'm supposed to be on leave. Why didn't he just comm me?"

"He's been trying to."

Claire swore "I bet its something Mengsk imbedded in that copy of Cardinal. We're gonna have to get a full work up done on my implants."

Colonel Tiger Sauer was the founding member and commanding officer of the Ghosts. It had been he who sent her on indefinite leave, after approving her new partner. He was also an Integrate and gave every Ghost a special encryption key. There was no doubt in her or Mel's mind that he was fully aware Claire had family with her right now. If he was giving her direct orders there were no other options.

The mission was a simple extraction operation that required them to stop at the southern end of a mineral formation called the Towers. She wouldn't be required to fight anyone. All she had to do was fly in pick up the fire-team and fly them all out without attracting the attention of the local Enclave.

If Sam hadn’t been watching the entrance she would have missed Claire and Mel’s return. She could tell something was different as soon as they stepped aboard. Her parents didn’t notice Mel’s hardlight fur had become smooth armor.

“There’s been a slight change in our flight plan. Claire and I need to make a work related detour.”

“I thought everything Oz related was in Aloha.” Bobbie said.

“This is ZPA related. Need to pick up a survey team we have out in the Towers. They’re probably going to be tired. So, I want y’all to try and stay out of their way.”

“There might not be anyone for you to pick up. There’s an Enclave in the Towers and they have been known to forcibly remove tethers from RIDEs and they sometimes…encourage Integration in others.”

“Trust me the Enclave has no idea that they’re there. Its more towards the central section so they won't notice us either.”

"I don't know..."

"Sam we were able to sneak up on you and Dominic."

She winced "There's going to be a lot more than just two this time."

Claire/Mel shrugged "Two or 2000, numbers are only important if they're paying attention. Now, I'm going to grab something from my room and then we'll be off."

The trip from Cascadia to the Towers was very short. A straight line flight instead of an parabolic arc. Sam couldn't believe how fast The Dawn was Claire had done some major upgrades from its stock configuration. It was only very strict self-control that kept her from running a deep scan to find out what made her tick. That and Sam was worried that she might expose them if she did.

Claire had the loading ramp open before they even landed. Everything was still and it would have been eerily quiet if the wind stopped. They sat there for ten minutes before she kicked on her stealth and went to go talk to Claire. Except the cockpit was empty. A quick search proved both she and Mel had left The Dawn.

Throwing her worries aside she reached out and pinged Mel on the sidebands. Several seconds passed before Mel pinged her back letting her know she had met with the survey team and they were on their back. Sam walked into the back area and stood right in the entrance her sensors on full alert.

She stood there for fifteen minutes and was about to walk back in when an arm wrapped around her neck. She would've screamed if the a hand hadn't clamped over her mouth. She was quickly dragged backwards into the main cargo area as the ramp closed sealing up the ship.

A man's voice growled in her ear "If I where an enemy you'd be dead." she was released "Come on Probie, Mike and Aug need help with Mosley."

Mosley turned out to be a wounded Bandicoot Integrate being tapped on cheek by a Wombat Fuser "Come on Mosley stay with us!"

She caught the wrist before it could tap against her cheek again "Hit me again and I'll break your wrists."

The Fuser gave a sigh "Thank God you're alright. Ajax, Probie, give me a hand getting her to kitchen."

Ajax turned out to be an LSA black lab Fuser. When Sam made no move to follow he grabbed her wrist and dragged her forward. With a combination of lifter control and hand support they got Mosley settled on the kitchen table. Ajax opened a cabinet and gave a spare sarium battery to Mosley. Why had he called Sam been Probie?

"Where's Claire?" Sam asked, the quiet hum of the lifters answered her question.

"The LT is making sure we get out of here in one piece." Mosely answered "I know we asked for emergency evac but I didn't think they'd send the Ace of Aces herself." she looked over at Sam "Probie, front and center. I thought I knew every female Ghost and recruit we have."

Claire's voice came over their comms' '': Neither, she's my cousin.''

"That explains her lack of reflexes." Ajax said.

"I'm standing right here you know."

'':Where are y'all going to stay when we get to Aloha?'' Mel asked.

'':No idea. We were supposed to be out here for another week.''

"Um you guys can stay at my house." They looked at her. "Well its technically my parents house. But we've got plenty of room for guests."

"You'll have to run it by them first and I don’t think there is anyway they’ll let us stay for a week."

It was the second night after they arrived in Aloha. Ajax (Andrew and his RIDE Jackson), Mosley, Mike and Aug had spent the first day busily preparing their reports and getting some much needed rest. They had most of the day in Oz being brought up to speed on the raid strategy and gathering supplies. They had already spent most of the night out on the town, slowly going from bars up to clubs with Claire getting progressively drunker, probably because she was lounging on Mel’s back when they traveled, her hair now shoulder length.

“I had no idea Claire was a happy drunk.”

“Let’s just hope she stays that way.” Ajax said.

“What do you mean?”

“Pray that you never have to find out.” Mosley muttered as Claire babbled to Mel.

“What language is she speaking anyway?”

“No idea, she must have picked it up on her last assignment.” Aug said

Sam shook her head "We have about two hours till the bars close up for the night, any suggestions."

"Loch Ness, its on 32nd Street." Claire giggled as she motioned its general direction.

Mosley patted her head "No more for you."

Loch Ness turned out to be a rather upscale bar staffed only by marine Fusers. They grabbed seats at the bar proper, Claire half slumping over in hers. The place was surprisingly full for its location and the time of night. They were on their second round of drinks when a musk-ox Fuser walked over and started talking to Claire.

"What's cookin good lookin?" Sam frowned at his Cape Nord accent. "How about I buy you a drink."

Claire giggled "Sure, Edradour on the rocks."

What was she doing? She had agreed she wouldn't have another drink and why was Ajax smirking? Sam looked at the others. Mosley looked resigned while Mike and Aug just looked confused. Clearly the three of them were missing something. Claire's Scotch sat there for a minute before the Fuser said anything.

"Well aren't you going to drink it?"

"Nope, Mosley said no more for me so no more will I drink." she grinned.

He spluttered "But you said I could buy you a drink!"

"And you did, you didn't ask if I could drink it, which I can't." she shrugged.

He frowned "Well, then why don't we go somewhere else and you can have a drink there."

"She said no more so it doesn't matter where. I can't drink any."

"Then how about I take you over to my place. I got a nice hotel room just down the street." He gave her a winning smile.

Claire let out a laugh and patted him on the cheek "You are just to cute, but I'm not that kind of crossrider."She winked at Mosley.

"Then your friend can come to." his grin widened "How about it?"

"Mm, no."

"Aw come on it'll be fun."

Mike/Aug grabbed his arm as he tried drape it around her shoulders "Dude, she said no.

"Stay outta this." The man sneered, jerking his arm free and spilling Claire's Scotch.

Sam blinked and almost missed it. There was a massive crash as Claire slammed the Fuser face first into the bar. They all heard the crunch of metal as his muzzle deformed. He stumbled backwards as Claire stood up. Gone was the happily giggling drunk from a fraction of a second ago.

The man took a swing at her and she just seemed to slide out of the way. He swung again and she slipped around behind him grabbing his tail and yanking him into a spin towards the front. Mosley pinched the bridge of her nose while Ajax was laughing so hard he had fallen out of his seat. She slipped past his strikes again and again before counter attacking. This time Sam missed it because of Mel, but she still heard the rending crash as the man broke through the wall and landed in the street.

Before Claire could take another step she was engulfed by Mel. She put her hands over her heart, eyes closed, as she took deep breaths. Sam could hear the blaring of police sirens as the APD showed up.

{{series bar
|series=Ghost's of Zharus
|previous=None
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[[Category:Story]][[Category:Chimera]][[Category:Transgender]][[Category:Bear]][[Category:Anthropomorphic]][[Category:Dog]] [[Category:FreeRIDErs]] [[Category:Oddoneout]]

User:Oddoneout/Ghosts: The Return

2014-02-06T11:38:03Z

Oddoneout: adding a missing word.

{{title
|name=Ghosts: The Return
|author=Oddoneout
|user=Oddoneout}}

Sam couldn't believe it she was going to be late for the rendezvous. She couldn't help it that she lost track of time whenever she started navel gazing. Three months ago the young human woman named Samantha Maiuri had integrated with her Malti-Poo RIDE becoming a single techno-organic being. It was only a few hours later that she was snatched up and taken to an Enclave at the edge of the Dry Ocean. For her it was horrible, she wanted to go back to Aloha, top her friends and family. But she wouldn't, she didn't think they would all be able to accept what she had become. So she stayed away from them and slowly began to accept the idea that she was better off that way, after all they were just mech and meat. Now that she was away she was free to fully indulge her guilty pressure of playing MMORPGs.

Which is exactly what she was doing. She crested another hill as the grass have way to stone and the sky grew cloudy, ahead of her the Tower of Dusk reached high into the air. Oz was a fairly new MMO whose servers where run and maintained by a group of Integrates living in Aloha. They were 'very' strict about not letting people use their Intie powers to tip the game in their favor. The game was in a high fantasy setting with a special set of mechanics and to allow for mech and meat to play as a fusing pair. They could be separate when they needed or wanted to be but fusing provided its own advantages and disadvantages.

To everyone in the game Sam appeared as a black furred Malti-poo Fuser dressed in an ornate white and gold robe. Last month she had found a good group of fellow Intie players and joined their clan. Today was important because it was her first true raid boss. She was ecstatic and very glad she had put in the extra time to learn some decent offensive spells. As she jumped to clear a trench she caught sight of a RIDE and its partner before she was yanked downward into the trench.

"Slow down Sam. Let the mechie get beaten, then we'll have our run." The speaker was a heavily armored grizzly bear Integrate in Fuser disguise with a massive sword strapped to his back.

"Dominic's right," a hyena rouge spoke up "this should be good for a laugh if nothing else. It's practically impossible for an Intie to solo The Bone Hoard. There's no way a mechie can manage it even if they were fused."

"Especially with how they've got their settings done." another member spoke up drawing everyone's attention" They have their system assist and feedback canceler's turned off."

"How can anyone play like that? Even we have to use the system assist and without the canceler on things feel a little too real for most people to be comfortable."

"I had a cousin who played MMOs like that," Sam said "but he disappeared years ago."

Dominic asked the obvious question "Did he Integrate?"

She shook her head "I don't think so. He got a government job and we heard from him regularly for a few months. His last message said something about a new assignment, then nothing."

"Have you tried hacking?"

She nodded "His personnel file is there but it’s all dead ends."

He frowned "I'll put out some requests; someone has to know more about what happened to him."

A rattling announced the awakening of The Bone Hoard. The powerful raid boss burst from the ground, a giant serpentine skeleton one hundred meters long with dozens of pairs of legs and a wicked set of pincers. Red light shone from the empty sockets of its triangular head. Equally massive horns adorned its head. The HUD displayed five health bars and with her scanning skill Sam should have been able to see its level. Instead all she saw was a skull, anyone trying to fight it alone would spend more money than they would make, assuming they managed to kill it.

The person was instantly in motion covering the distance to the boss in a matter of seconds. One of its pincers shot forward only to be knocked aside and quickly severed by a plain looking black broadsword. He kept moving and severed the remaining pincer taking out the boss's main weapons and a portion of its first health bar in the process. The Bone Hoard's AI refused to let it settle into a pattern as it constantly adapted. Normally this would give it an enormous advantage, even against raid groups, but ultimately it's ability was rendered useless by one thing, speed. The solo player had been fast to begin with and only got faster as the battle moved into its second minute.

"Look at the HP," Dominic said "Do you see it?"

Sam nodded "Whenever he dodges he uses his free hand for some kind of unarmed DOT counterattack."

In the space of three minutes The Bone Hoard's HP had been cut down to only one and a half bars. It lashed out with one of its remaining legs throwing the swordsman off balance, disarming him with a quick follow up. He jumped away, he had to be fleeing either to rearm or to give up. He did neither, with a shout he charged straight at its head ducking under as it thrust forward in an attempt to swallow him. His right hand shot up and struck the bone plate under its mouth and The Bone Hoard shattered into glittering iridescent blue dust, killed by a single unFused and unassisted player in just over four minutes.

He slouched as he shook out his wrists. His RIDE retrieved the fallen sword. They seemed...subdued, disappointed, like things hadn't gone the way they were hoping. Dominic, as be fitting his status as raid leader, was the first to recover from the shock they had all received. He clambered out of the trench running towards and hailing the mystery duo. Sam followed after him a moment later.

"That was amazing! I've only ever heard of people soloing The Bone Hoard and they didn't do nearly as well as you just did." All true but why was he kissing up to mechie?

Now that Sam was closer she could see their mystery man was actually a mystery woman. She stood about a meter and a half tall. Her white blonde hair was in short pixie cut. The woman's broadsword was indeed the black color Sam had originally thought it was. Her RIDE tags were very unusual. She had a feline nose, the rounded ears of a lion, white fur, goat horns and a black cobra for a tail. Sam shuddered as both pairs of green eyes turned to look at her.

The woman's RIDE was easily the most bizarre mythical Sam had ever seen. She was easily the size of a large horse, marking her as a Heavy class RIDE. Her she had the body and head of a lion with the horns of a goat. Her white fur was the same as her partner's and her black cobra tail was staring intently at Dominic. A large pair of dark iridescent blue bird wings completed her appearance.

Finally the woman sighed "I was nine point three seconds off."

Her ride giggled “Aren’t you the one who’s always saying that it’s just a game Claire?”

Claire frowned “I know but the benchmark gives us a place to start looking.” She gestured and several windows appeared “The more important question is why y’all are here. This area is supposed to be closed off for maintenance. There was a game wide announcement yesterday.”

Dominic stiffened “Um, none of us were on yesterday.”

“They sent out a memo to everyone just in case, you should have gotten it as soon as you logged in.”

“We were all busy prepping for this raid. When I got on I came straight here, didn’t have time to check my messages and since you said this area is closed what are you doing here?”

“Obviously we’re here to perform the maintenance.” Her RIDE deadpanned

“Thank you Mel. Now, I’m going to need your player IDs.”

“So you can ban us?”

She laughed “I could ban you even without them but it’s not my job. I’ll pass the info on to one of the other GMs, they might have given y’all open access to this area. If they didn’t and think you need to be banned they’ll contact you so you can appeal your case.”

“Oh so it’s just that you’re lazy?”

“Yup, now that I can afford to be lazy I’ve gotten to the point where enabling God Mode is too much of a hassle. Easier just to go without and fight my way through. That’s also why I don’t use the assist and have the canceler disabled.” She frowned “But y’all already knew that didn’t you.”

Sam was suddenly nervous. Claire was clearly skilled IRL, how else could she beat a raid boss alone, and she somehow knew they had peeked at her settings. On top of that she was a GM and, Intie or not, could insta-ban them on a whim. Sam had read the message she was talking about and just assumed it was wrong or meant for non-Inties, in hindsight she realized she had just been fooling herself. She liked to think that she didn’t buy into the whole Integrates Ascendant thing at all. But seeing a human deftly manage what would be an extreme and time consuming challenge in mere minutes and then subtly hint that she ''knew'' exactly what they were. Half a dozen members of the raid team suddenly disconnected and Claire shook her head.

“Apparently you people buy into your own press ''way'' too much.” Mel said

“What did you do?” Dominic asked

“It’s not what we did but what they tried to do. Which was hack us. Claire and I have had extensive time to prep for a variety of things, one of the perks of having a forward thinking boss. As such we can easily shut you out when you try and hack us.”

“Hey boss, let’s just give them our IDs and go. No need to start a fight.” The speaker was a burgundy Allosaurus.

“You scared of mech and meat, Durendal?”

“When the flesh alone can kick that much ass? Hell yeah, I’m scared out of my scales right now. Besides Mel's right, this is just a game and it’s supposed to be for fun.” There was a quiet round of agreement “If the other GMs are willing to trust these two then we should too. Since they got the job they must be exceptionally skilled.”

Olivia quirked a smile as she received several data packets “Roland Durendal, you named yourself after the paladin and his sword from the Matter of France?”

He shrugged “I used to study medieval literature as a hobby.”

“Claire,” Mel said “I’ve just finished submitting our report.”

She nodded “Good, unfortunately this is where we all part ways. To everyone who has transmitted their data, thank you for your cooperation. We’ll do our best to make sure you don’t get banned because of your raid leader. Please, direct any further questions to this com code.”

As the two logged out Sam came to a decision, she needed to move out of her Enclave and get away from the supremacy ideas that governed it. Another mage used a group teleport spell to bring them all back to a safe zone so they could all log out. When she opened her eyes in the real world Sam came to a second decision. Rather than another Enclave she would go back to her family, everyone had seen the now famous reunion footage of the Munn family with its long absent Integrate members. So for the first time in months she accessed her lifetime mailbox.

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Claire Olivia Maiuri groaned as she got up from her cot and stretched after her marathon play session. Across the room Mel yawned as she carefully did the same, mindful of her wings. Their home was the cargo area of The Forward Unto Dawn. The D82-EST Darter was a single deck twenty meter sub-orbital when she returned to Zharus proper just over three months ago. After five hard years her mission had finally ended and she had come home to Zharus.

At the time he had been Stuart Miles Maiuri, a person he no longer wanted to be. Luckily his bonus and hazard pay had made him a small fortune. If he was careful he would never have to work again. Because his dad had worked for Nextux RIDEWorks all his life, the first thing he decided to do was find a RIDE partner.

His post mission handler had suggested he try a small dealership in Nuevo San Antonio. He spent most of the day talking to the occasional RIDE who caught his attention. He had spent most of the day looking when he the owner said he wanted to introduce him to someone. In the back area was a RIDE named Melody, Mel for short.

She was an experimental unit, a Nextus RIDEWorks CMA(f)-ASA-001. The last of the half dozen produced and the only one who's RI had survived the program's termination. The original idea had been a variation on the one introduced by the Sturmhaven WLF-CSA-01As. A secondary RI core in the tail that would manage an extra sensor suite, long range communications, and point defense. The idea was for it to free up extra processing power to allow more accurate targeting and deliver artillery strikes from an unparallelled range. Unfortunately it ran into some of the same problems as the CSAs, the RIs wouldn't link.

In the end the secondary core idea had been scrapped when they succeed in producing a single RI core capable of doing the entire work load. That RI was Mel. The higher ups had been pleased with the results but not enough to overlook the price tag. Between the parts they needed and increased cost for the specialized RI core, it was less than a month after her First Boot that the project was scrapped.

She had honestly expect to have her core destroyed like her predecessors, luckily the RIDEWorks still "owned" her core, DE and weapons package. Rather than let Nextus destroy her, she had been discreetly sold her to their friend who owned the dealership. She had spent her weeks worrying about what would happen to her if Nextus found her. The owner introduced them and after an hour Mel and Stuart had begun discussing where they would live. She had made the suggestion that they get a sub-orbital as a starting point in case they had to run. After all, Nexts had been known to go to lengths to recover things, even if it never belonging to them.

As far as ASA's went she was on the smaller end of the spectrum, in Walker mode she stood at just over two meters and was half a meter taller in Fuser mode. The empty space in her tail's cobra head was retooled to house an extra set of sarium batteries. Her ASA chassis came equipped with two retractable plasma cannons and a particle beam cannon in her mouth.

They had just finished loading up their new D82-EST Darter when Nextus Material Recovery Service showed up to try. Stuart tried to talk them down and provided ample proof that he, and the dealership before him, had legal ownership over Mel and the weapons. When they refused to back down he sent a few messages and started stalling. It didn't take long for him to get a response.

The MRS Officers apologized for their mistake and attempted to make a ''very'' quick exit, promising that it would ''never'' happen again. Claire wouldn’t let them off that easily. She swore to them that if it ''did'' their boss would in serious trouble. Stuart had been employed by the Zharus Planetary Authority to conduct espionage, on Earth.

It was supposed to be a five year mission, seven counting travel, and everything had gone wrong from the first day off the boat. His cover had nearly been blown and it was only quick thinking and a quicker kill that had saved his life. He spent the next three years gathering Intel and practically living underground. After three years they were finally able to extract him. He spent a week being debriefed before they put him on indefinite leave and gave him a nice fat bonus. He had also been given a set of direct comm codes and told that if he needed anything to reach out to them.

Once cleared, she had upgraded her special military cortical implant with quibitite. If she was in trouble she wanted to have the best chance of coming out on top. They spent almost a month traveling around Zharus. When they had been out in the Dry Ocean they ran into a group of Integrates who were looking to hire a temporary GM in their game, Oz.

It was an easy job. Mel and Claire were told to do their best to break everything in game and send their observations on to the Dev Team. Claire began checking her email and flagged several things for her implant to draft responses to before reading one from Sebastian, her ZPA handler. After five years and two months she would finally be able to see her family again. She sent out a flurry of emails letting everyone know she was in Aloha and would be flying to Nextus to see everyone at their family compound.

"Mel, I can finally introduce you to my family."

She perked up "I'll file a flight plan with ATC."

Claire stripped out of her underwear and went to take a shower while her implant began running the pre-flight checks. Everything checked out as she finished her shower, replies coming in as began to dry off. She sighed as she looked through her rather limited wardrobe. She ruled out her beloved combat gear, too many questions. After sorting through her crossover gifts she settled on a yellow sun dress Sebastian had sent her. His note had said she needed something she could 'actually' use instead of the usual gag gifts.

'':Mel, we need something for you to wear. As much fun as it would be to show up in a metal bikini, I don't think my family would like it.''

'':Can it be black? I was thinking of a nice sweater skirt combo.''

'':Sure, it'll match your tail.''

As they fused up Mel felt Claire's nervousness and did her best to comfort her. She reabsorbed the metal-kini anatomically correct RIDEs often wore for decency. Some of her hardlight winked out then came back up projecting her outfit of choice. She had chosen a knee length skirt and loose sleeved sweater complimenting her form and drawing attention up to her face and away from her chest. They stopped in the small kitchen and made a quick lunch of last night's take out before the lifters warmed up.

They sat down in the cockpit as they received a message from ATC approving them for departure. At twenty meters long the D82-EST Darter was a small transport craft. It had a lifting body design and top of the line heat shielding ensuring it could land without the use of its lifters. They had split the cargo area in half, turning the forward section into their living quarters/maintenance area with a bathroom and kitchen.

They taxied out of their hangar and into the civilian departure zone. No one would suspect that their modest little black and white craft was fully stealth capable…or armed. Claire had spared no expense in overhauling their home. The end result had been a ten percent increase in mobility and enough offensive power to take out a large military sub. Sebastian made sure what they were doing was within the letter of the law.

They dropped into virtual for a time compressed lesson as they waited their turn for takeoff. They walked through the basic stances of Claire’s duel sword style. She was critiquing her foot work on the first set of intermediate forms when they had to stop. They quickly began to pick up speed as the lifters’ output increased and the hardlight aero shielding adjusted for maximum speed and lift. The surface fell away beneath them as the sky gradually changed from iridescent blue to a star studded black.

[[File:Separator_k.png]]

Even at top speed, Sam had a long flight to the Aloha aerodrome but it gave her plenty of time to check the outgoing flights. Finally she found one that she could slip onto unnoticed. She slipped into the lobby and boarded the high speed sub. She settled into her seat to wait. She had gotten a surprise when she checked her mail.

Her cousin Stuart had finally turned up and was flying out to Nextus from Aloha. She had already checked and couldn’t find his name on any of the passenger manifests. She had waited five years. She could wait a few more hours. Without a second thought she logged back into Oz.

She had a message from Dominic waiting for her. She read it a few times before deleting it and removing herself from the guild. Now that she realized her emerging bigotry she was going to work hard to get rid of it. Her next order of business was getting to Taft where new players arrived fresh from the tutorial. She had heard rumor of a dungeon hidden beneath the town.

She made her way to the western part of town and stopped at a player owned shop to sell her guild gear. Most of the uniform was inferior to what she had been using before. She smoothed out her red robe and settled its armored plates into place as she re-equipped. Her old Hound Saber was a welcome change from the stereotypical mage staff she had been using for two weeks. The bonuses to her spell were less because of the change but she preferred being a red mage anyway.

She made her way to a massive cathedral. If the rumors were true the entrance to the bonus dungeon was hidden somewhere inside. As soon as she stepped inside she realized that just finding the entrance would be a chore. You could have easily fit a Starmaster into the main worship area. She started by checking the dozens of side rooms for anything odd.

There were a lot more than she thought. It took her the entire flight to thoroughly check half of the side rooms. She sighed as stood up on the sub. If the bonus dungeon did exist the GMs were keeping information about the entrance tightly controlled. It was probably filled with exclusive gear unobtainable anywhere else. Once outside the aerodrome she lifted into the Fuser/scooter traffic lanes and headed for her family's compound on the southern end of city. Sam was ten and a half kilometers away when she got a nasty shock when a familiar grizzly Fuser flew up next to her.

"Sam it’s nice too finally meet you IRL." Dominic said

She stiffened "How did you know?"

He smirked "I didn't. I noticed you decided to leave the guild."

"You said I could leave whenever I wanted. ''You'' said that neither mech nor meat could beat us but that GM this morning, she opened my eyes.” She shook her head “In some ways we are better than meat, but they have us beat in other areas.”

He snorted “Here in the real world they’re nothing compared to us.”

She stopped “Get bent Dominic. I don’t want anything to do with people like you anymore."

He sputtered "I'm trying to help you!" he grabbed her wrist "We are the next step in human evolution. You don't need mech or meat for anything!"

"Let go." a pulse gun formed on her wrist "I'm not afraid to shoot you."

He laughed "Both of your halves were civvie." he whispered "I'm ex-military; your little pop guns won't scratch me."

"How about mine?" a woman's voice asked

A feline hand landed on his head and he heard the whine of charging capacitors. How had she snuck up on him? He instinctively reached out to hack them and had to bite down on his tongue to keep from screaming. He felt thousands of tiny burning bites all over his body before his DIN burnt out. Even without it the sensations persisted and he had to concentrate just to maintain his disguise.

"Ah, you're one of ''those'' people. Too bad your little tricks are less than worthless against us." The speaker was a two and a half meters chimera Fuser. "Now, you can let her go or I can cut you in half."

Dominic felt a chill down his spine. These two were extremely dangerous. The fact that they had snuck up on, not just one but, two Integrates was proof of that. Their tone of voice was casual, like they had all been discussing the weather. His military instincts were screaming at him to run. But his pride as an Integrate wouldn't let him.

"I'm not scared of meat!"

She sighed "Wrong answer."

She lifted her hand and tapped two fingers against his hardlight. His systems suddenly started blaring half a dozen different warnings at him. What had they just done to him?

"Here's a little physics lesson for you. ''Everything'' has a frequency where it will resonate. Under certain conditions it can cause things to build up energy till they literally shake themselves apart. That's what’s happening to your hardlight emitters right now. They’ll fail sometime within the next ten minutes. I suggest that you get as far from Nextus as possible before they do."

They had him backed into a corner. “This isn’t over meat!” He vanished and ignoring how the chimera’s black tail tracked his progress as he flew. He had been completely humiliated. Somehow he would get back that damn mechie.

Sam took the opportunity become invisible and leave as well. She still had ten klicks left to get to the family compound. She quickly covered the remaining distance and landed on the lawn in front of the main house. Her aunts, uncles, cousins, and her mother’s parents were milling about. Her cousin Joseph and Dexter, his coyote RIDE, were talking to her parents. Everyone stopped when she revealed herself.

“Sam? Maria?” her mother asked

Sam nodded “We…I, go by Sam, but yes. It’s me, I’m back.”

She was engulfed by her family. She was given so many hugs and asked so many questions. She had trouble keeping up for a second. She sent the details over to everyone’s RIDEs. After a few minutes of time compressed sharing everyone was caught up.

“So, where’s Stuart?” there was ping on Sam’s sensors

She turned around. Standing several meters behind her was the same chimera Fuser from earlier. She was wearing a loose black sweater and matching knee length skirt. Her wings gave a nervous twitch, like she was trying not to run away. It took a few seconds but RIDE and rider finally seemed to come to an agreement.

The Fuser slowly split open and a young woman in a yellow sun dress stepped onto the lawn. Her white blonde hair was in a pixie cut. She had feline ears, swiveling at every sound and matching nose was twitching at every smell. She nervously thumbed the end of one of her goat horns while her black cobra headed tail curled around in front of her.

She hesitated before saying “Tadaima.”

Sam stared at her in disbelief. She used time compression to replay everything a dozen times to make sure she reached the right conclusion. Since her family lived and breathed crazy it made perfect sense. After all only one person in their family would use Japanese. Claire was her cousin Stuart.

Only one way to be sure "Stuart?"

She grinned nervously "Hey," she sniffed and her eyes widened "Sam you integrated? Last time we spoke you refused to even think about getting a RIDE."

Now it was turn Sam to smile "A lot can happen in five years. Why don't we all go inside?"

"No," Sam's Aunt Cathy, the youngest daughter, spoke up "You can't be Stuart. You can't be my son."

"Cathy." her husband warned

"No Bill, I don't want to hear it! There is no way that woman can be our son!"

"Before I left I got you a sterling silver bracelet. The note I put on it said that no matter what I put you though I wanted you to know how much I loved you."

"This bitch has probably been spying on us." Aunt Gina said "I'll bet she's here to try and scam us."

What little confidence Claire seemed to have built up disappeared. “This was a mistake.” She said as tears began welling up in her eyes before she fused with Mel. Sam and Joseph recovered first. Dexter quickly fusing with his partner.

'':Sam, I believe her. Only my brother, sister, would know that. Aunt Gina is just being a spiteful bitch.''

'':Normally she would lash out and bite right back. Do you think there's something wrong with her?''

'':Maybe, we’re lucky her RIDE wants her to stay.''

'':Yeah, it looks like Mel is trying to calm her down. You guys are with the Marshal right?''

'':We’re Diamond Stars, why?''

'':Can you find out what kind of RIDE Mel is?’’

'':One step ahead of ya. I sent out an inquiry when we saw her enter the property and Dexter just got a match.''

Sam paled '':CMA(f)-ASA-001, skimmer mode is a high speed flier.''

'':I’ve read the report about them, project canceled due to quote unquote budget issues. I hope she isn’t still combat capable.''

'':She is. The only thing she’s missing is her hand carried weapon.''

'':Then let’s count that as a blessing.''

Behind them Gina had continued to spout increasingly caustic and illogical words. At last her Aunt Cathy seemed to remember ''who'' was talking and ignoring her. Everything was starting to fall apart. What should have been a happy family reunion was turning into a feud. As they finally got close enough Mel there was a smack from back on the porch.

“Regina, be quiet.” Geosaffati said to his third daughter.

Geosaffati J. Maiuri Junior, Pawpaw to his friends and family, stepped down from the front porch. The family patriarch eyed his assembled children and grandchildren, eyes settling on Joseph/Dexter, Sam and Claire/Mel. At just over 100 he had seen more than his fair share of fighting, first on Earth and then during the Sturmhaven Nextus War. On Earth, his skills hheld a high level management position and made a fortune in investments.

He was a big broad shouldered man who worked hard to maintain his physical health. What little hair he had left on his head was wispy gray and going white. White furred simian ears twitched atop his head as his tail lashed behind him. Even with his face marred by a frown you could still see the lines etched into it from years of laughing. Behind him stood his RIDE, MKY(m)-LMA-009L, Vinnie.

“Welcome home.”

Claire blinked as she felt a pair of strong arms wrapped around her. She hesitated before she gently reached out and hugged her grandfather. When they separated she took a few deep breaths. She could do this. She ‘’had’’ to do this. After a few seconds they broke part.

“Thanks Pawpaw. Mel, you can let me go now.”

“Aw, does this mean I can’t keep you?” she teased before they defused.

Claire and Mel had obviously spent a lot of time fused. Her nails had begun to narrow and were curved to a slight point. She had the slight beginnings of a muzzle, complete with short whiskers. She even had a slightly feline tongue and her canines were definitely getting longer. The real kicker was the fine layer of white fur that had recently started to cover her; most people missed it because it blended seamlessly with her skin tone.

“We keep each other. We’re partners, equals, and don’t let anyone try and tell you otherwise.”

“I’m glad you found such a good match.” Joseph said “Now let’s go inside. I’m sure y’all have quite the story to tell about working for the Zharus Planetary Authority.”

[[File:Separator_k.png]]

It had taken about an hour for Claire to finish telling her family about her job helping to bust a smuggling ring. That was the cover story she had been given. It would be in all the official records. It was also partially true. She was originally assigned to the Contraband Task force.

"You were on the Contraband Task force? Stu...Claire, that's impressive." Cathy said

"They wanted my eye for detail. You know better than anyone just how good I am at hiding in plain sight." Also true and she had been reassigned.

"So they wanted you to act as an observer?" Dexter asked

"Yeah." Also true.

"Then why have you changed so much? Everything I know about you shows that you were a lot more energetic. It's like you're a completely different person. What happened?" Claire looked away.

Joseph sighed "Sis, we're just trying to help. We can't do that if you won't let us."

Mel sheltered her with a wing "Its okay. Why don't we stay here tonight, hmm?"

"You'll have sleep in the family room. You're old room's been turned into an expansion of the workshop." Vinnie said

Mel started licking her ears "Come on Claire! You can't lie to me. We both want to!"

"Alright. Alright!" she said as she laughed "We can sleep here tonight! No more kitty bath! It tickles!"

"''That's'' why I do it." she said and gave one more sloppy lick "It was more fun when you had long hair."

"Maybe for you."

Mel smiled "I know for a 'fact' one of your favorite pictures is the aftermath of the first tongue bath."

Claire blushed as she slid out from under the wing "Tha-that's because it was the first one! It was a special event."

"Is that why you're grinning like an idiot?"

"I'm not like an idiot."

"Oh? Let me guess you ''are'' an idiot." Mel narrowed her eyes as she got off the RIDE couch.

"Damn right I am." She crossed her arms.

There was a full minute of silence "Well," Bill said "it’s nice to see you acting like yourself again."

Claire blinked and went red, brushing a hand along her right horn. Mel purred as she rubbed up against her. Sam watched all of this from the kitchen as she helped Pawpaw finish preparing dinner. Spaghetti with a three meat sauce, his specialty dish and a family favorite. Mentally, her Maria half was fully expressing itself by worrying over her cousin's biometrics.

"There's something wrong with her." Pawpaw said "Vinnie said her biometrics are wonky. So I know you can see it to."

Sam sighed "Maria thinks so too. I would've missed it if she hadn't split off to point it out."

He nodded "How is she?"

Sam frowned "That's part of the problem. We can't tell."

He chuckled "Not Claire, Maria. I don't know how Integration works but I know she's forever part of you now."

"Oh," she flushed at her blunder "never better, but she still wants a proper weapon. I've read some stuff about how it 'might' be possible to get one. But if get caught or something goes wrong I'd be in really deep trouble."

"Fritz, right?"

"How did you know?"

He smiled "Dear, I know people and he ''isn't'' as omnipotent as he wants everyone to believe. Besides that, there are other people you could ask for help. Especially if you're going back to live with your folks in Aloha. I know the Marshals have hired a lot of Integrates so you might be able to ask Joseph for some comm codes." he stepped into the doorway “Alright everyone time to eat.”

There is only one word that can be used to describe dinner with the Maiuri family, loud. Of the seventeen people, Joseph and Michael were the only two louder than the assembled mothers. It may have been louder than Claire liked but its familiarity was a welcome comfort. She noticed that Sam deliberately sat next to her. The paranoid part of her thought it was a statement about how she was probably going to be the next one to ‘ascend’.

"So Cous, I noticed you have some heavy fuse signs."

"Mel is a lot of RIDE for someone to handle."

“So…have you two considered…Integrating?” Sam asked.

Mel groaned from the other room “You know Claire ''killed'' the last person who asked us that right?”

“I only did that because she was trying to force it onto us. Besides we both know he probably survived.”

“Not for lack of trying on your part.”

She put her elbow on the table and rested her chin on her hand “If he had held still for another half a second I could’ve destroyed his brain and…what?” The table had gone silent “It was self-defense.”

“Based on the intel we have now I think ''pest control'' is a better term."

Sam couldn’t keep the disbelief out of her voice “Back up, you two walked away from a fanatic without being Integrated, how?”

“By frying his DIN port, shelling him from fifteen hundred kilometers and destroying sixty-seven percent of his body mass.” At Sam's incredulous look she shrugged and started twirling her loaded fork between her fingers "You asked."

Sam stared at the fork. "All things considered you are an excellent shot, but I recommend sticking to CQC." Mel said

She had seen before, it was a nervous habit. "So we should practice by taking pot shots at the Rodinian Nature Preserve? Aim for the deadest looking trees?"

Replace the fork with a knife. "Rohit would be pissed when she found out."

Claire had been telling half-truths "You mean if."

She was supposed to be on the task force but had done something else instead. "No, I mean ''when''. Someone will notice and she would be able to trace it back to us. I'd rather not have ‘'her'’ angry with us, pacifist or not."

Sam cleared her throat "All of this is very interesting but you still haven't answered my question."

She sighed "We have thought about it. For now it's not for us, maybe someday but it'll be because it’s what we want."

Sam nodded "Glad to hear that you aren't planning on rushing into it. Being an Integrate is nice, but it has its drawbacks."

"Like the fact that your leaders are all the bad kind of crazy."

"Among other problems, yes. On the subject of supremacists I'd like to know what you did to Dominic."

"He a friend of yours?"

She snorted "Not anymore."

Claire blinked “Alright, you’ll have to be more specific.”

“When he tried to hack you.”

“Oh that," she ate her forkful of spaghetti "not much to tell, I have a special program called Cardinal.”

“And…?” Sam asked.

She shrugged “That’s all I know.”

Sam groaned “You’re kidding.”

“Nope, the rest of the information is above my pay grade.”

At this point the rest of the table had returned to normal conversation. Claire and her father got into a discussion about RIDE maintenance. He really wanted a chance to give Mel a once over. It was strictly out of professional curiosity. Mel accepted the offer on the condition that it be performed at their house with their tools, a perfectly reasonable request.

They asked about Claire's co-workers on the task force, more half-truths. They asked about her crossrider party and the gifts she received, most were surprisingly useful. Why she had waited so long to contact them, she had been told to by her handler. What Sebastian, her handler, was like and why she even needed one. She said to keep her safe, a straight lie.

Regina wanted to know if Claire would be moving back to Nextus, no way in Hell. Then she wanted to know if Claire was planning to live in Sturmhaven like her. This earned a string of words in a language no one could identify and a small rant about idiotic feminists. When Claire had first returned to Zharus a Valkyrie had tried to force herself on him. Marshal intervention was the only thing that had prevented a fight from breaking out.

Right now they were living out of their sub. They were usually docked at the Aloha aerodome since they were working for Oz. Sam and Bobbie wanted to know more about that. Bobbie was a programmer and as always interested in learning more. Bobbie's hare and Keith's deer were both on their way back from running out to pick up dessert.

“I heard there’s a dungeon in Taft.” Sam said

“That’s right. A hundred sub-basements beneath a church, each one is a microcosm unto itself. We just made it down to the seventy-fourth yesterday.”

“It took you two months?”

“I spent sixty hours power leveling before I could start that dungeon. You could make it pretty far at your current level, but it would be time consuming.”

“Do you have any suggestions?”

“Once you find the entrance there’ll probably be some people you can party with, or you can go with me. Though, you’ll still have to find the entrance on your own.”

She groaned “I spent my sub flight over checking the side rooms and found nothing.”

“Sorry Cous, that’s the way it is. I’ll meet you there later.”

She shrugged “Alright, it’s not like I have anything better to do.”

“You could find a job.” Her mother said

Sam harrumphed. If she was looking for a job her best bet a Fuser based establishment, like a Fuser bar. She didn’t mind going back into that line of work. She might even go back to school. Online classes had a lot more appeal to her now. But it wouldn't do her any good if she just cheated her way through.

A few hours after dinner Claire was finally able to log into Oz and meet Sam in Taft. One second the room was empty, the next Claire was sitting in one the pews with Mel sprawled in the aisle. Sam had spent the entire time searching the church's remaining side rooms. She quirked an eyebrow but didn't say anything as she went back to searching. Half an hour later she sat down and leaned back against the alter, only to yelp as it slid backwards.

Sam sighed "Beneath the alter, how cliched."

"The entrance is different for everyone, but it’s always literally in the last place you look. That's why I couldn't help you find it."

"So I have to search this place every time?"

"Once you reach the first town it gives you a teleport spell. You can also use it to travel between the various floors."

They were able to start off on the fiftieth floor dungeon. Claire played as the forward guard drawing in the attention of the mobs and letting Sam get bonus xp and special items for killing them. The few times she attacked her blade would cut down groups at a time. When they reached the fifty fifth floor Claire took her to a blacksmith for new gear and upgrades. They spent the next several hours traipsing through the floor dungeons until they reached the seventy fourth floor.

By the time they got there Sam was several levels higher and had replaced most of her gear thrice over. They met up with other players along the way, several of which made no attempt to hide their Integrate status behind disguises. Sam soon joined them reveling in the new found freedom. The others shared stories about various raids, trades, duels and integrations. They made it halfway back to town before she noticed Claire and Mel were gone.

She dropped back into the real world and noticed her internal chronometer said it was close to four in the morning. They had probably logged out to go to sleep and she just hadn't been paying attention. She quietly stretched as she went down to the kitchen to get a snack. On her way back she peeked into the family room. Mel was lying awake in the middle of the room, her head resting on her paws. Claire was fast asleep on her back, half her face buried in Mel's scruff like it was a fuzzy living pillow.

As she turned to go back upstairs she heard the faintest of whimpers. She looked back and saw Claire start to twitch in her sleep as she whimpered again. Mel looked concerned as she shifted, trying to make her more comfortable without waking her up. When the whimpering continued, a part of Sam realized that she was intruding on something very 'very' private. The instant Claire began to thrash Mel fused up around her, staying on hands and knees as she interrupted whatever figment was tormenting Claire.

Sam watched as the Fuser took several deep breathes before curling up on the RIDE couch and seemingly going to sleep. She quietly returned to her room, never once noticing that the eyes of the cobra tail had been watching her the entire time. Everything about her cousin's odd behavior confirmed her theory. Something terrible had happened to Claire.

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The first thing Sam noticed when she came down for breakfast was the twenty meter sub-orbital parked in the backyard. A quick query showed it was registered to, and owned by, Claire. She grabbed a bowl of cereal to eat as she went outside to take a closer look. When she stepped outside she could hear the voices coming from inside it.

"It's good to see you, I would've been here last night but I got caught up at the office."

"It’s okay, thanks for the crossover gift."

She laughed "I bet it got some strange looks when you opened it, but I always thought the traditional gifts were a little dumb."

As she stepped into the sub Sam recognized her older cousin Heather. The petite wolverine tagged ZPA employee was still half a head shorter than Claire. Her brown ears were almost completely hidden by her shoulder length dirty blonde hair. Sam heard the end of the comm discussion the two of them were secretly having as Heather broke the hug she had on Claire.

'':I'm sorry, if I had known where they were sending you I wouldn't have put your name up as a possible for The Ghosts.''

'':It’s okay, from what I heard I'd be dead if I had stayed with the task force.''

'':Still.''

"Heather allow me to reintroduce you to our cousin Samantha and her RIDE Maria."

Before she could blink Heather had wrapped her in a bone crushing hug. "Look at you two, all Integrated and furry!"

She returned the gesture "Thanks, what are The Ghosts?"

That wiped the smiles off their faces "Classified, and don't even try to dig up information on it. Integrate or not you won't find anything."

"Alright, alright you don't need to go biting my head off. Where are Mariko and Mel?"

"Over here." Mel called from the other room "Your Uncle was just finishing his inspection."

Bill shook his head as Mel was released from the cradle "You have an excellent chassis, looks like it could take just about anything. Like those wings, they weren't in the original design. At least not any of the drafts I’ve seen."

"I felt like I was in the wrong body. We tried a bunch of things but it wasn't until we were in Rodinia that we found an answer. They used a winged lioness as one of my bases."

He nodded recognizing the symptoms of body diaspora "Installing micro solar panels for solid state feathers, pretty clever idea."

"Glad you like, it was Claire's."

"It’s nice being on indefinite leave, lots of time to travel and just relax." Claire turned to Heather "Earlier you said there was some sort of convention I might like to go to?"

"That's right; it’s a convention for people with ASA RIDEs. Kind of like a RIDE or skimmer show, you can meet lots of people and learn more about maintenance and stuff. I thought it might do you some good to spend time with people you aren't related to."

"I do that in Oz."

She gave Sam a pleading look "You've been having nightmares."

She looked away "Maybe."

"There might be people who can help you."

"Claire," Heather put a hand on her shoulder "you're not alone anymore. If you're still having nightmares let us help you. At the very least let Mel help, she's your partner for crying out loud."

"I know that." she snapped "At least, I do intellectually. I'm trying but it’s not easy, it’s a hard
habit to break after three years."

Sam sighed "Let's make a deal. I had planned to take you shopping today, that dress is probably one of the few outfits you can actually use." Claire's blush confirmed this "So we'll go to the Con with you and, when you want to leave, we'll take you shopping for some real clothes. Deal?"

Claire groaned "Fine, you've got me backed into a corner."

Sam waved at her "And that's why I'm your favorite."

"Besides," she smirked "I could use proper pair of sweats anyway."

Now it was Sam's turn to groan as she punched Claire's shoulder. Stuart had never understood the appeal of being fashionably dressed. Ironically this had an incredible fashion sense, he could look downright amazing if he wanted to. But he would much rather run around in comfortable clothing regardless of whether or not was in style or matched.

Within an hour the five of them were on their way to the largest convention center in the polity. Artillery Support Armor was a bit of misnomer. The classification included everything from gunships and indirect fire to low orbit bombardment and sniper style direct fire units. This broad range meant they were also produced in an equal large range of sizes, mostly on the larger end of the scale. Thus they needed a convention center whenever they wanted to gather in large groups.

There were thousands of people and RIDEs packed into the center. They were even able to spot a few Integrates taking advantage of the crowd to wander around exposed to the world. They ended up meeting up with a few veterans of Nextus-Sturmhaven war. Whenever Mel was noticed she immediately became the center of attention and received everything from sympathy and comm codes to death threats.

Claire had just sat down in the food court when a hand landed on her shoulder "Excuse me ma'am," a feminine voice said "but it’s important that I speak to you."

Her tail hissed as it examined the woman behind her. She yanked her hand back in surprise, badger ears flattening. The fact that she didn't step away from Claire said she was used to getting what she wanted. Her accent marked her as belonging to the upper levels of the Nextus government.

Claire sighed "About what?" Why did Sam and Heather have to get food now.

"That RIDE belongs to you right? My superiors in the MRS want me to demand its return."

Mel growled "We're partners, we belong to each other. A few months I ago I had to send some of your co-workers packing."

She snorted "I heard about that."

"Lieutenant Colonel Steele, how nice to see you again." Heather, Fused with Mariko, walked over with a tray of food.

"D-Director, I...I didn't see you there."

"Oh course you didn't,” she sat down "I just got back with our food." she pushed out a chair "Please, sit down." It wasn't a request. "This is the second time Nextus has harassed one of my operatives. I thought I made it clear what would happen if this continued, regardless of 'who' was doing the harassing."

“I understand, but my superiors obviously don't." she pinched the bridge of her nose "This was supposed to be my weekend off, got it approved months ago. I just wanted to come here and enjoy the time with other people with ASAs. Then I got a call an hour ago and was told that facial rec placed you here and was given orders to try and convince you to hand you RIDE over to me."

"How long have you been partnered?"

She smiled tiredly "Fifteen years now, she’s a BDR(f)-ASA-014W. She ran into some of her friends who’ve already mustered put. I think this whole debacle is a sign that we should tender our resignation.”

“Any idea why your top brass is so interested in Mel?”

“Not a clue, someone in the military or one of the upper tiers might be putting them up to it. You know quid pro quo.”

Claire grunted “I ‘hate’ career politicians.”

There was a murmur of agreement “Well, I’ve bothered you enough.” Steele offered her hand and Claire shook it. “I’m going to find Cressa and get back to enjoying the convention.”

Sam showed up shortly after Steele left and they ate their late lunch. This time when Claire said she wanted to leave there were no objections. The trip had served its purpose which was to get introduce Claire to other people. A handful of the RIDEs gave Mel advice on how to help Claire deal with her night terrors.

Compared to everything that was happening at the convention shopping was uneventful. However Sam’s idea of shopping hadn’t included the half a dozen specialty stores Claire dragged them into. That aside, it was easy to find clothes for her. Convincing her to buy some of the more feminine ones was impossible. It took a while to talk her into defusing to actually try on different outfits. Her pragmatism about clothes had clearly crossed over with her.

They caught a lucky break, one of shops was run by an Integrate and Sam was able to try on real clothes for the first time in months. Claire refused to entertain anything that had frills or lace. Just about the only feminine clothes she bought were sundresses and a pair of sunhats. Everything else was t-shirts and shorts. As far as she was concerned indefinite leave was the same as retirement, just with better pay.

The entire time they were shopping Claire was doing something on the net. Sam’s fear of the mysterious Cardinal System was the only thing that prevented her from taking a closer peek. After all, just because she could look in on everything digital didn’t mean she should. Everyone was entitled to just as much privacy as she was. Then again, she could always ask.

“Claire, are you going to share the reason you’ve been on the net for the past six hours with the group?”

She was silent for a bit "Swear not tell anyone?"

"On pain of death."

"Therapy," she was blushing "you know I had a nightmare last night. The problem is I've been having them for several months now. They're less frequent now but I'm still having them. Cardinal was helping at first but now its doing more harm than good."

Heather swore "Nobody said you were given a copy of Cardinal."

"They probably didn't think it was important."

"Like Hell it isn't. Who authorized it?"

She shrugged "Romulus something or other."

Heather groaned "Romulus Mengsk?" a nod "That power hungry idiot. Cardinal is designed for rapid tactical analysis not psychiatric care. Do you at least have control over it?"

"Umm..."

Sam frowned "I'm guessing this Mengsk person didn't tell you that you could adjust it."

Claire snorted "He didn't say much of anything about it. I could probably hack it."

"Don't," Mariko said "I'll pass over the control codes so you can disable it, take an image before you adjust it."

"Hopefully Tassidar will throw him out on his ass, politics be damned."

"Um, are you sure its okay for you guys to discuss this in fornt of me?"

"Its useless to anyone else you might know."

Sam briefly thought of Fritz "I'm not sure about that."

"The Bosscat wouldn't be able to do anything useful with the information. Even if he wants Mengsk to stay in power he knows better than to try anything."

"Wait the ZPA knows about Fritz?"

"We've had contact with certain individuals who brought him to our attention. We've been...monitoring the situation ever since."

"We understand you're scared of him but he's just a person. If it came down to a fight the odds are stacked 'against' his favor."

"Easy for you to say." Sam muttered.

[[File:Separator_k.png]]

Claire, stilled Fused with Mel yawned as she woke up the next morning.They had a very productie night in OZ, lots of level grinding with Sam. The boss room had been found and its raid was currently in the early planning stages. Depending on the information the scout teams gathered they might be able to clear it within a few days. But that was just wishful thinking on her part.

With most of Cardinal disabled Claire had been able to download a lucid dreaming app for her implant and get a direct look at her subconscious. If she ever saw Mengsk again he would be subjected to a swift and unbearably painful death. That bastard had tried to use Cardinal to brainwash her into becoming his obedient little puppet.It was easy enough to fix what he had changed and Mel kept meticulous notes on what they found. It was damning enough that he would probably be locked up for the rest of his life.

For the first time since coming back Claire really felt like herself. At breakfast she had a pointless argument with her brother (she lost), pounced on Vinnie, and generally made a minor nuisance of herself. Though she didn't say anything she could feel Mel's approval of the return towards her true normalcy. She knew she could never go all the way back, too much had happened, but she could get close.

Last night they had flown to Cascadia to visit one of Keith's friends and do a little sight seeing before heading back to Aloha. It had been going great until they announced that they were going to let some of the rain through the domes. It wasn't really dangerous, more of a minor annoyance, but it did force them to cut their tour short. They were almost to the aerodome when Claire put a hand on Sam's shoulder.

'':We're being followed.''

Sam checked her sensor '':Doesn't look like it.''

'':Trust me we are, take your parents and get back to The Dawn. I, we, will handle this.''

Sam noticed the hesitation with the pronouns '':Alright.''

It took only a few minutes for them to be out of sight "You can come out now."

From under a nearby awning stepped a red panda Fuser "Corporal Mort and Private Eugene," she shook the offered hand "its a pleasure to meet you ma'am."

A fellow Ghost "Likewise, now let's get down to brass tacks. Why were you following us?"

He offered he a tablet "Emergency orders, direct from Colonel Tiger himself."

"I'm supposed to be on leave. Why didn't he just comm me?"

"He's been trying to."

Claire swore "I bet its something Mengsk imbedded in that copy of Cardinal. We're gonna have to get a full work up done on my implants."

Colonel Tiger Sauer was the founding member and commanding officer of the Ghosts. It had been he who sent her on indefinite leave, after approving her new partner. He was also an Integrate and gave every Ghost a special encryption key. There was no doubt in her or Mel's mind that he was fully aware Claire had family with her right now. If he was giving her direct orders there were no other options.

The mission was a simple extraction operation that required them to stop at the southern end of a mineral formation called the Towers. She wouldn't be required to fight anyone. All she had to do was fly in pick up the fireteam and fly them all out without attracting the attention of the local Enclave.

If Sam hadn’t been watching the entrance she would have missed Claire and Mel’s return. She could tell something was different as soon as they stepped aboard. Her parents didn’t notice Mel’s hardlight fur had become smooth armor.

“There’s been a slight change in our flight plan. Claire and I need to make a work related detour.”

“I thought everything Oz related was in Aloha.” Bobbie said.

“This is ZPA related. Need to pick up a survey team we have out in the Towers. They’re probably going to be tired. So, I want y’all to try and stay out of their way.”

“There might not be anyone for you to pick up. There’s an Enclave in the Towers and they have been known to forcibly remove tethers from RIDEs and they sometimes…encourage Integration in others.”

“Trust me the Enclave has no idea that they’re there. Its more towards the central section so they won't notice us either.”

"I don't know..."

"Sam we were able to sneak up on you and Dominic."

She winced "There's going to be a lot more than just two this time."

Claire/Mel shrugged "Two or 2000, numbers are only important if they're paying attention. Now, I'm going to grab something from my room and then we'll be off."

The trip from Cascadia to the Towers was very short. A straight line flight instead of an parabolic arc. Sam couldn't believe how fast The Dawn was Claire had done some major upgrades from its stock configuration. It was only very strict self-control that kept her from running a deep scan to find out what made her tick. That and Sam was worried that she might expose them if she did.

Claire had the loading ramp open before they even landed. Everything was still and it would have been eerily quiet if the wind stopped. They sat there for ten minutes before she kicked on her stealth and went to go talk to Claire. Except the cockpit was empty. A quick search proved both she and Mel had left The Dawn.

Throwing her worries aside she reached out and pinged Mel on the sidebands. Several seconds passed before Mel pinged her back letting her know she had met with the survey team and they were on their back. Sam walked into the back area and stood right in the entrance her sensors on full alert.

She stood there for fifteen minutes and was about to walk back in when an arm wrapped around her neck. She would've screamed if the a hand hadn't clamped over her mouth. She was quickly dragged backwards into the main cargo area as the ramp closed sealing up the ship.

A man's voice growled in her ear "If I where an enemy you'd be dead." she was released "Come on Probie, Mike and Aug need help with Mosley."

Mosley turned out to be a wounded Bandicoot Integrate being tapped on cheek by a Wombat Fuser "Come on Mosley stay with us!"

She caught the wrist before it could tap against her cheek again "Hit me again and I'll break your wrists."

The Fuser gave a sigh "Thank God you're alright. Ajax, Probie, give me a hand getting her to kitchen."

Ajax turned out to be an LSA black lab Fuser. When Sam made no move to follow he grabbed her wrist and dragged her forward. With a combination of lifter control and hand support they got Mosley settled on the kitchen table. Ajax opened a cabinet and gave a spare sarium battery to Mosley. Why had he called Sam been Probie?

"Where's Claire?" Sam asked, the quiet hum of the lifters answered her question.

"The LT is making sure we get out of here in one piece." Mosely answered "I know we asked for emergency evac but I didn't think they'd send the Ace of Aces herself." she looked over at Sam "Probie, front and center. I thought I knew every female Ghost and recruit we have."

Claire's voice came over their comms' '': Neither, she's my cousin.''

"That explains her lack of reflexes." Ajax said.

"I'm standing right here you know."

'':Where are y'all going to stay when we get to Aloha?'' Mel asked.

'':No idea. We were supposed to be out here for another week.''

"Um you guys can stay at my house." They looked at her. "Well its technically my parents house. But we've got plenty of room for guests."

"You'll have to run it by them first and I don’t think there is anyway they’ll let us stay for a week."

It was the second night after they arrived in Aloha. Ajax (Andrew and his RIDE Jackson), Mosley, Mike and Aug had spent the first day busily preparing their reports and getting some much needed rest. They had most of the day in Oz being brought up to speed on the raid strategy and gathering supplies. They had already spent most of the night out on the town, slowly going from bars up to clubs with Claire getting progressively drunker, probably because she was lounging on Mel’s back when they traveled, her hair now shoulder length.

“I had no idea Claire was a happy drunk.”

“Let’s just hope she stays that way.” Ajax said.

“What do you mean?”

“Pray that you never have to find out.” Mosley muttered as Claire babbled to Mel.

“What language is she speaking anyway?”

“No idea, she must have picked it up on her last assignment.” Aug said

Sam shook her head "We have about two hours till the bars close up for the night, any suggestions."

"Loch Ness, its on 32nd Street." Claire giggled as she motioned its general direction.

Mosley patted her head "No more for you."

Loch Ness turned out to be a rather upscale bar staffed only by marine Fusers. They grabbed seats at the bar proper, Claire half slumping over in hers. The place was surprisingly full for its location and the time of night. They were on their second round of drinks when a musk-ox Fuser walked over and started talking to Claire.

"What's cookin good lookin?" Sam frowned at his Cape Nord accent. "How about I buy you a drink."

Claire giggled "Sure, Edradour on the rocks."

What was she doing? She had agreed she wouldn't have another drink and why was Ajax smirking? Sam looked at the others. Mosley looked resigned while Mike and Aug just looked confused. Clearly the three of them were missing something. Claire's Scotch sat there for a minute before the Fuser said anything.

"Well aren't you going to drink it?"

"Nope, Mosley said no more for me so no more will I drink." she grinned.

He spluttered "But you said I could buy you a drink!"

"And you did, you didn't ask if I could drink it, which I can't." she shrugged.

He frowned "Well, then why don't we go somewhere else and you can have a drink there."

"She said no more so it doesn't matter where. I can't drink any."

"Then how about I take you over to my place. I got a nice hotel room just down the street." He gave her a winning smile.

Claire let out a laugh and patted him on the cheek "You are just to cute, but I'm not that kind of crossrider."She winked at Mosley.

"Then your friend can come to." his grin widened "How about it?"

"Mm, no."

"Aw come on it'll be fun."

Mike/Aug grabbed his arm as he tried drape it around her shoulders "Dude, she said no.

"Stay outta this." The man sneered, jerking his arm free and spilling Claire's Scotch.

Sam blinked and almost missed it. There was a massive crash as Claire slammed the Fuser face first into the bar. They all heard the crunch of metal as his muzzle deformed. He stumbled backwards as Claire stood up. Gone was the happily giggling drunk from a fraction of a second ago.

The man took a swing at her and she just seemed to slide out of the way. He swung again and she slipped around behind him grabbing his tail and yanking him into a spin towards the front. Mosley pinched the bridge of her nose while Ajax was laughing so hard he had fallen out of his seat. She slipped past his strikes again and again before counter attacking. This time Sam missed it because of Mel, but she still heard the rending crash as the man broke through the wall and landed in the street.

Before Claire could take another step she was engulfed by Mel. She put her hands over her heart, eyes closed, as she took deep breaths. Sam could hear the blaring of police sirens as the APD showed up.

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[[Category:Story]][[Category:Chimera]][[Category:Transgender]][[Category:Bear]][[Category:Anthropomorphic]][[Category:Dog]] [[Category:FreeRIDErs]] [[Category:Oddoneout]]

User:Oddoneout/Ghosts: The Return

2014-02-06T05:10:27Z

Oddoneout:

Sam couldn't believe it she was going to be late for the rendezvous. She couldn't help it that she lost track of time whenever she started navel gazing. Three months ago the young human woman named Samantha Maiuri had integrated with her Malti-Poo RIDE becoming a single techno-organic being. It was only a few hours later that she was snatched up and taken to an Enclave at the edge of the Dry Ocean. For her it was horrible, she wanted to go back to Aloha, top her friends and family. But she wouldn't, she didn't think they would all be able to accept what she had become. So she stayed away from them and slowly began to accept the idea that she was better off that way, after all they were just mech and meat. Now that she was away she was free to fully indulge her guilty pressure of playing MMORPGs.

Which is exactly what she was doing. She crested another hill as the grass have way to stone and the sky grew cloudy, ahead of her the Tower of Dusk reached high into the air. Oz was a fairly new MMO whose servers where run and maintained by a group of Integrates living in Aloha. They were 'very' strict about not letting people use their Intie powers to tip the game in their favor. The game was in a high fantasy setting with a special set of mechanics and to allow for mech and meat to play as a fusing pair. They could be separate when they needed or wanted to be but fusing provided its own advantages and disadvantages.

To everyone in the game Sam appeared as a black furred Malti-poo Fuser dressed in an ornate white and gold robe. Last month she had found a good group of fellow Intie players and joined their clan. Today was important because it was her first true raid boss. She was ecstatic and very glad she had put in the extra time to learn some decent offensive spells. As she jumped to clear a trench she caught sight of a RIDE and its partner before she was yanked downward into the trench.

"Slow down Sam. Let the mechie get beaten, then we'll have our run." The speaker was a heavily armored grizzly bear Integrate in Fuser disguise with a massive sword strapped to his back.

"Dominic's right," a hyena rouge spoke up "this should be good for a laugh if nothing else. It's practically impossible for an Intie to solo The Bone Hoard. There's no way a mechie can manage it even if they were fused."

"Especially with how they've got their settings done." another member spoke up drawing everyone's attention" They have their system assist and feedback canceler's turned off."

"How can anyone play like that? Even we have to use the system assist and without the canceler on things feel a little too real for most people to be comfortable."

"I had a cousin who played MMOs like that," Sam said "but he disappeared years ago."

Dominic asked the obvious question "Did he Integrate?"

She shook her head "I don't think so. He got a government job and we heard from him regularly for a few months. His last message said something about a new assignment, then nothing."

"Have you tried hacking?"

She nodded "His personnel file is there but it’s all dead ends."

He frowned "I'll put out some requests; someone has to know more about what happened to him."

A rattling announced the awakening of The Bone Hoard. The powerful raid boss burst from the ground, a giant serpentine skeleton one hundred meters long with dozens of pairs of legs and a wicked set of pincers. Red light shone from the empty sockets of its triangular head. Equally massive horns adorned its head. The HUD displayed five health bars and with her scanning skill Sam should have been able to see its level. Instead all she saw was a skull, anyone trying to fight it alone would spend more money than they would make, assuming they managed to kill it.

The person was instantly in motion covering the distance to the boss in a matter of seconds. One of its pincers shot forward only to be knocked aside and quickly severed by a plain looking black broadsword. He kept moving and severed the remaining pincer taking out the boss's main weapons and a portion of its first health bar in the process. The Bone Hoard's AI refused to let it settle into a pattern as it constantly adapted. Normally this would give it an enormous advantage, even against raid groups, but ultimately it's ability was rendered useless by one thing, speed. The solo player had been fast to begin with and only got faster as the battle moved into its second minute.

"Look at the HP," Dominic said "Do you see it?"

Sam nodded "Whenever he dodges he uses his free hand for some kind of unarmed DOT counterattack."

In the space of three minutes The Bone Hoard's HP had been cut down to only one and a half bars. It lashed out with one of its remaining legs throwing the swordsman off balance, disarming him with a quick follow up. He jumped away, he had to be fleeing either to rearm or to give up. He did neither, with a shout he charged straight at its head ducking under as it thrust forward in an attempt to swallow him. His right hand shot up and struck the bone plate under its mouth and The Bone Hoard shattered into glittering iridescent blue dust, killed by a single unFused and unassisted player in just over four minutes.

He slouched as he shook out his wrists. His RIDE retrieved the fallen sword. They seemed...subdued, disappointed, like things hadn't gone the way they were hoping. Dominic, as be fitting his status as raid leader, was the first to recover from the shock they had all received. He clambered out of the trench running towards and hailing the mystery duo. Sam followed after him a moment later.

"That was amazing! I've only ever heard of people soloing The Bone Hoard and they didn't do nearly as well as you just did." All true but why was he kissing up to mechie?

Now that Sam was closer she could see their mystery man was actually a mystery woman. She stood about a meter and a half tall. Her white blonde hair was in short pixie cut. The woman's broadsword was indeed the black color Sam had originally thought it was. Her RIDE tags were very unusual. She had a feline nose, the rounded ears of a lion, white fur, goat horns and a black cobra for a tail. Sam shuddered as both pairs of green eyes turned to look at her.

The woman's RIDE was easily the most bizarre mythical Sam had ever seen. She was easily the size of a large horse, marking her as a Heavy class RIDE. Her she had the body and head of a lion with the horns of a goat. Her white fur was the same as her partner's and her black cobra tail was staring intently at Dominic. A large pair of dark iridescent blue bird wings completed her appearance.

Finally the woman sighed "I was nine point three seconds off."

Her ride giggled “Aren’t you the one who’s always saying that it’s just a game Claire?”

Claire frowned “I know but the benchmark gives us a place to start looking.” She gestured and several windows appeared “The more important question is why y’all are here. This area is supposed to be closed off for maintenance. There was a game wide announcement yesterday.”

Dominic stiffened “Um, none of us were on yesterday.”

“They sent out a memo to everyone just in case, you should have gotten it as soon as you logged in.”

“We were all busy prepping for this raid. When I got on I came straight here, didn’t have time to check my messages and since you said this area is closed what are you doing here?”

“Obviously we’re here to perform the maintenance.” Her RIDE deadpanned

“Thank you Mel. Now, I’m going to need your player IDs.”

“So you can ban us?”

She laughed “I could ban you even without them but it’s not my job. I’ll pass the info on to one of the other GMs, they might have given y’all open access to this area. If they didn’t and think you need to be banned they’ll contact you so you can appeal your case.”

“Oh so it’s just that you’re lazy?”

“Yup, now that I can afford to be lazy I’ve gotten to the point where enabling God Mode is too much of a hassle. Easier just to go without and fight my way through. That’s also why I don’t use the assist and have the canceler disabled.” She frowned “But y’all already knew that didn’t you.”

Sam was suddenly nervous. Claire was clearly skilled IRL, how else could she beat a raid boss alone, and she somehow knew they had peeked at her settings. On top of that she was a GM and, Intie or not, could insta-ban them on a whim. Sam had read the message she was talking about and just assumed it was wrong or meant for non-Inties, in hindsight she realized she had just been fooling herself. She liked to think that she didn’t buy into the whole Integrates Ascendant thing at all. But seeing a human deftly manage what would be an extreme and time consuming challenge in mere minutes and then subtly hint that she ''knew'' exactly what they were. Half a dozen members of the raid team suddenly disconnected and Claire shook her head.

“Apparently you people buy into your own press ''way'' too much.” Mel said

“What did you do?” Dominic asked

“It’s not what we did but what they tried to do. Which was hack us. Claire and I have had extensive time to prep for a variety of things, one of the perks of having a forward thinking boss. As such we can easily shut you out when you try and hack us.”

“Hey boss, let’s just give them our IDs and go. No need to start a fight.” The speaker was a burgundy Allosaurus.

“You scared of mech and meat, Durendal?”

“When the flesh alone can kick that much ass? Hell yeah, I’m scared out of my scales right now. Besides Mel's right, this is just a game and it’s supposed to be for fun.” There was a quiet round of agreement “If the other GMs are willing to trust these two then we should too. Since they got the job they must be exceptionally skilled.”

Olivia quirked a smile as she received several data packets “Roland Durendal, you named yourself after the paladin and his sword from the Matter of France?”

He shrugged “I used to study medieval literature as a hobby.”

“Claire,” Mel said “I’ve just finished submitting our report.”

She nodded “Good, unfortunately this is where we all part ways. To everyone who has transmitted their data, thank you for your cooperation. We’ll do our best to make sure you don’t get banned because of your raid leader. Please, direct any further questions to this com code.”

As the two logged out Sam came to a decision, she needed to move out of her Enclave and get away from the supremacy ideas that governed it. Another mage used a group teleport spell to bring them all back to a safe zone so they could all log out. When she opened her eyes in the real world Sam came to a second decision. Rather than another Enclave she would go back to her family, everyone had seen the now famous reunion footage of the Munn family with its long absent Integrate members. So for the first time in months she accessed her lifetime mailbox.

[[File:Separator_k.png]]

Claire Olivia Maiuri groaned as she got up from her cot and stretched after her marathon play session. Across the room Mel yawned as she carefully did the same, mindful of her wings. Their home was the cargo area of The Forward Unto Dawn. The D82-EST Darter was a single deck twenty meter sub-orbital when she returned to Zharus proper just over three months ago. After five hard years her mission had finally ended and she had come home to Zharus.

At the time he had been Stuart Miles Maiuri, a person he no longer wanted to be. Luckily his bonus and hazard pay had made him a small fortune. If he was careful he would never have to work again. Because his dad had worked for Nextux RIDEWorks all his life, the first thing he decided to do was find a RIDE partner.

His post mission handler had suggested he try a small dealership in Nuevo San Antonio. He spent most of the day talking to the occasional RIDE who caught his attention. He had spent most of the day looking when he the owner said he wanted to introduce him to someone. In the back area was a RIDE named Melody, Mel for short.

She was an experimental unit, a Nextus RIDEWorks CMA(f)-ASA-001. The last of the half dozen produced and the only one who's RI had survived the program's termination. The original idea had been a variation on the one introduced by the Sturmhaven WLF-CSA-01As. A secondary RI core in the tail that would manage an extra sensor suite, long range communications, and point defense. The idea was for it to free up extra processing power to allow more accurate targeting and deliver artillery strikes from an unparallelled range. Unfortunately it ran into some of the same problems as the CSAs, the RIs wouldn't link.

In the end the secondary core idea had been scrapped when they succeed in producing a single RI core capable of doing the entire work load. That RI was Mel. The higher ups had been pleased with the results but not enough to overlook the price tag. Between the parts they needed and increased cost for the specialized RI core, it was less than a month after her First Boot that the project was scrapped.

She had honestly expect to have her core destroyed like her predecessors, luckily the RIDEWorks still "owned" her core, DE and weapons package. Rather than let Nextus destroy her, she had been discreetly sold her to their friend who owned the dealership. She had spent her weeks worrying about what would happen to her if Nextus found her. The owner introduced them and after an hour Mel and Stuart had begun discussing where they would live. She had made the suggestion that they get a sub-orbital as a starting point in case they had to run. After all, Nexts had been known to go to lengths to recover things, even if it never belonging to them.

As far as ASA's went she was on the smaller end of the spectrum, in Walker mode she stood at just over two meters and was half a meter taller in Fuser mode. The empty space in her tail's cobra head was retooled to house an extra set of sarium batteries. Her ASA chassis came equipped with two retractable plasma cannons and a particle beam cannon in her mouth.

They had just finished loading up their new D82-EST Darter when Nextus Material Recovery Service showed up to try. Stuart tried to talk them down and provided ample proof that he, and the dealership before him, had legal ownership over Mel and the weapons. When they refused to back down he sent a few messages and started stalling. It didn't take long for him to get a response.

The MRS Officers apologized for their mistake and attempted to make a ''very'' quick exit, promising that it would ''never'' happen again. Claire wouldn’t let them off that easily. She swore to them that if it ''did'' their boss would in serious trouble. Stuart had been employed by the Zharus Planetary Authority to conduct espionage, on Earth.

It was supposed to be a five year mission, seven counting travel, and everything had gone wrong from the first day off the boat. His cover had nearly been blown and it was only quick thinking and a quicker kill that had saved his life. He spent the next three years gathering Intel and practically living underground. After three years they were finally able to extract him. He spent a week being debriefed before they put him on indefinite leave and gave him a nice fat bonus. He had also been given a set of direct comm codes and told that if he needed anything to reach out to them.

Once cleared, she had upgraded her special military cortical implant with quibitite. If she was in trouble she wanted to have the best chance of coming out on top. They spent almost a month traveling around Zharus. When they had been out in the Dry Ocean they ran into a group of Integrates who were looking to hire a temporary GM in their game, Oz.

It was an easy job. Mel and Claire were told to do their best to break everything in game and send their observations on to the Dev Team. Claire began checking her email and flagged several things for her implant to draft responses to before reading one from Sebastian, her ZPA handler. After five years and two months she would finally be able to see her family again. She sent out a flurry of emails letting everyone know she was in Aloha and would be flying to Nextus to see everyone at their family compound.

"Mel, I can finally introduce you to my family."

She perked up "I'll file a flight plan with ATC."

Claire stripped out of her underwear and went to take a shower while her implant began running the pre-flight checks. Everything checked out as she finished her shower, replies coming in as began to dry off. She sighed as she looked through her rather limited wardrobe. She ruled out her beloved combat gear, too many questions. After sorting through her crossover gifts she settled on a yellow sun dress Sebastian had sent her. His note had said she needed something she could 'actually' use instead of the usual gag gifts.

'':Mel, we need something for you to wear. As much fun as it would be to show up in a metal bikini, I don't think my family would like it.''

'':Can it be black? I was thinking of a nice sweater skirt combo.''

'':Sure, it'll match your tail.''

As they fused up Mel felt Claire's nervousness and did her best to comfort her. She reabsorbed the metal-kini anatomically correct RIDEs often wore for decency. Some of her hardlight winked out then came back up projecting her outfit of choice. She had chosen a knee length skirt and loose sleeved sweater complimenting her form and drawing attention up to her face and away from her chest. They stopped in the small kitchen and made a quick lunch of last night's take out before the lifters warmed up.

They sat down in the cockpit as they received a message from ATC approving them for departure. At twenty meters long the D82-EST Darter was a small transport craft. It had a lifting body design and top of the line heat shielding ensuring it could land without the use of its lifters. They had split the cargo area in half, turning the forward section into their living quarters/maintenance area with a bathroom and kitchen.

They taxied out of their hangar and into the civilian departure zone. No one would suspect that their modest little black and white craft was fully stealth capable…or armed. Claire had spared no expense in overhauling their home. The end result had been a ten percent increase in mobility and enough offensive power to take out a large military sub. Sebastian made sure what they were doing was within the letter of the law.

They dropped into virtual for a time compressed lesson as they waited their turn for takeoff. They walked through the basic stances of Claire’s duel sword style. She was critiquing her foot work on the first set of intermediate forms when they had to stop. They quickly began to pick up speed as the lifters’ output increased and the hardlight aero shielding adjusted for maximum speed and lift. The surface fell away beneath them as the sky gradually changed from iridescent blue to a star studded black.

[[File:Separator_k.png]]

Even at top speed, Sam had a long flight to the Aloha aerodrome but it gave her plenty of time to check the outgoing flights. Finally she found one that she could slip onto unnoticed. She slipped into the lobby and boarded the high speed sub. She settled into her seat to wait. She had gotten a surprise when she checked her mail.

Her cousin Stuart had finally turned up and was flying out to Nextus from Aloha. She had already checked and couldn’t find his name on any of the passenger manifests. She had waited five years. She could wait a few more hours. Without a second thought she logged back into Oz.

She had a message from Dominic waiting for her. She read it a few times before deleting it and removing herself from the guild. Now that she realized her emerging bigotry she was going to work hard to get rid of it. Her next order of business was getting to Taft where new players arrived fresh from the tutorial. She had heard rumor of a dungeon hidden beneath the town.

She made her way to the western part of town and stopped at a player owned shop to sell her guild gear. Most of the uniform was inferior to what she had been using before. She smoothed out her red robe and settled its armored plates into place as she re-equipped. Her old Hound Saber was a welcome change from the stereotypical mage staff she had been using for two weeks. The bonuses to her spell were less because of the change but she preferred being a red mage anyway.

She made her way to a massive cathedral. If the rumors were true the entrance to the bonus dungeon was hidden somewhere inside. As soon as she stepped inside she realized that just finding the entrance would be a chore. You could have easily fit a Starmaster into the main worship area. She started by checking the dozens of side rooms for anything odd.

There were a lot more than she thought. It took her the entire flight to thoroughly check half of the side rooms. She sighed as stood up on the sub. If the bonus dungeon did exist the GMs were keeping information about the entrance tightly controlled. It was probably filled with exclusive gear unobtainable anywhere else. Once outside the aerodrome she lifted into the Fuser/scooter traffic lanes and headed for her family's compound on the southern end of city. Sam was ten and a half kilometers away when she got a nasty shock when a familiar grizzly Fuser flew up next to her.

"Sam it’s nice too finally meet you IRL." Dominic said

She stiffened "How did you know?"

He smirked "I didn't. I noticed you decided to leave the guild."

"You said I could leave whenever I wanted. ''You'' said that neither mech nor meat could beat us but that GM this morning, she opened my eyes.” She shook her head “In some ways we are better than meat, but they have us beat in other areas.”

He snorted “Here in the real world they’re nothing compared to us.”

She stopped “Get bent Dominic. I don’t want anything to do with people like you anymore."

He sputtered "I'm trying to help you!" he grabbed her wrist "We are the next step in human evolution. You don't need mech or meat for anything!"

"Let go." a pulse gun formed on her wrist "I'm not afraid to shoot you."

He laughed "Both of your halves were civvie." he whispered "I'm ex-military; your little pop guns won't scratch me."

"How about mine?" a woman's voice asked

A feline hand landed on his head and he heard the whine of charging capacitors. How had she snuck up on him? He instinctively reached out to hack them and had to bite down on his tongue to keep from screaming. He felt thousands of tiny burning bites all over his body before his DIN burnt out. Even without it the sensations persisted and he had to concentrate just to maintain his disguise.

"Ah, you're one of ''those'' people. Too bad your little tricks are less than worthless against us." The speaker was a two and a half meters chimera Fuser. "Now, you can let her go or I can cut you in half."

Dominic felt a chill down his spine. These two were extremely dangerous. The fact that they had snuck up on, not just one but, two Integrates was proof of that. Their tone of voice was casual, like they had all been discussing the weather. His military instincts were screaming at him to run. But his pride as an Integrate wouldn't let him.

"I'm not scared of meat!"

She sighed "Wrong answer."

She lifted her hand and tapped two fingers against his hardlight. His systems suddenly started blaring half a dozen different warnings at him. What had they just done to him?

"Here's a little physics lesson for you. ''Everything'' has a frequency where it will resonate. Under certain conditions it can cause things to build up energy till they literally shake themselves apart. That's what’s happening to your hardlight emitters right now. They’ll fail sometime within the next ten minutes. I suggest that you get as far from Nextus as possible before they do."

They had him backed into a corner. “This isn’t over meat!” He vanished and ignoring how the chimera’s black tail tracked his progress as he flew. He had been completely humiliated. Somehow he would get back that damn mechie.

Sam took the opportunity become invisible and leave as well. She still had ten klicks left to get to the family compound. She quickly covered the remaining distance and landed on the lawn in front of the main house. Her aunts, uncles, cousins, and her mother’s parents were milling about. Her cousin Joseph and Dexter, his coyote RIDE, were talking to her parents. Everyone stopped when she revealed herself.

“Sam? Maria?” her mother asked

Sam nodded “We…I, go by Sam, but yes. It’s me, I’m back.”

She was engulfed by her family. She was given so many hugs and asked so many questions. She had trouble keeping up for a second. She sent the details over to everyone’s RIDEs. After a few minutes of time compressed sharing everyone was caught up.

“So, where’s Stuart?” there was ping on Sam’s sensors

She turned around. Standing several meters behind her was the same chimera Fuser from earlier. She was wearing a loose black sweater and matching knee length skirt. Her wings gave a nervous twitch, like she was trying not to run away. It took a few seconds but RIDE and rider finally seemed to come to an agreement.

The Fuser slowly split open and a young woman in a yellow sun dress stepped onto the lawn. Her white blonde hair was in a pixie cut. She had feline ears, swiveling at every sound and matching nose was twitching at every smell. She nervously thumbed the end of one of her goat horns while her black cobra headed tail curled around in front of her.

She hesitated before saying “Tadaima.”

Sam stared at her in disbelief. She used time compression to replay everything a dozen times to make sure she reached the right conclusion. Since her family lived and breathed crazy it made perfect sense. After all only one person in their family would use Japanese. Claire was her cousin Stuart.

Only one way to be sure "Stuart?"

She grinned nervously "Hey," she sniffed and her eyes widened "Sam you integrated? Last time we spoke you refused to even think about getting a RIDE."

Now it was turn Sam to smile "A lot can happen in five years. Why don't we all go inside?"

"No," Sam's Aunt Cathy, the youngest daughter, spoke up "You can't be Stuart. You can't be my son."

"Cathy." her husband warned

"No Bill, I don't want to hear it! There is no way that woman can be our son!"

"Before I left I got you a sterling silver bracelet. The note I put on it said that no matter what I put you though I wanted you to know how much I loved you."

"This bitch has probably been spying on us." Aunt Gina said "I'll bet she's here to try and scam us."

What little confidence Claire seemed to have built up disappeared. “This was a mistake.” She said as tears began welling up in her eyes before she fused with Mel. Sam and Joseph recovered first. Dexter quickly fusing with his partner.

'':Sam, I believe her. Only my brother, sister, would know that. Aunt Gina is just being a spiteful bitch.''

'':Normally she would lash out and bite right back. Do you think there's something wrong with her?''

'':Maybe, we’re lucky her RIDE wants her to stay.''

'':Yeah, it looks like Mel is trying to calm her down. You guys are with the Marshal right?''

'':We’re Diamond Stars, why?''

'':Can you find out what kind of RIDE Mel is?’’

'':One step ahead of ya. I sent out an inquiry when we saw her enter the property and Dexter just got a match.''

Sam paled '':CMA(f)-ASA-001, skimmer mode is a high speed flier.''

'':I’ve read the report about them, project canceled due to quote unquote budget issues. I hope she isn’t still combat capable.''

'':She is. The only thing she’s missing is her hand carried weapon.''

'':Then let’s count that as a blessing.''

Behind them Gina had continued to spout increasingly caustic and illogical words. At last her Aunt Cathy seemed to remember ''who'' was talking and ignoring her. Everything was starting to fall apart. What should have been a happy family reunion was turning into a feud. As they finally got close enough Mel there was a smack from back on the porch.

“Regina, be quiet.” Geosaffati said to his third daughter.

Geosaffati J. Maiuri Junior, Pawpaw to his friends and family, stepped down from the front porch. The family patriarch eyed his assembled children and grandchildren, eyes settling on Joseph/Dexter, Sam and Claire/Mel. At just over 100 he had seen more than his fair share of fighting, first on Earth and then during the Sturmhaven Nextus War. On Earth, his skills hheld a high level management position and made a fortune in investments.

He was a big broad shouldered man who worked hard to maintain his physical health. What little hair he had left on his head was wispy gray and going white. White furred simian ears twitched atop his head as his tail lashed behind him. Even with his face marred by a frown you could still see the lines etched into it from years of laughing. Behind him stood his RIDE, MKY(m)-LMA-009L, Vinnie.

“Welcome home.”

Claire blinked as she felt a pair of strong arms wrapped around her. She hesitated before she gently reached out and hugged her grandfather. When they separated she took a few deep breaths. She could do this. She ‘’had’’ to do this. After a few seconds they broke part.

“Thanks Pawpaw. Mel, you can let me go now.”

“Aw, does this mean I can’t keep you?” she teased before they defused.

Claire and Mel had obviously spent a lot of time fused. Her nails had begun to narrow and were curved to a slight point. She had the slight beginnings of a muzzle, complete with short whiskers. She even had a slightly feline tongue and her canines were definitely getting longer. The real kicker was the fine layer of white fur that had recently started to cover her; most people missed it because it blended seamlessly with her skin tone.

“We keep each other. We’re partners, equals, and don’t let anyone try and tell you otherwise.”

“I’m glad you found such a good match.” Joseph said “Now let’s go inside. I’m sure y’all have quite the story to tell about working for the Zharus Planetary Authority.”

[[File:Separator_k.png]]

It had taken about an hour for Claire to finish telling her family about her job helping to bust a smuggling ring. That was the cover story she had been given. It would be in all the official records. It was also partially true. She was originally assigned to the Contraband Task force.

"You were on the Contraband Task force? Stu...Claire, that's impressive." Cathy said

"They wanted my eye for detail. You know better than anyone just how good I am at hiding in plain sight." Also true and she had been reassigned.

"So they wanted you to act as an observer?" Dexter asked

"Yeah." Also true.

"Then why have you changed so much? Everything I know about you shows that you were a lot more energetic. It's like you're a completely different person. What happened?" Claire looked away.

Joseph sighed "Sis, we're just trying to help. We can't do that if you won't let us."

Mel sheltered her with a wing "Its okay. Why don't we stay here tonight, hmm?"

"You'll have sleep in the family room. You're old room's been turned into an expansion of the workshop." Vinnie said

Mel started licking her ears "Come on Claire! You can't lie to me. We both want to!"

"Alright. Alright!" she said as she laughed "We can sleep here tonight! No more kitty bath! It tickles!"

"''That's'' why I do it." she said and gave one more sloppy lick "It was more fun when you had long hair."

"Maybe for you."

Mel smiled "I know for a 'fact' one of your favorite pictures is the aftermath of the first tongue bath."

Claire blushed as she slid out from under the wing "Tha-that's because it was the first one! It was a special event."

"Is that why you're grinning like an idiot?"

"I'm not like an idiot."

"Oh? Let me guess you ''are'' an idiot." Mel narrowed her eyes as she got off the RIDE couch.

"Damn right I am." She crossed her arms.

There was a full minute of silence "Well," Bill said "it’s nice to see you acting like yourself again."

Claire blinked and went red, brushing a hand along her right horn. Mel purred as she rubbed up against her. Sam watched all of this from the kitchen as she helped Pawpaw finish preparing dinner. Spaghetti with a three meat sauce, his specialty dish and a family favorite. Mentally, her Maria half was fully expressing itself by worrying over her cousin's biometrics.

"There's something wrong with her." Pawpaw said "Vinnie said her biometrics are wonky. So I know you can see it to."

Sam sighed "Maria thinks so too. I would've missed it if she hadn't split off to point it out."

He nodded "How is she?"

Sam frowned "That's part of the problem. We can't tell."

He chuckled "Not Claire, Maria. I don't know how Integration works but I know she's forever part of you now."

"Oh," she flushed at her blunder "never better, but she still wants a proper weapon. I've read some stuff about how it 'might' be possible to get one. But if get caught or something goes wrong I'd be in really deep trouble."

"Fritz, right?"

"How did you know?"

He smiled "Dear, I know people and he ''isn't'' as omnipotent as he wants everyone to believe. Besides that, there are other people you could ask for help. Especially if you're going back to live with your folks in Aloha. I know the Marshals have hired a lot of Integrates so you might be able to ask Joseph for some comm codes." he stepped into the doorway “Alright everyone time to eat.”

There is only one word that can be used to describe dinner with the Maiuri family, loud. Of the seventeen people, Joseph and Michael were the only two louder than the assembled mothers. It may have been louder than Claire liked but its familiarity was a welcome comfort. She noticed that Sam deliberately sat next to her. The paranoid part of her thought it was a statement about how she was probably going to be the next one to ‘ascend’.

"So Cous, I noticed you have some heavy fuse signs."

"Mel is a lot of RIDE for someone to handle."

“So…have you two considered…Integrating?” Sam asked.

Mel groaned from the other room “You know Claire ''killed'' the last person who asked us that right?”

“I only did that because she was trying to force it onto us. Besides we both know he probably survived.”

“Not for lack of trying on your part.”

She put her elbow on the table and rested her chin on her hand “If he had held still for another half a second I could’ve destroyed his brain and…what?” The table had gone silent “It was self-defense.”

“Based on the intel we have now I think ''pest control'' is a better term."

Sam couldn’t keep the disbelief out of her voice “Back up, you two walked away from a fanatic without being Integrated, how?”

“By frying his DIN port, shelling him from fifteen hundred kilometers and destroying sixty-seven percent of his body mass.” At Sam's incredulous look she shrugged and started twirling her loaded fork between her fingers "You asked."

Sam stared at the fork. "All things considered you are an excellent shot, but I recommend sticking to CQC." Mel said

She had seen before, it was a nervous habit. "So we should practice by taking pot shots at the Rodinian Nature Preserve? Aim for the deadest looking trees?"

Replace the fork with a knife. "Rohit would be pissed when she found out."

Claire had been telling half-truths "You mean if."

She was supposed to be on the task force but had done something else instead. "No, I mean ''when''. Someone will notice and she would be able to trace it back to us. I'd rather not have ‘'her'’ angry with us, pacifist or not."

Sam cleared her throat "All of this is very interesting but you still haven't answered my question."

She sighed "We have thought about it. For now it's not for us, maybe someday but it'll be because it’s what we want."

Sam nodded "Glad to hear that you aren't planning on rushing into it. Being an Integrate is nice, but it has its drawbacks."

"Like the fact that your leaders are all the bad kind of crazy."

"Among other problems, yes. On the subject of supremacists I'd like to know what you did to Dominic."

"He a friend of yours?"

She snorted "Not anymore."

Claire blinked “Alright, you’ll have to be more specific.”

“When he tried to hack you.”

“Oh that," she ate her forkful of spaghetti "not much to tell, I have a special program called Cardinal.”

“And…?” Sam asked.

She shrugged “That’s all I know.”

Sam groaned “You’re kidding.”

“Nope, the rest of the information is above my pay grade.”

At this point the rest of the table had returned to normal conversation. Claire and her father got into a discussion about RIDE maintenance. He really wanted a chance to give Mel a once over. It was strictly out of professional curiosity. Mel accepted the offer on the condition that it be performed at their house with their tools, a perfectly reasonable request.

They asked about Claire's co-workers on the task force, more half-truths. They asked about her crossrider party and the gifts she received, most were surprisingly useful. Why she had waited so long to contact them, she had been told to by her handler. What Sebastian, her handler, was like and why she even needed one. She said to keep her safe, a straight lie.

Regina wanted to know if Claire would be moving back to Nextus, no way in Hell. Then she wanted to know if Claire was planning to live in Sturmhaven like her. This earned a string of words in a language no one could identify and a small rant about idiotic feminists. When Claire had first returned to Zharus a Valkyrie had tried to force herself on him. Marshal intervention was the only thing that had prevented a fight from breaking out.

Right now they were living out of their sub. They were usually docked at the Aloha aerodome since they were working for Oz. Sam and Bobbie wanted to know more about that. Bobbie was a programmer and as always interested in learning more. Bobbie's hare and Keith's deer were both on their way back from running out to pick up dessert.

“I heard there’s a dungeon in Taft.” Sam said

“That’s right. A hundred sub-basements beneath a church, each one is a microcosm unto itself. We just made it down to the seventy-fourth yesterday.”

“It took you two months?”

“I spent sixty hours power leveling before I could start that dungeon. You could make it pretty far at your current level, but it would be time consuming.”

“Do you have any suggestions?”

“Once you find the entrance there’ll probably be some people you can party with, or you can go with me. Though, you’ll still have to find the entrance on your own.”

She groaned “I spent my sub flight over checking the side rooms and found nothing.”

“Sorry Cous, that’s the way it is. I’ll meet you there later.”

She shrugged “Alright, it’s not like I have anything better to do.”

“You could find a job.” Her mother said

Sam harrumphed. If she was looking for a job her best bet a Fuser based establishment, like a Fuser bar. She didn’t mind going back into that line of work. She might even go back to school. Online classes had a lot more appeal to her now. But it wouldn't do her any good if she just cheated her way through.

A few hours after dinner Claire was finally able to log into Oz and meet Sam in Taft. One second the room was empty, the next Claire was sitting in one the pews with Mel sprawled in the aisle. Sam had spent the entire time searching the church's remaining side rooms. She quirked an eyebrow but didn't say anything as she went back to searching. Half an hour later she sat down and leaned back against the alter, only to yelp as it slid backwards.

Sam sighed "Beneath the alter, how cliched."

"The entrance is different for everyone, but it’s always literally in the last place you look. That's why I couldn't help you find it."

"So I have to search this place every time?"

"Once you reach the first town it gives you a teleport spell. You can also use it to travel between the various floors."

They were able to start off on the fiftieth floor dungeon. Claire played as the forward guard drawing in the attention of the mobs and letting Sam get bonus xp and special items for killing them. The few times she attacked her blade would cut down groups at a time. When they reached the fifty fifth floor Claire took her to a blacksmith for new gear and upgrades. They spent the next several hours traipsing through the floor dungeons until they reached the seventy fourth floor.

By the time they got there Sam was several levels higher and had replaced most of her gear thrice over. They met up with other players along the way, several of which made no attempt to hide their Integrate status behind disguises. Sam soon joined them reveling in the new found freedom. The others shared stories about various raids, trades, duels and integrations. They made it halfway back to town before she noticed Claire and Mel were gone.

She dropped back into the real world and noticed her internal chronometer said it was close to four in the morning. They had probably logged out to go to sleep and she just hadn't been paying attention. She quietly stretched as she went down to the kitchen to get a snack. On her way back she peeked into the family room. Mel was lying awake in the middle of the room, her head resting on her paws. Claire was fast asleep on her back, half her face buried in Mel's scruff like it was a fuzzy living pillow.

As she turned to go back upstairs she heard the faintest of whimpers. She looked back and saw Claire start to twitch in her sleep as she whimpered again. Mel looked concerned as she shifted, trying to make her more comfortable without waking her up. When the whimpering continued, a part of Sam realized that she was intruding on something very 'very' private. The instant Claire began to thrash Mel fused up around her, staying on hands and knees as she interrupted whatever figment was tormenting Claire.

Sam watched as the Fuser took several deep breathes before curling up on the RIDE couch and seemingly going to sleep. She quietly returned to her room, never once noticing that the eyes of the cobra tail had been watching her the entire time. Everything about her cousin's odd behavior confirmed her theory. Something terrible had happened to Claire.

[[File:Separator_k.png]]

The first thing Sam noticed when she came down for breakfast was the twenty meter sub-orbital parked in the backyard. A quick query showed it was registered to, and owned by, Claire. She grabbed a bowl of cereal to eat as she went outside to take a closer look. When she stepped outside she could hear the voices coming from inside it.

"It's good to see you, I would've been here last night but I got caught up at the office."

"It’s okay, thanks for the crossover gift."

She laughed "I bet it got some strange looks when you opened it, but I always thought the traditional gifts were a little dumb."

As she stepped into the sub Sam recognized her older cousin Heather. The petite wolverine tagged ZPA employee was still half a head shorter than Claire. Her brown ears were almost completely hidden by her shoulder length dirty blonde hair. Sam heard the end of the comm discussion the two of them were secretly having as Heather broke the hug she had on Claire.

'':I'm sorry, if I had known where they were sending you I wouldn't have put your name up as a possible for The Ghosts.''

'':It’s okay, from what I heard I'd be dead if I had stayed with the task force.''

'':Still.''

"Heather allow me to reintroduce you to our cousin Samantha and her RIDE Maria."

Before she could blink Heather had wrapped her in a bone crushing hug. "Look at you two, all Integrated and furry!"

She returned the gesture "Thanks, what are The Ghosts?"

That wiped the smiles off their faces "Classified, and don't even try to dig up information on it. Integrate or not you won't find anything."

"Alright, alright you don't need to go biting my head off. Where are Mariko and Mel?"

"Over here." Mel called from the other room "Your Uncle was just finishing his inspection."

Bill shook his head as Mel was released from the cradle "You have an excellent chassis, looks like it could take just about anything. Like those wings, they weren't in the original design. At least not any of the drafts I’ve seen."

"I felt like I was in the wrong body. We tried a bunch of things but it wasn't until we were in Rodinia that we found an answer. They used a winged lioness as one of my bases."

He nodded recognizing the symptoms of body diaspora "Installing micro solar panels for solid state feathers, pretty clever idea."

"Glad you like, it was Claire's."

"It’s nice being on indefinite leave, lots of time to travel and just relax." Claire turned to Heather "Earlier you said there was some sort of convention I might like to go to?"

"That's right; it’s a convention for people with ASA RIDEs. Kind of like a RIDE or skimmer show, you can meet lots of people and learn more about maintenance and stuff. I thought it might do you some good to spend time with people you aren't related to."

"I do that in Oz."

She gave Sam a pleading look "You've been having nightmares."

She looked away "Maybe."

"There might be people who can help you."

"Claire," Heather put a hand on her shoulder "you're not alone anymore. If you're still having nightmares let us help you. At the very least let Mel help, she's your partner for crying out loud."

"I know that." she snapped "At least, I do intellectually. I'm trying but it’s not easy, it’s a hard
habit to break after three years."

Sam sighed "Let's make a deal. I had planned to take you shopping today, that dress is probably one of the few outfits you can actually use." Claire's blush confirmed this "So we'll go to the Con with you and, when you want to leave, we'll take you shopping for some real clothes. Deal?"

Claire groaned "Fine, you've got me backed into a corner."

Sam waved at her "And that's why I'm your favorite."

"Besides," she smirked "I could use proper pair of sweats anyway."

Now it was Sam's turn to groan as she punched Claire's shoulder. Stuart had never understood the appeal of being fashionably dressed. Ironically this had an incredible fashion sense, he could look downright amazing if he wanted to. But he would much rather run around in comfortable clothing regardless of whether or not was in style or matched.

Within an hour the five of them were on their way to the largest convention center in the polity. Artillery Support Armor was a bit of misnomer. The classification included everything from gunships and indirect fire to low orbit bombardment and sniper style direct fire units. This broad range meant they were also produced in an equal large range of sizes, mostly on the larger end of the scale. Thus they needed a convention center whenever they wanted to gather in large groups.

There were thousands of people and RIDEs packed into the center. They were even able to spot a few Integrates taking advantage of the crowd to wander around exposed to the world. They ended up meeting up with a few veterans of Nextus-Sturmhaven war. Whenever Mel was noticed she immediately became the center of attention and received everything from sympathy and comm codes to death threats.

Claire had just sat down in the food court when a hand landed on her shoulder "Excuse me ma'am," a feminine voice said "but it’s important that I speak to you."

Her tail hissed as it examined the woman behind her. She yanked her hand back in surprise, badger ears flattening. The fact that she didn't step away from Claire said she was used to getting what she wanted. Her accent marked her as belonging to the upper levels of the Nextus government.

Claire sighed "About what?" Why did Sam and Heather have to get food now.

"That RIDE belongs to you right? My superiors in the MRS want me to demand its return."

Mel growled "We're partners, we belong to each other. A few months I ago I had to send some of your co-workers packing."

She snorted "I heard about that."

"Lieutenant Colonel Steele, how nice to see you again." Heather, Fused with Mariko, walked over with a tray of food.

"D-Director, I...I didn't see you there."

"Oh course you didn't,” she sat down "I just got back with our food." she pushed out a chair "Please, sit down." It wasn't a request. "This is the second time Nextus has harassed one of my operatives. I thought I made it clear what would happen if this continued, regardless of 'who' was doing the harassing."

“I understand, but my superiors obviously don't." she pinched the bridge of her nose "This was supposed to be my weekend off, got it approved months ago. I just wanted to come here and enjoy the time with other people with ASAs. Then I got a call an hour ago and was told that facial rec placed you here and was given orders to try and convince you to hand you RIDE over to me."

"How long have you been partnered?"

She smiled tiredly "Fifteen years now, she’s a BDR(f)-ASA-014W. She ran into some of her friends who’ve already mustered put. I think this whole debacle is a sign that we should tender our resignation.”

“Any idea why your top brass is so interested in Mel?”

“Not a clue, someone in the military or one of the upper tiers might be putting them up to it. You know quid pro quo.”

Claire grunted “I ‘hate’ career politicians.”

There was a murmur of agreement “Well, I’ve bothered you enough.” Steele offered her hand and Claire shook it. “I’m going to find Cressa and get back to enjoying the convention.”

Sam showed up shortly after Steele left and they ate their late lunch. This time when Claire said she wanted to leave there were no objections. The trip had served its purpose which was to get introduce Claire to other people. A handful of the RIDEs gave Mel advice on how to help Claire deal with her night terrors.

Compared to everything that was happening at the convention shopping was uneventful. However Sam’s idea of shopping hadn’t included the half a dozen specialty stores Claire dragged them into. That aside, it was easy to find clothes for her. Convincing her to buy some of the more feminine ones was impossible. It took a while to talk her into defusing to actually try on different outfits. Her pragmatism about clothes had clearly crossed over with her.

They caught a lucky break, one of shops was run by an Integrate and Sam was able to try on real clothes for the first time in months. Claire refused to entertain anything that had frills or lace. Just about the only feminine clothes she bought were sundresses and a pair of sunhats. Everything else was t-shirts and shorts. As far as she was concerned indefinite leave was the same as retirement, just with better pay.

The entire time they were shopping Claire was doing something on the net. Sam’s fear of the mysterious Cardinal System was the only thing that prevented her from taking a closer peek. After all, just because she could look in on everything digital didn’t mean she should. Everyone was entitled to just as much privacy as she was. Then again, she could always ask.

“Claire, are you going to share the reason you’ve been on the net for the past six hours with the group?”

She was silent for a bit "Swear not tell anyone?"

"On pain of death."

"Therapy," she was blushing "you know I had a nightmare last night. The problem is I've been having them for several months now. They're less frequent now but I'm still having them. Cardinal was helping at first but now its doing more harm than good."

Heather swore "Nobody said you were given a copy of Cardinal."

"They probably didn't think it was important."

"Like Hell it isn't. Who authorized it?"

She shrugged "Romulus something or other."

Heather groaned "Romulus Mengsk?" a nod "That power hungry idiot. Cardinal is designed for rapid tactical analysis not psychiatric care. Do you at least have control over it?"

"Umm..."

Sam frowned "I'm guessing this Mengsk person didn't tell you that you could adjust it."

Claire snorted "He didn't say much of anything about it. I could probably hack it."

"Don't," Mariko said "I'll pass over the control codes so you can disable it, take an image before you adjust it."

"Hopefully Tassidar will throw him out on his ass, politics be damned."

"Um, are you sure its okay for you guys to discuss this in fornt of me?"

"Its useless to anyone else you might know."

Sam briefly thought of Fritz "I'm not sure about that."

"The Bosscat wouldn't be able to do anything useful with the information. Even if he wants Mengsk to stay in power he knows better than to try anything."

"Wait the ZPA knows about Fritz?"

"We've had contact with certain individuals who brought him to our attention. We've been...monitoring the situation ever since."

"We understand you're scared of him but he's just a person. If it came down to a fight the odds are stacked 'against' his favor."

"Easy for you to say." Sam muttered.

[[File:Separator_k.png]]

Claire, stilled Fused with Mel yawned as she woke up the next morning.They had a very productie night in OZ, lots of level grinding with Sam. The boss room had been found and its raid was currently in the early planning stages. Depending on the information the scout teams gathered they might be able to clear it within a few days. But that was just wishful thinking on her part.

With most of Cardinal disabled Claire had been able to download a lucid dreaming app for her implant and get a direct look at her subconscious. If she ever saw Mengsk again he would be subjected to a swift and unbearably painful death. That bastard had tried to use Cardinal to brainwash her into becoming his obedient little puppet.It was easy enough to fix what he had changed and Mel kept meticulous notes on what they found. It was damning enough that he would probably be locked up for the rest of his life.

For the first time since coming back Claire really felt like herself. At breakfast she had a pointless argument with her brother (she lost), pounced on Vinnie, and generally made a minor nuisance of herself. Though she didn't say anything she could feel Mel's approval of the return towards her true normalcy. She knew she could never go all the way back, too much had happened, but she could get close.

Last night they had flown to Cascadia to visit one of Keith's friends and do a little sight seeing before heading back to Aloha. It had been going great until they announced that they were going to let some of the rain through the domes. It wasn't really dangerous, more of a minor annoyance, but it did force them to cut their tour short. They were almost to the aerodome when Claire put a hand on Sam's shoulder.

'':We're being followed.''

Sam checked her sensor '':Doesn't look like it.''

'':Trust me we are, take your parents and get back to The Dawn. I, we, will handle this.''

Sam noticed the hesitation with the pronouns '':Alright.''

It took only a few minutes for them to be out of sight "You can come out now."

From under a nearby awning stepped a red panda Fuser "Corporal Mort and Private Eugene," she shook the offered hand "its a pleasure to meet you ma'am."

A fellow Ghost "Likewise, now let's get down to brass tacks. Why were you following us?"

He offered he a tablet "Emergency orders, direct from Colonel Tiger himself."

"I'm supposed to be on leave. Why didn't he just comm me?"

"He's been trying to."

Claire swore "I bet its something Mengsk imbedded in that copy of Cardinal. We're gonna have to get a full work up done on my implants."

Colonel Tiger Sauer was the founding member and commanding officer of the Ghosts. It had been he who sent her on indefinite leave, after approving her new partner. He was also an Integrate and gave every Ghost a special encryption key. There was no doubt in her or Mel's mind that he was fully aware Claire had family with her right now. If he was giving her direct orders there were no other options.

The mission was a simple extraction operation that required them to stop at the southern end of a mineral formation called the Towers. She wouldn't be required to fight anyone. All she had to do was fly in pick up the fireteam and fly them all out without attracting the attention of the local Enclave.

If Sam hadn’t been watching the entrance she would have missed Claire and Mel’s return. She could tell something was different as soon as they stepped aboard. Her parents didn’t notice Mel’s hardlight fur had become smooth armor.

“There’s been a slight change in our flight plan. Claire and I need to make a work related detour.”

“I thought everything Oz related was in Aloha.” Bobbie said.

“This is ZPA related. Need to pick up a survey team we have out in the Towers. They’re probably going to be tired. So, I want y’all to try and stay out of their way.”

“There might not be anyone for you to pick up. There’s an Enclave in the Towers and they have been known to forcibly remove tethers from RIDEs and they sometimes…encourage Integration in others.”

“Trust me the Enclave has no idea that they’re there. Its more towards the central section so they won't notice us either.”

"I don't know..."

"Sam we were able to sneak up on you and Dominic."

She winced "There's going to be a lot more than just two this time."

Claire/Mel shrugged "Two or 2000, numbers are only important if they're paying attention. Now, I'm going to grab something from my room and then we'll be off."

The trip from Cascadia to the Towers was very short. A straight line flight instead of an parabolic arc. Sam couldn't believe how fast The Dawn was Claire had done some major upgrades from its stock configuration. It was only very strict self-control that kept her from running a deep scan to find out what made her tick. That and Sam was worried that she might expose them if she did.

Claire had the loading ramp open before they even landed. Everything was still and it would have been eerily quiet if the wind stopped. They sat there for ten minutes before she kicked on her stealth and went to go talk to Claire. Except the cockpit was empty. A quick search proved both she and Mel had left The Dawn.

Throwing her worries aside she reached out and pinged Mel on the sidebands. Several seconds passed before Mel pinged her back letting her know she had met with the survey team and they were on their back. Sam walked into the back area and stood right in the entrance her sensors on full alert.

She stood there for fifteen minutes and was about to walk back in when an arm wrapped around her neck. She would've screamed if the a hand hadn't clamped over her mouth. She was quickly dragged backwards into the main cargo area as the ramp closed sealing up the ship.

A man's voice growled in her ear "If I where an enemy you'd be dead." she was released "Come on Probie, Mike and Aug need help with Mosley."

Mosley turned out to be a wounded Bandicoot Integrate being tapped on cheek by a Wombat Fuser "Come on Mosley stay with us!"

She caught the wrist before it could tap against her cheek again "Hit me again and I'll break your wrists."

The Fuser gave a sigh "Thank God you're alright. Ajax, Probie, give me a hand getting her to kitchen."

Ajax turned out to be an LSA black lab Fuser. When Sam made no move to follow he grabbed her wrist and dragged her forward. With a combination of lifter control and hand support they got Mosley settled on the kitchen table. Ajax opened a cabinet and gave a spare sarium battery to Mosley. Why had he called Sam been Probie?

"Where's Claire?" Sam asked, the quiet hum of the lifters answered her question.

"The LT is making sure we get out of here in one piece." Mosely answered "I know we asked for emergency evac but I didn't think they'd send the Ace of Aces herself." she looked over at Sam "Probie, front and center. I thought I knew every female Ghost and recruit we have."

Claire's voice came over their comms' '': Neither, she's my cousin.''

"That explains her lack of reflexes." Ajax said.

"I'm standing right here you know."

'':Where are y'all going to stay when we get to Aloha?'' Mel asked.

'':No idea. We were supposed to be out here for another week.''

"Um you guys can stay at my house." They looked at her. "Well its technically my parents house. But we've got plenty of room for guests."

"You'll have to run it by them first and I don’t think there is anyway they’ll let us stay for a week."

It was the second night after they arrived in Aloha. Ajax (Andrew and his RIDE Jackson), Mosley, Mike and Aug had spent the first day busily preparing their reports and getting some much needed rest. They had most of the day in Oz being brought up to speed on the raid strategy and gathering supplies. They had already spent most of the night out on the town, slowly going from bars up to clubs with Claire getting progressively drunker, probably because she was lounging on Mel’s back when they traveled, her hair now shoulder length.

“I had no idea Claire was a happy drunk.”

“Let’s just hope she stays that way.” Ajax said.

“What do you mean?”

“Pray that you never have to find out.” Mosley muttered as Claire babbled to Mel.

“What language is she speaking anyway?”

“No idea, she must have picked it up on her last assignment.” Aug said

Sam shook her head "We have about two hours till the bars close up for the night, any suggestions."

"Loch Ness, its on 32nd Street." Claire giggled as she motioned its general direction.

Mosley patted her head "No more for you."

Loch Ness turned out to be a rather upscale bar staffed only by marine Fusers. They grabbed seats at the bar proper, Claire half slumping over in hers. The place was surprisingly full for its location and the time of night. They were on their second round of drinks when a musk-ox Fuser walked over and started talking to Claire.

"What's cookin good lookin?" Sam frowned at his Cape Nord accent. "How about I buy you a drink."

Claire giggled "Sure, Edradour on the rocks."

What was she doing? She had agreed she wouldn't have another drink and why was Ajax smirking? Sam looked at the others. Mosley looked resigned while Mike and Aug just looked confused. Clearly the three of them were missing something. Claire's Scotch sat there for a minute before the Fuser said anything.

"Well aren't you going to drink it?"

"Nope, Mosley said no more for me so no more will I drink." she grinned.

He spluttered "But you said I could buy you a drink!"

"And you did, you didn't ask if I could drink it, which I can't." she shrugged.

He frowned "Well, then why don't we go somewhere else and you can have a drink there."

"She said no more so it doesn't matter where. I can't drink any."

"Then how about I take you over to my place. I got a nice hotel room just down the street." He gave her a winning smile.

Claire let out a laugh and patted him on the cheek "You are just to cute, but I'm not that kind of crossrider."She winked at Mosley.

"Then your friend can come to." his grin widened "How about it?"

"Mm, no."

"Aw come on it'll be fun."

Mike/Aug grabbed his arm as he tried drape it around her shoulders "Dude, she said no.

"Stay outta this." The man sneered, jerking his arm free and spilling Claire's Scotch.

Sam blinked and almost missed it. There was a massive crash as Claire slammed the Fuser face first into the bar. They all heard the crunch of metal as his muzzle deformed. He stumbled backwards as Claire stood up. Gone was the happily giggling drunk from a fraction of a second ago.

The man took a swing at her and she just seemed to slide out of the way. He swung again and she slipped around behind him grabbing his tail and yanking him into a spin towards the front. Mosley pinched the bridge of her nose while Ajax was laughing so hard he had fallen out of his seat. She slipped past his strikes again and again before counter attacking. This time Sam missed it because of Mel, but she still heard the rending crash as the man broke through the wall and landed in the street.

Before Claire could another step she was engulfed by Mel. She put her hands over her heart, eyes closed, as she took deep breaths. Sam could hear the blaring of police sirens as the APD showed up.

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[[:Category:Story|Category:Chimera|Transgender|Bear|Anthropomorphic|Dog]]

User:Oddoneout/Ghosts: The Return

2014-02-06T05:06:24Z

Oddoneout:

Sam couldn't believe it she was going to be late for the rendezvous. She couldn't help it that she lost track of time whenever she started navel gazing. Three months ago the young human woman named Samantha Maiuri had integrated with her Malti-Poo RIDE becoming a single techno-organic being. It was only a few hours later that she was snatched up and taken to an Enclave at the edge of the Dry Ocean. For her it was horrible, she wanted to go back to Aloha, top her friends and family. But she wouldn't, she didn't think they would all be able to accept what she had become. So she stayed away from them and slowly began to accept the idea that she was better off that way, after all they were just mech and meat. Now that she was away she was free to fully indulge her guilty pressure of playing MMORPGs.

Which is exactly what she was doing. She crested another hill as the grass have way to stone and the sky grew cloudy, ahead of her the Tower of Dusk reached high into the air. Oz was a fairly new MMO whose servers where run and maintained by a group of Integrates living in Aloha. They were 'very' strict about not letting people use their Intie powers to tip the game in their favor. The game was in a high fantasy setting with a special set of mechanics and to allow for mech and meat to play as a fusing pair. They could be separate when they needed or wanted to be but fusing provided its own advantages and disadvantages.

To everyone in the game Sam appeared as a black furred Malti-poo Fuser dressed in an ornate white and gold robe. Last month she had found a good group of fellow Intie players and joined their clan. Today was important because it was her first true raid boss. She was ecstatic and very glad she had put in the extra time to learn some decent offensive spells. As she jumped to clear a trench she caught sight of a RIDE and its partner before she was yanked downward into the trench.

"Slow down Sam. Let the mechie get beaten, then we'll have our run." The speaker was a heavily armored grizzly bear Integrate in Fuser disguise with a massive sword strapped to his back.

"Dominic's right," a hyena rouge spoke up "this should be good for a laugh if nothing else. It's practically impossible for an Intie to solo The Bone Hoard. There's no way a mechie can manage it even if they were fused."

"Especially with how they've got their settings done." another member spoke up drawing everyone's attention" They have their system assist and feedback canceler's turned off."

"How can anyone play like that? Even we have to use the system assist and without the canceler on things feel a little too real for most people to be comfortable."

"I had a cousin who played MMOs like that," Sam said "but he disappeared years ago."

Dominic asked the obvious question "Did he Integrate?"

She shook her head "I don't think so. He got a government job and we heard from him regularly for a few months. His last message said something about a new assignment, then nothing."

"Have you tried hacking?"

She nodded "His personnel file is there but it’s all dead ends."

He frowned "I'll put out some requests; someone has to know more about what happened to him."

A rattling announced the awakening of The Bone Hoard. The powerful raid boss burst from the ground, a giant serpentine skeleton one hundred meters long with dozens of pairs of legs and a wicked set of pincers. Red light shone from the empty sockets of its triangular head. Equally massive horns adorned its head. The HUD displayed five health bars and with her scanning skill Sam should have been able to see its level. Instead all she saw was a skull, anyone trying to fight it alone would spend more money than they would make, assuming they managed to kill it.

The person was instantly in motion covering the distance to the boss in a matter of seconds. One of its pincers shot forward only to be knocked aside and quickly severed by a plain looking black broadsword. He kept moving and severed the remaining pincer taking out the boss's main weapons and a portion of its first health bar in the process. The Bone Hoard's AI refused to let it settle into a pattern as it constantly adapted. Normally this would give it an enormous advantage, even against raid groups, but ultimately it's ability was rendered useless by one thing, speed. The solo player had been fast to begin with and only got faster as the battle moved into its second minute.

"Look at the HP," Dominic said "Do you see it?"

Sam nodded "Whenever he dodges he uses his free hand for some kind of unarmed DOT counterattack."

In the space of three minutes The Bone Hoard's HP had been cut down to only one and a half bars. It lashed out with one of its remaining legs and a quick follow up by a second leg knocked it from his hand. He jumped away, he had to be fleeing either to rearm or to give up. He did neither, with a shout he charged straight at its head ducking under as it thrust forward in an attempt to swallow him. His right hand shot up and struck the bone plate under its mouth and The Bone Hoard shattered into glittering iridescent blue dust, killed by a single unFused and unassisted player in just over four minutes.

He slouched as he shook out his wrists. His RIDE retrieved the fallen sword. They seemed...subdued, disappointed, like things hadn't gone the way they were hoping. Dominic, as be fitting his status as raid leader, was the first to recover from the shock they had all received. He clambered out of the trench running towards and hailing the mystery duo. Sam followed after him a moment later.

"That was amazing! I've only ever heard of people soloing The Bone Hoard and they didn't do nearly as well as you just did." All true but why was he kissing up to mechie?

Now that Sam was closer she could see their mystery man was actually a mystery woman. She stood about a meter and a half tall. Her white blonde hair was in short pixie cut. The woman's broadsword was indeed the black color Sam had originally thought it was. Her RIDE tags were very unusual. She had a feline nose, the rounded ears of a lion, white fur, goat horns and a black cobra for a tail. Sam shuddered as both pairs of green eyes turned to look at her.

The woman's RIDE was easily the most bizarre mythical Sam had ever seen. She was easily the size of a large horse, marking her as a Heavy class RIDE. Her she had the body and head of a lion with the horns of a goat. Her white fur was the same as her partner's and her black cobra tail was staring intently at Dominic. A large pair of dark iridescent blue bird wings completed her appearance.

Finally the woman sighed "I was nine point three seconds off."

Her ride giggled “Aren’t you the one who’s always saying that it’s just a game Claire?”

Claire frowned “I know but the benchmark gives us a place to start looking.” She gestured and several windows appeared “The more important question is why y’all are here. This area is supposed to be closed off for maintenance. There was a game wide announcement yesterday.”

Dominic stiffened “Um, none of us were on yesterday.”

“They sent out a memo to everyone just in case, you should have gotten it as soon as you logged in.”

“We were all busy prepping for this raid. When I got on I came straight here, didn’t have time to check my messages and since you said this area is closed what are you doing here?”

“Obviously we’re here to perform the maintenance.” Her RIDE deadpanned

“Thank you Mel. Now, I’m going to need your player IDs.”

“So you can ban us?”

She laughed “I could ban you even without them but it’s not my job. I’ll pass the info on to one of the other GMs, they might have given y’all open access to this area. If they didn’t and think you need to be banned they’ll contact you so you can appeal your case.”

“Oh so it’s just that you’re lazy?”

“Yup, now that I can afford to be lazy I’ve gotten to the point where enabling God Mode is too much of a hassle. Easier just to go without and fight my way through. That’s also why I don’t use the assist and have the canceler disabled.” She frowned “But y’all already knew that didn’t you.”

Sam was suddenly nervous. Claire was clearly skilled IRL, how else could she beat a raid boss alone, and she somehow knew they had peeked at her settings. On top of that she was a GM and, Intie or not, could insta-ban them on a whim. Sam had read the message she was talking about and just assumed it was wrong or meant for non-Inties, in hindsight she realized she had just been fooling herself. She liked to think that she didn’t buy into the whole Integrates Ascendant thing at all. But seeing a human deftly manage what would be an extreme and time consuming challenge in mere minutes and then subtly hint that she ''knew'' exactly what they were. Half a dozen members of the raid team suddenly disconnected and Claire shook her head.

“Apparently you people buy into your own press ''way'' too much.” Mel said

“What did you do?” Dominic asked

“It’s not what we did but what they tried to do. Which was hack us. Claire and I have had extensive time to prep for a variety of things, one of the perks of having a forward thinking boss. As such we can easily shut you out when you try and hack us.”

“Hey boss, let’s just give them our IDs and go. No need to start a fight.” The speaker was a burgundy Allosaurus.

“You scared of mech and meat, Durendal?”

“When the flesh alone can kick that much ass? Hell yeah, I’m scared out of my scales right now. Besides Mel's right, this is just a game and it’s supposed to be for fun.” There was a quiet round of agreement “If the other GMs are willing to trust these two then we should too. Since they got the job they must be exceptionally skilled.”

Olivia quirked a smile as she received several data packets “Roland Durendal, you named yourself after the paladin and his sword from the Matter of France?”

He shrugged “I used to study medieval literature as a hobby.”

“Claire,” Mel said “I’ve just finished submitting our report.”

She nodded “Good, unfortunately this is where we all part ways. To everyone who has transmitted their data, thank you for your cooperation. We’ll do our best to make sure you don’t get banned because of your raid leader. Please, direct any further questions to this com code.”

As the two logged out Sam came to a decision, she needed to move out of her Enclave and get away from the supremacy ideas that governed it. Another mage used a group teleport spell to bring them all back to a safe zone so they could all log out. When she opened her eyes in the real world Sam came to a second decision. Rather than another Enclave she would go back to her family, everyone had seen the now famous reunion footage of the Munn family with its long absent Integrate members. So for the first time in months she accessed her lifetime mailbox.

[[File:Separator_k.png]]

Claire Olivia Maiuri groaned as she got up from her cot and stretched after her marathon play session. Across the room Mel yawned as she carefully did the same, mindful of her wings. Their home was the cargo area of The Forward Unto Dawn. The D82-EST Darter was a single deck twenty meter sub-orbital when she returned to Zharus proper just over three months ago. After five hard years her mission had finally ended and she had come home to Zharus.

At the time he had been Stuart Miles Maiuri, a person he no longer wanted to be. Luckily his bonus and hazard pay had made him a small fortune. If he was careful he would never have to work again. Because his dad had worked for Nextux RIDEWorks all his life, the first thing he decided to do was find a RIDE partner.

His post mission handler had suggested he try a small dealership in Nuevo San Antonio. He spent most of the day talking to the occasional RIDE who caught his attention. He had spent most of the day looking when he the owner said he wanted to introduce him to someone. In the back area was a RIDE named Melody, Mel for short.

She was an experimental unit, a Nextus RIDEWorks CMA(f)-ASA-001. The last of the half dozen produced and the only one who's RI had survived the program's termination. The original idea had been a variation on the one introduced by the Sturmhaven WLF-CSA-01As. A secondary RI core in the tail that would manage an extra sensor suite, long range communications, and point defense. The idea was for it to free up extra processing power to allow more accurate targeting and deliver artillery strikes from an unparallelled range. Unfortunately it ran into some of the same problems as the CSAs, the RIs wouldn't link.

In the end the secondary core idea had been scrapped when they succeed in producing a single RI core capable of doing the entire work load. That RI was Mel. The higher ups had been pleased with the results but not enough to overlook the price tag. Between the parts they needed and increased cost for the specialized RI core, it was less than a month after her First Boot that the project was scrapped.

She had honestly expect to have her core destroyed like her predecessors, luckily the RIDEWorks still "owned" her core, DE and weapons package. Rather than let Nextus destroy her, she had been discreetly sold her to their friend who owned the dealership. She had spent her weeks worrying about what would happen to her if Nextus found her. The owner introduced them and after an hour Mel and Stuart had begun discussing where they would live. She had made the suggestion that they get a sub-orbital as a starting point in case they had to run. After all, Nexts had been known to go to lengths to recover things, even if it never belonging to them.

As far as ASA's went she was on the smaller end of the spectrum, in Walker mode she stood at just over two meters and was half a meter taller in Fuser mode. The empty space in her tail's cobra head was retooled to house an extra set of sarium batteries. Her ASA chassis came equipped with two retractable plasma cannons and a particle beam cannon in her mouth.

They had just finished loading up their new D82-EST Darter when Nextus Material Recovery Service showed up to try. Stuart tried to talk them down and provided ample proof that he, and the dealership before him, had legal ownership over Mel and the weapons. When they refused to back down he sent a few messages and started stalling. It didn't take long for him to get a response.

The MRS Officers apologized for their mistake and attempted to make a ''very'' quick exit, promising that it would ''never'' happen again. Claire wouldn’t let them off that easily. She swore to them that if it ''did'' their boss would in serious trouble. Stuart had been employed by the Zharus Planetary Authority to conduct espionage, on Earth.

It was supposed to be a five year mission, seven counting travel, and everything had gone wrong from the first day off the boat. His cover had nearly been blown and it was only quick thinking and a quicker kill that had saved his life. He spent the next three years gathering Intel and practically living underground. After three years they were finally able to extract him. He spent a week being debriefed before they put him on indefinite leave and gave him a nice fat bonus. He had also been given a set of direct comm codes and told that if he needed anything to reach out to them.

Once cleared, she had upgraded her special military cortical implant with quibitite. If she was in trouble she wanted to have the best chance of coming out on top. They spent almost a month traveling around Zharus. When they had been out in the Dry Ocean they ran into a group of Integrates who were looking to hire a temporary GM in their game, Oz.

It was an easy job. Mel and Claire were told to do their best to break everything in game and send their observations on to the Dev Team. Claire began checking her email and flagged several things for her implant to draft responses to before reading one from Sebastian, her ZPA handler. After five years and two months she would finally be able to see her family again. She sent out a flurry of emails letting everyone know she was in Aloha and would be flying to Nextus to see everyone at their family compound.

"Mel, I can finally introduce you to my family."

She perked up "I'll file a flight plan with ATC."

Claire stripped out of her underwear and went to take a shower while her implant began running the pre-flight checks. Everything checked out as she finished her shower, replies coming in as began to dry off. She sighed as she looked through her rather limited wardrobe. She ruled out her beloved combat gear, too many questions. After sorting through her crossover gifts she settled on a yellow sun dress Sebastian had sent her. His note had said she needed something she could 'actually' use instead of the usual gag gifts.

'':Mel, we need something for you to wear. As much fun as it would be to show up in a metal bikini, I don't think my family would like it.''

'':Can it be black? I was thinking of a nice sweater skirt combo.''

'':Sure, it'll match your tail.''

As they fused up Mel felt Claire's nervousness and did her best to comfort her. She reabsorbed the metal-kini anatomically correct RIDEs often wore for decency. Some of her hardlight winked out then came back up projecting her outfit of choice. She had chosen a knee length skirt and loose sleeved sweater complimenting her form and drawing attention up to her face and away from her chest. They stopped in the small kitchen and made a quick lunch of last night's take out before the lifters warmed up.

They sat down in the cockpit as they received a message from ATC approving them for departure. At twenty meters long the D82-EST Darter was a small transport craft. It had a lifting body design and top of the line heat shielding ensuring it could land without the use of its lifters. They had split the cargo area in half, turning the forward section into their living quarters/maintenance area with a bathroom and kitchen.

They taxied out of their hangar and into the civilian departure zone. No one would suspect that their modest little black and white craft was fully stealth capable…or armed. Claire had spared no expense in overhauling their home. The end result had been a ten percent increase in mobility and enough offensive power to take out a large military sub. Sebastian made sure what they were doing was within the letter of the law.

They dropped into virtual for a time compressed lesson as they waited their turn for takeoff. They walked through the basic stances of Claire’s duel sword style. She was critiquing her foot work on the first set of intermediate forms when they had to stop. They quickly began to pick up speed as the lifters’ output increased and the hardlight aero shielding adjusted for maximum speed and lift. The surface fell away beneath them as the sky gradually changed from iridescent blue to a star studded black.

[[File:Separator_k.png]]

Even at top speed, Sam had a long flight to the Aloha aerodrome but it gave her plenty of time to check the outgoing flights. Finally she found one that she could slip onto unnoticed. She slipped into the lobby and boarded the high speed sub. She settled into her seat to wait. She had gotten a surprise when she checked her mail.

Her cousin Stuart had finally turned up and was flying out to Nextus from Aloha. She had already checked and couldn’t find his name on any of the passenger manifests. She had waited five years. She could wait a few more hours. Without a second thought she logged back into Oz.

She had a message from Dominic waiting for her. She read it a few times before deleting it and removing herself from the guild. Now that she realized her emerging bigotry she was going to work hard to get rid of it. Her next order of business was getting to Taft where new players arrived fresh from the tutorial. She had heard rumor of a dungeon hidden beneath the town.

She made her way to the western part of town and stopped at a player owned shop to sell her guild gear. Most of the uniform was inferior to what she had been using before. She smoothed out her red robe and settled its armored plates into place as she re-equipped. Her old Hound Saber was a welcome change from the stereotypical mage staff she had been using for two weeks. The bonuses to her spell were less because of the change but she preferred being a red mage anyway.

She made her way to a massive cathedral. If the rumors were true the entrance to the bonus dungeon was hidden somewhere inside. As soon as she stepped inside she realized that just finding the entrance would be a chore. You could have easily fit a Starmaster into the main worship area. She started by checking the dozens of side rooms for anything odd.

There were a lot more than she thought. It took her the entire flight to thoroughly check half of the side rooms. She sighed as stood up on the sub. If the bonus dungeon did exist the GMs were keeping information about the entrance tightly controlled. It was probably filled with exclusive gear unobtainable anywhere else. Once outside the aerodrome she lifted into the Fuser/scooter traffic lanes and headed for her family's compound on the southern end of city. Sam was ten and a half kilometers away when she got a nasty shock when a familiar grizzly Fuser flew up next to her.

"Sam it’s nice too finally meet you IRL." Dominic said

She stiffened "How did you know?"

He smirked "I didn't. I noticed you decided to leave the guild."

"You said I could leave whenever I wanted. ''You'' said that neither mech nor meat could beat us but that GM this morning, she opened my eyes.” She shook her head “In some ways we are better than meat, but they have us beat in other areas.”

He snorted “Here in the real world they’re nothing compared to us.”

She stopped “Get bent Dominic. I don’t want anything to do with people like you anymore."

He sputtered "I'm trying to help you!" he grabbed her wrist "We are the next step in human evolution. You don't need mech or meat for anything!"

"Let go." a pulse gun formed on her wrist "I'm not afraid to shoot you."

He laughed "Both of your halves were civvie." he whispered "I'm ex-military; your little pop guns won't scratch me."

"How about mine?" a woman's voice asked

A feline hand landed on his head and he heard the whine of charging capacitors. How had she snuck up on him? He instinctively reached out to hack them and had to bite down on his tongue to keep from screaming. He felt thousands of tiny burning bites all over his body before his DIN burnt out. Even without it the sensations persisted and he had to concentrate just to maintain his disguise.

"Ah, you're one of ''those'' people. Too bad your little tricks are less than worthless against us." The speaker was a two and a half meters chimera Fuser. "Now, you can let her go or I can cut you in half."

Dominic felt a chill down his spine. These two were extremely dangerous. The fact that they had snuck up on, not just one but, two Integrates was proof of that. Their tone of voice was casual, like they had all been discussing the weather. His military instincts were screaming at him to run. But his pride as an Integrate wouldn't let him.

"I'm not scared of meat!"

She sighed "Wrong answer."

She lifted her hand and tapped two fingers against his hardlight. His systems suddenly started blaring half a dozen different warnings at him. What had they just done to him?

"Here's a little physics lesson for you. ''Everything'' has a frequency where it will resonate. Under certain conditions it can cause things to build up energy till they literally shake themselves apart. That's what’s happening to your hardlight emitters right now. They’ll fail sometime within the next ten minutes. I suggest that you get as far from Nextus as possible before they do."

They had him backed into a corner. “This isn’t over meat!” He vanished and ignoring how the chimera’s black tail tracked his progress as he flew. He had been completely humiliated. Somehow he would get back that damn mechie.

Sam took the opportunity become invisible and leave as well. She still had ten klicks left to get to the family compound. She quickly covered the remaining distance and landed on the lawn in front of the main house. Her aunts, uncles, cousins, and her mother’s parents were milling about. Her cousin Joseph and Dexter, his coyote RIDE, were talking to her parents. Everyone stopped when she revealed herself.

“Sam? Maria?” her mother asked

Sam nodded “We…I, go by Sam, but yes. It’s me, I’m back.”

She was engulfed by her family. She was given so many hugs and asked so many questions. She had trouble keeping up for a second. She sent the details over to everyone’s RIDEs. After a few minutes of time compressed sharing everyone was caught up.

“So, where’s Stuart?” there was ping on Sam’s sensors

She turned around. Standing several meters behind her was the same chimera Fuser from earlier. She was wearing a loose black sweater and matching knee length skirt. Her wings gave a nervous twitch, like she was trying not to run away. It took a few seconds but RIDE and rider finally seemed to come to an agreement.

The Fuser slowly split open and a young woman in a yellow sun dress stepped onto the lawn. Her white blonde hair was in a pixie cut. She had feline ears, swiveling at every sound and matching nose was twitching at every smell. She nervously thumbed the end of one of her goat horns while her black cobra headed tail curled around in front of her.

She hesitated before saying “Tadaima.”

Sam stared at her in disbelief. She used time compression to replay everything a dozen times to make sure she reached the right conclusion. Since her family lived and breathed crazy it made perfect sense. After all only one person in their family would use Japanese. Claire was her cousin Stuart.

Only one way to be sure "Stuart?"

She grinned nervously "Hey," she sniffed and her eyes widened "Sam you integrated? Last time we spoke you refused to even think about getting a RIDE."

Now it was turn Sam to smile "A lot can happen in five years. Why don't we all go inside?"

"No," Sam's Aunt Cathy, the youngest daughter, spoke up "You can't be Stuart. You can't be my son."

"Cathy." her husband warned

"No Bill, I don't want to hear it! There is no way that woman can be our son!"

"Before I left I got you a sterling silver bracelet. The note I put on it said that no matter what I put you though I wanted you to know how much I loved you."

"This bitch has probably been spying on us." Aunt Gina said "I'll bet she's here to try and scam us."

What little confidence Claire seemed to have built up disappeared. “This was a mistake.” She said as tears began welling up in her eyes before she fused with Mel. Sam and Joseph recovered first. Dexter quickly fusing with his partner.

'':Sam, I believe her. Only my brother, sister, would know that. Aunt Gina is just being a spiteful bitch.''

'':Normally she would lash out and bite right back. Do you think there's something wrong with her?''

'':Maybe, we’re lucky her RIDE wants her to stay.''

'':Yeah, it looks like Mel is trying to calm her down. You guys are with the Marshal right?''

'':We’re Diamond Stars, why?''

'':Can you find out what kind of RIDE Mel is?’’

'':One step ahead of ya. I sent out an inquiry when we saw her enter the property and Dexter just got a match.''

Sam paled '':CMA(f)-ASA-001, skimmer mode is a high speed flier.''

'':I’ve read the report about them, project canceled due to quote unquote budget issues. I hope she isn’t still combat capable.''

'':She is. The only thing she’s missing is her hand carried weapon.''

'':Then let’s count that as a blessing.''

Behind them Gina had continued to spout increasingly caustic and illogical words. At last her Aunt Cathy seemed to remember ''who'' was talking and ignoring her. Everything was starting to fall apart. What should have been a happy family reunion was turning into a feud. As they finally got close enough Mel there was a smack from back on the porch.

“Regina, be quiet.” Geosaffati said to his third daughter.

Geosaffati J. Maiuri Junior, Pawpaw to his friends and family, stepped down from the front porch. The family patriarch eyed his assembled children and grandchildren, eyes settling on Joseph/Dexter, Sam and Claire/Mel. At just over 100 he had seen more than his fair share of fighting, first on Earth and then during the Sturmhaven Nextus War. On Earth, his skills hheld a high level management position and made a fortune in investments.

He was a big broad shouldered man who worked hard to maintain his physical health. What little hair he had left on his head was wispy gray and going white. White furred simian ears twitched atop his head as his tail lashed behind him. Even with his face marred by a frown you could still see the lines etched into it from years of laughing. Behind him stood his RIDE, MKY(m)-LMA-009L, Vinnie.

“Welcome home.”

Claire blinked as she felt a pair of strong arms wrapped around her. She hesitated before she gently reached out and hugged her grandfather. When they separated she took a few deep breaths. She could do this. She ‘’had’’ to do this. After a few seconds they broke part.

“Thanks Pawpaw. Mel, you can let me go now.”

“Aw, does this mean I can’t keep you?” she teased before they defused.

Claire and Mel had obviously spent a lot of time fused. Her nails had begun to narrow and were curved to a slight point. She had the slight beginnings of a muzzle, complete with short whiskers. She even had a slightly feline tongue and her canines were definitely getting longer. The real kicker was the fine layer of white fur that had recently started to cover her; most people missed it because it blended seamlessly with her skin tone.

“We keep each other. We’re partners, equals, and don’t let anyone try and tell you otherwise.”

“I’m glad you found such a good match.” Joseph said “Now let’s go inside. I’m sure y’all have quite the story to tell about working for the Zharus Planetary Authority.”

[[File:Separator_k.png]]

It had taken about an hour for Claire to finish telling her family about her job helping to bust a smuggling ring. That was the cover story she had been given. It would be in all the official records. It was also partially true. She was originally assigned to the Contraband Task force.

"You were on the Contraband Task force? Stu...Claire, that's impressive." Cathy said

"They wanted my eye for detail. You know better than anyone just how good I am at hiding in plain sight." Also true and she had been reassigned.

"So they wanted you to act as an observer?" Dexter asked

"Yeah." Also true.

"Then why have you changed so much? Everything I know about you shows that you were a lot more energetic. It's like you're a completely different person. What happened?" Claire looked away.

Joseph sighed "Sis, we're just trying to help. We can't do that if you won't let us."

Mel sheltered her with a wing "Its okay. Why don't we stay here tonight, hmm?"

"You'll have sleep in the family room. You're old room's been turned into an expansion of the workshop." Vinnie said

Mel started licking her ears "Come on Claire! You can't lie to me. We both want to!"

"Alright. Alright!" she said as she laughed "We can sleep here tonight! No more kitty bath! It tickles!"

"''That's'' why I do it." she said and gave one more sloppy lick "It was more fun when you had long hair."

"Maybe for you."

Mel smiled "I know for a 'fact' one of your favorite pictures is the aftermath of the first tongue bath."

Claire blushed as she slid out from under the wing "Tha-that's because it was the first one! It was a special event."

"Is that why you're grinning like an idiot?"

"I'm not like an idiot."

"Oh? Let me guess you ''are'' an idiot." Mel narrowed her eyes as she got off the RIDE couch.

"Damn right I am." She crossed her arms.

There was a full minute of silence "Well," Bill said "it’s nice to see you acting like yourself again."

Claire blinked and went red, brushing a hand along her right horn. Mel purred as she rubbed up against her. Sam watched all of this from the kitchen as she helped Pawpaw finish preparing dinner. Spaghetti with a three meat sauce, his specialty dish and a family favorite. Mentally, her Maria half was fully expressing itself by worrying over her cousin's biometrics.

"There's something wrong with her." Pawpaw said "Vinnie said her biometrics are wonky. So I know you can see it to."

Sam sighed "Maria thinks so too. I would've missed it if she hadn't split off to point it out."

He nodded "How is she?"

Sam frowned "That's part of the problem. We can't tell."

He chuckled "Not Claire, Maria. I don't know how Integration works but I know she's forever part of you now."

"Oh," she flushed at her blunder "never better, but she still wants a proper weapon. I've read some stuff about how it 'might' be possible to get one. But if get caught or something goes wrong I'd be in really deep trouble."

"Fritz, right?"

"How did you know?"

He smiled "Dear, I know people and he ''isn't'' as omnipotent as he wants everyone to believe. Besides that, there are other people you could ask for help. Especially if you're going back to live with your folks in Aloha. I know the Marshals have hired a lot of Integrates so you might be able to ask Joseph for some comm codes." he stepped into the doorway “Alright everyone time to eat.”

There is only one word that can be used to describe dinner with the Maiuri family, loud. Of the seventeen people, Joseph and Michael were the only two louder than the assembled mothers. It may have been louder than Claire liked but its familiarity was a welcome comfort. She noticed that Sam deliberately sat next to her. The paranoid part of her thought it was a statement about how she was probably going to be the next one to ‘ascend’.

"So Cous, I noticed you have some heavy fuse signs."

"Mel is a lot of RIDE for someone to handle."

“So…have you two considered…Integrating?” Sam asked.

Mel groaned from the other room “You know Claire ''killed'' the last person who asked us that right?”

“I only did that because she was trying to force it onto us. Besides we both know he probably survived.”

“Not for lack of trying on your part.”

She put her elbow on the table and rested her chin on her hand “If he had held still for another half a second I could’ve destroyed his brain and…what?” The table had gone silent “It was self-defense.”

“Based on the intel we have now I think ''pest control'' is a better term."

Sam couldn’t keep the disbelief out of her voice “Back up, you two walked away from a fanatic without being Integrated, how?”

“By frying his DIN port, shelling him from fifteen hundred kilometers and destroying sixty-seven percent of his body mass.” At Sam's incredulous look she shrugged and started twirling her loaded fork between her fingers "You asked."

Sam stared at the fork. "All things considered you are an excellent shot, but I recommend sticking to CQC." Mel said

She had seen before, it was a nervous habit. "So we should practice by taking pot shots at the Rodinian Nature Preserve? Aim for the deadest looking trees?"

Replace the fork with a knife. "Rohit would be pissed when she found out."

Claire had been telling half-truths "You mean if."

She was supposed to be on the task force but had done something else instead. "No, I mean ''when''. Someone will notice and she would be able to trace it back to us. I'd rather not have ‘'her'’ angry with us, pacifist or not."

Sam cleared her throat "All of this is very interesting but you still haven't answered my question."

She sighed "We have thought about it. For now it's not for us, maybe someday but it'll be because it’s what we want."

Sam nodded "Glad to hear that you aren't planning on rushing into it. Being an Integrate is nice, but it has its drawbacks."

"Like the fact that your leaders are all the bad kind of crazy."

"Among other problems, yes. On the subject of supremacists I'd like to know what you did to Dominic."

"He a friend of yours?"

She snorted "Not anymore."

Claire blinked “Alright, you’ll have to be more specific.”

“When he tried to hack you.”

“Oh that," she ate her forkful of spaghetti "not much to tell, I have a special program called Cardinal.”

“And…?” Sam asked.

She shrugged “That’s all I know.”

Sam groaned “You’re kidding.”

“Nope, the rest of the information is above my pay grade.”

At this point the rest of the table had returned to normal conversation. Claire and her father got into a discussion about RIDE maintenance. He really wanted a chance to give Mel a once over. It was strictly out of professional curiosity. Mel accepted the offer on the condition that it be performed at their house with their tools, a perfectly reasonable request.

They asked about Claire's co-workers on the task force, more half-truths. They asked about her crossrider party and the gifts she received, most were surprisingly useful. Why she had waited so long to contact them, she had been told to by her handler. What Sebastian, her handler, was like and why she even needed one. She said to keep her safe, a straight lie.

Regina wanted to know if Claire would be moving back to Nextus, no way in Hell. Then she wanted to know if Claire was planning to live in Sturmhaven like her. This earned a string of words in a language no one could identify and a small rant about idiotic feminists. When Claire had first returned to Zharus a Valkyrie had tried to force herself on him. Marshal intervention was the only thing that had prevented a fight from breaking out.

Right now they were living out of their sub. They were usually docked at the Aloha aerodome since they were working for Oz. Sam and Bobbie wanted to know more about that. Bobbie was a programmer and as always interested in learning more. Bobbie's hare and Keith's deer were both on their way back from running out to pick up dessert.

“I heard there’s a dungeon in Taft.” Sam said

“That’s right. A hundred sub-basements beneath a church, each one is a microcosm unto itself. We just made it down to the seventy-fourth yesterday.”

“It took you two months?”

“I spent sixty hours power leveling before I could start that dungeon. You could make it pretty far at your current level, but it would be time consuming.”

“Do you have any suggestions?”

“Once you find the entrance there’ll probably be some people you can party with, or you can go with me. Though, you’ll still have to find the entrance on your own.”

She groaned “I spent my sub flight over checking the side rooms and found nothing.”

“Sorry Cous, that’s the way it is. I’ll meet you there later.”

She shrugged “Alright, it’s not like I have anything better to do.”

“You could find a job.” Her mother said

Sam harrumphed. If she was looking for a job her best bet a Fuser based establishment, like a Fuser bar. She didn’t mind going back into that line of work. She might even go back to school. Online classes had a lot more appeal to her now. But it wouldn't do her any good if she just cheated her way through.

A few hours after dinner Claire was finally able to log into Oz and meet Sam in Taft. One second the room was empty, the next Claire was sitting in one the pews with Mel sprawled in the aisle. Sam had spent the entire time searching the church's remaining side rooms. She quirked an eyebrow but didn't say anything as she went back to searching. Half an hour later she sat down and leaned back against the alter, only to yelp as it slid backwards.

Sam sighed "Beneath the alter, how cliched."

"The entrance is different for everyone, but it’s always literally in the last place you look. That's why I couldn't help you find it."

"So I have to search this place every time?"

"Once you reach the first town it gives you a teleport spell. You can also use it to travel between the various floors."

They were able to start off on the fiftieth floor dungeon. Claire played as the forward guard drawing in the attention of the mobs and letting Sam get bonus xp and special items for killing them. The few times she attacked her blade would cut down groups at a time. When they reached the fifty fifth floor Claire took her to a blacksmith for new gear and upgrades. They spent the next several hours traipsing through the floor dungeons until they reached the seventy fourth floor.

By the time they got there Sam was several levels higher and had replaced most of her gear thrice over. They met up with other players along the way, several of which made no attempt to hide their Integrate status behind disguises. Sam soon joined them reveling in the new found freedom. The others shared stories about various raids, trades, duels and integrations. They made it halfway back to town before she noticed Claire and Mel were gone.

She dropped back into the real world and noticed her internal chronometer said it was close to four in the morning. They had probably logged out to go to sleep and she just hadn't been paying attention. She quietly stretched as she went down to the kitchen to get a snack. On her way back she peeked into the family room. Mel was lying awake in the middle of the room, her head resting on her paws. Claire was fast asleep on her back, half her face buried in Mel's scruff like it was a fuzzy living pillow.

As she turned to go back upstairs she heard the faintest of whimpers. She looked back and saw Claire start to twitch in her sleep as she whimpered again. Mel looked concerned as she shifted, trying to make her more comfortable without waking her up. When the whimpering continued, a part of Sam realized that she was intruding on something very 'very' private. The instant Claire began to thrash Mel fused up around her, staying on hands and knees as she interrupted whatever figment was tormenting Claire.

Sam watched as the Fuser took several deep breathes before curling up on the RIDE couch and seemingly going to sleep. She quietly returned to her room, never once noticing that the eyes of the cobra tail had been watching her the entire time. Everything about her cousin's odd behavior confirmed her theory. Something terrible had happened to Claire.

[[File:Separator_k.png]]

The first thing Sam noticed when she came down for breakfast was the twenty meter sub-orbital parked in the backyard. A quick query showed it was registered to, and owned by, Claire. She grabbed a bowl of cereal to eat as she went outside to take a closer look. When she stepped outside she could hear the voices coming from inside it.

"It's good to see you, I would've been here last night but I got caught up at the office."

"It’s okay, thanks for the crossover gift."

She laughed "I bet it got some strange looks when you opened it, but I always thought the traditional gifts were a little dumb."

As she stepped into the sub Sam recognized her older cousin Heather. The petite wolverine tagged ZPA employee was still half a head shorter than Claire. Her brown ears were almost completely hidden by her shoulder length dirty blonde hair. Sam heard the end of the comm discussion the two of them were secretly having as Heather broke the hug she had on Claire.

'':I'm sorry, if I had known where they were sending you I wouldn't have put your name up as a possible for The Ghosts.''

'':It’s okay, from what I heard I'd be dead if I had stayed with the task force.''

'':Still.''

"Heather allow me to reintroduce you to our cousin Samantha and her RIDE Maria."

Before she could blink Heather had wrapped her in a bone crushing hug. "Look at you two, all Integrated and furry!"

She returned the gesture "Thanks, what are The Ghosts?"

That wiped the smiles off their faces "Classified, and don't even try to dig up information on it. Integrate or not you won't find anything."

"Alright, alright you don't need to go biting my head off. Where are Mariko and Mel?"

"Over here." Mel called from the other room "Your Uncle was just finishing his inspection."

Bill shook his head as Mel was released from the cradle "You have an excellent chassis, looks like it could take just about anything. Like those wings, they weren't in the original design. At least not any of the drafts I’ve seen."

"I felt like I was in the wrong body. We tried a bunch of things but it wasn't until we were in Rodinia that we found an answer. They used a winged lioness as one of my bases."

He nodded recognizing the symptoms of body diaspora "Installing micro solar panels for solid state feathers, pretty clever idea."

"Glad you like, it was Claire's."

"It’s nice being on indefinite leave, lots of time to travel and just relax." Claire turned to Heather "Earlier you said there was some sort of convention I might like to go to?"

"That's right; it’s a convention for people with ASA RIDEs. Kind of like a RIDE or skimmer show, you can meet lots of people and learn more about maintenance and stuff. I thought it might do you some good to spend time with people you aren't related to."

"I do that in Oz."

She gave Sam a pleading look "You've been having nightmares."

She looked away "Maybe."

"There might be people who can help you."

"Claire," Heather put a hand on her shoulder "you're not alone anymore. If you're still having nightmares let us help you. At the very least let Mel help, she's your partner for crying out loud."

"I know that." she snapped "At least, I do intellectually. I'm trying but it’s not easy, it’s a hard
habit to break after three years."

Sam sighed "Let's make a deal. I had planned to take you shopping today, that dress is probably one of the few outfits you can actually use." Claire's blush confirmed this "So we'll go to the Con with you and, when you want to leave, we'll take you shopping for some real clothes. Deal?"

Claire groaned "Fine, you've got me backed into a corner."

Sam waved at her "And that's why I'm your favorite."

"Besides," she smirked "I could use proper pair of sweats anyway."

Now it was Sam's turn to groan as she punched Claire's shoulder. Stuart had never understood the appeal of being fashionably dressed. Ironically this had an incredible fashion sense, he could look downright amazing if he wanted to. But he would much rather run around in comfortable clothing regardless of whether or not was in style or matched.

Within an hour the five of them were on their way to the largest convention center in the polity. Artillery Support Armor was a bit of misnomer. The classification included everything from gunships and indirect fire to low orbit bombardment and sniper style direct fire units. This broad range meant they were also produced in an equal large range of sizes, mostly on the larger end of the scale. Thus they needed a convention center whenever they wanted to gather in large groups.

There were thousands of people and RIDEs packed into the center. They were even able to spot a few Integrates taking advantage of the crowd to wander around exposed to the world. They ended up meeting up with a few veterans of Nextus-Sturmhaven war. Whenever Mel was noticed she immediately became the center of attention and received everything from sympathy and comm codes to death threats.

Claire had just sat down in the food court when a hand landed on her shoulder "Excuse me ma'am," a feminine voice said "but it’s important that I speak to you."

Her tail hissed as it examined the woman behind her. She yanked her hand back in surprise, badger ears flattening. The fact that she didn't step away from Claire said she was used to getting what she wanted. Her accent marked her as belonging to the upper levels of the Nextus government.

Claire sighed "About what?" Why did Sam and Heather have to get food now.

"That RIDE belongs to you right? My superiors in the MRS want me to demand its return."

Mel growled "We're partners, we belong to each other. A few months I ago I had to send some of your co-workers packing."

She snorted "I heard about that."

"Lieutenant Colonel Steele, how nice to see you again." Heather, Fused with Mariko, walked over with a tray of food.

"D-Director, I...I didn't see you there."

"Oh course you didn't,” she sat down "I just got back with our food." she pushed out a chair "Please, sit down." It wasn't a request. "This is the second time Nextus has harassed one of my operatives. I thought I made it clear what would happen if this continued, regardless of 'who' was doing the harassing."

“I understand, but my superiors obviously don't." she pinched the bridge of her nose "This was supposed to be my weekend off, got it approved months ago. I just wanted to come here and enjoy the time with other people with ASAs. Then I got a call an hour ago and was told that facial rec placed you here and was given orders to try and convince you to hand you RIDE over to me."

"How long have you been partnered?"

She smiled tiredly "Fifteen years now, she’s a BDR(f)-ASA-014W. She ran into some of her friends who’ve already mustered put. I think this whole debacle is a sign that we should tender our resignation.”

“Any idea why your top brass is so interested in Mel?”

“Not a clue, someone in the military or one of the upper tiers might be putting them up to it. You know quid pro quo.”

Claire grunted “I ‘hate’ career politicians.”

There was a murmur of agreement “Well, I’ve bothered you enough.” Steele offered her hand and Claire shook it. “I’m going to find Cressa and get back to enjoying the convention.”

Sam showed up shortly after Steele left and they ate their late lunch. This time when Claire said she wanted to leave there were no objections. The trip had served its purpose which was to get introduce Claire to other people. A handful of the RIDEs gave Mel advice on how to help Claire deal with her night terrors.

Compared to everything that was happening at the convention shopping was uneventful. However Sam’s idea of shopping hadn’t included the half a dozen specialty stores Claire dragged them into. That aside, it was easy to find clothes for her. Convincing her to buy some of the more feminine ones was impossible. It took a while to talk her into defusing to actually try on different outfits. Her pragmatism about clothes had clearly crossed over with her.

They caught a lucky break, one of shops was run by an Integrate and Sam was able to try on real clothes for the first time in months. Claire refused to entertain anything that had frills or lace. Just about the only feminine clothes she bought were sundresses and a pair of sunhats. Everything else was t-shirts and shorts. As far as she was concerned indefinite leave was the same as retirement, just with better pay.

The entire time they were shopping Claire was doing something on the net. Sam’s fear of the mysterious Cardinal System was the only thing that prevented her from taking a closer peek. After all, just because she could look in on everything digital didn’t mean she should. Everyone was entitled to just as much privacy as she was. Then again, she could always ask.

“Claire, are you going to share the reason you’ve been on the net for the past six hours with the group?”

She was silent for a bit "Swear not tell anyone?"

"On pain of death."

"Therapy," she was blushing "you know I had a nightmare last night. The problem is I've been having them for several months now. They're less frequent now but I'm still having them. Cardinal was helping at first but now its doing more harm than good."

Heather swore "Nobody said you were given a copy of Cardinal."

"They probably didn't think it was important."

"Like Hell it isn't. Who authorized it?"

She shrugged "Romulus something or other."

Heather groaned "Romulus Mengsk?" a nod "That power hungry idiot. Cardinal is designed for rapid tactical analysis not psychiatric care. Do you at least have control over it?"

"Umm..."

Sam frowned "I'm guessing this Mengsk person didn't tell you that you could adjust it."

Claire snorted "He didn't say much of anything about it. I could probably hack it."

"Don't," Mariko said "I'll pass over the control codes so you can disable it, take an image before you adjust it."

"Hopefully Tassidar will throw him out on his ass, politics be damned."

"Um, are you sure its okay for you guys to discuss this in fornt of me?"

"Its useless to anyone else you might know."

Sam briefly thought of Fritz "I'm not sure about that."

"The Bosscat wouldn't be able to do anything useful with the information. Even if he wants Mengsk to stay in power he knows better than to try anything."

"Wait the ZPA knows about Fritz?"

"We've had contact with certain individuals who brought him to our attention. We've been...monitoring the situation ever since."

"We understand you're scared of him but he's just a person. If it came down to a fight the odds are stacked 'against' his favor."

"Easy for you to say." Sam muttered.

[[File:Separator_k.png]]

Claire, stilled Fused with Mel yawned as she woke up the next morning.They had a very productie night in OZ, lots of level grinding with Sam. The boss room had been found and its raid was currently in the early planning stages. Depending on the information the scout teams gathered they might be able to clear it within a few days. But that was just wishful thinking on her part.

With most of Cardinal disabled Claire had been able to download a lucid dreaming app for her implant and get a direct look at her subconscious. If she ever saw Mengsk again he would be subjected to a swift and unbearably painful death. That bastard had tried to use Cardinal to brainwash her into becoming his obedient little puppet.It was easy enough to fix what he had changed and Mel kept meticulous notes on what they found. It was damning enough that he would probably be locked up for the rest of his life.

For the first time since coming back Claire really felt like herself. At breakfast she had a pointless argument with her brother (she lost), pounced on Vinnie, and generally made a minor nuisance of herself. Though she didn't say anything she could feel Mel's approval of the return towards her true normalcy. She knew she could never go all the way back, too much had happened, but she could get close.

Last night they had flown to Cascadia to visit one of Keith's friends and do a little sight seeing before heading back to Aloha. It had been going great until they announced that they were going to let some of the rain through the domes. It wasn't really dangerous, more of a minor annoyance, but it did force them to cut their tour short. They were almost to the aerodome when Claire put a hand on Sam's shoulder.

'':We're being followed.''

Sam checked her sensor '':Doesn't look like it.''

'':Trust me we are, take your parents and get back to The Dawn. I, we, will handle this.''

Sam noticed the hesitation with the pronouns '':Alright.''

It took only a few minutes for them to be out of sight "You can come out now."

From under a nearby awning stepped a red panda Fuser "Corporal Mort and Private Eugene," she shook the offered hand "its a pleasure to meet you ma'am."

A fellow Ghost "Likewise, now let's get down to brass tacks. Why were you following us?"

He offered he a tablet "Emergency orders, direct from Colonel Tiger himself."

"I'm supposed to be on leave. Why didn't he just comm me?"

"He's been trying to."

Claire swore "I bet its something Mengsk imbedded in that copy of Cardinal. We're gonna have to get a full work up done on my implants."

Colonel Tiger Sauer was the founding member and commanding officer of the Ghosts. It had been he who sent her on indefinite leave, after approving her new partner. He was also an Integrate and gave every Ghost a special encryption key. There was no doubt in her or Mel's mind that he was fully aware Claire had family with her right now. If he was giving her direct orders there were no other options.

The mission was a simple extraction operation that required them to stop at the southern end of a mineral formation called the Towers. She wouldn't be required to fight anyone. All she had to do was fly in pick up the fireteam and fly them all out without attracting the attention of the local Enclave.

If Sam hadn’t been watching the entrance she would have missed Claire and Mel’s return. She could tell something was different as soon as they stepped aboard. Her parents didn’t notice Mel’s hardlight fur had become smooth armor.

“There’s been a slight change in our flight plan. Claire and I need to make a work related detour.”

“I thought everything Oz related was in Aloha.” Bobbie said.

“This is ZPA related. Need to pick up a survey team we have out in the Towers. They’re probably going to be tired. So, I want y’all to try and stay out of their way.”

“There might not be anyone for you to pick up. There’s an Enclave in the Towers and they have been known to forcibly remove tethers from RIDEs and they sometimes…encourage Integration in others.”

“Trust me the Enclave has no idea that they’re there. Its more towards the central section so they won't notice us either.”

"I don't know..."

"Sam we were able to sneak up on you and Dominic."

She winced "There's going to be a lot more than just two this time."

Claire/Mel shrugged "Two or 2000, numbers are only important if they're paying attention. Now, I'm going to grab something from my room and then we'll be off."

The trip from Cascadia to the Towers was very short. A straight line flight instead of an parabolic arc. Sam couldn't believe how fast The Dawn was Claire had done some major upgrades from its stock configuration. It was only very strict self-control that kept her from running a deep scan to find out what made her tick. That and Sam was worried that she might expose them if she did.

Claire had the loading ramp open before they even landed. Everything was still and it would have been eerily quiet if the wind stopped. They sat there for ten minutes before she kicked on her stealth and went to go talk to Claire. Except the cockpit was empty. A quick search proved both she and Mel had left The Dawn.

Throwing her worries aside she reached out and pinged Mel on the sidebands. Several seconds passed before Mel pinged her back letting her know she had met with the survey team and they were on their back. Sam walked into the back area and stood right in the entrance her sensors on full alert.

She stood there for fifteen minutes and was about to walk back in when an arm wrapped around her neck. She would've screamed if the a hand hadn't clamped over her mouth. She was quickly dragged backwards into the main cargo area as the ramp closed sealing up the ship.

A man's voice growled in her ear "If I where an enemy you'd be dead." she was released "Come on Probie, Mike and Aug need help with Mosley."

Mosley turned out to be a wounded Bandicoot Integrate being tapped on cheek by a Wombat Fuser "Come on Mosley stay with us!"

She caught the wrist before it could tap against her cheek again "Hit me again and I'll break your wrists."

The Fuser gave a sigh "Thank God you're alright. Ajax, Probie, give me a hand getting her to kitchen."

Ajax turned out to be an LSA black lab Fuser. When Sam made no move to follow he grabbed her wrist and dragged her forward. With a combination of lifter control and hand support they got Mosley settled on the kitchen table. Ajax opened a cabinet and gave a spare sarium battery to Mosley. Why had he called Sam been Probie?

"Where's Claire?" Sam asked, the quiet hum of the lifters answered her question.

"The LT is making sure we get out of here in one piece." Mosely answered "I know we asked for emergency evac but I didn't think they'd send the Ace of Aces herself." she looked over at Sam "Probie, front and center. I thought I knew every female Ghost and recruit we have."

Claire's voice came over their comms' '': Neither, she's my cousin.''

"That explains her lack of reflexes." Ajax said.

"I'm standing right here you know."

'':Where are y'all going to stay when we get to Aloha?'' Mel asked.

'':No idea. We were supposed to be out here for another week.''

"Um you guys can stay at my house." They looked at her. "Well its technically my parents house. But we've got plenty of room for guests."

"You'll have to run it by them first and I don’t think there is anyway they’ll let us stay for a week."

It was the second night after they arrived in Aloha. Ajax (Andrew and his RIDE Jackson), Mosley, Mike and Aug had spent the first day busily preparing their reports and getting some much needed rest. They had most of the day in Oz being brought up to speed on the raid strategy and gathering supplies. They had already spent most of the night out on the town, slowly going from bars up to clubs with Claire getting progressively drunker, probably because she was lounging on Mel’s back when they traveled, her hair now shoulder length.

“I had no idea Claire was a happy drunk.”

“Let’s just hope she stays that way.” Ajax said.

“What do you mean?”

“Pray that you never have to find out.” Mosley muttered as Claire babbled to Mel.

“What language is she speaking anyway?”

“No idea, she must have picked it up on her last assignment.” Aug said

Sam shook her head "We have about two hours till the bars close up for the night, any suggestions."

"Loch Ness, its on 32nd Street." Claire giggled as she motioned its general direction.

Mosley patted her head "No more for you."

Loch Ness turned out to be a rather upscale bar staffed only by marine Fusers. They grabbed seats at the bar proper, Claire half slumping over in hers. The place was surprisingly full for its location and the time of night. They were on their second round of drinks when a musk-ox Fuser walked over and started talking to Claire.

"What's cookin good lookin?" Sam frowned at his Cape Nord accent. "How about I buy you a drink."

Claire giggled "Sure, Edradour on the rocks."

What was she doing? She had agreed she wouldn't have another drink and why was Ajax smirking? Sam looked at the others. Mosley looked resigned while Mike and Aug just looked confused. Clearly the three of them were missing something. Claire's Scotch sat there for a minute before the Fuser said anything.

"Well aren't you going to drink it?"

"Nope, Mosley said no more for me so no more will I drink." she grinned.

He spluttered "But you said I could buy you a drink!"

"And you did, you didn't ask if I could drink it, which I can't." she shrugged.

He frowned "Well, then why don't we go somewhere else and you can have a drink there."

"She said no more so it doesn't matter where. I can't drink any."

"Then how about I take you over to my place. I got a nice hotel room just down the street." He gave her a winning smile.

Claire let out a laugh and patted him on the cheek "You are just to cute, but I'm not that kind of crossrider."She winked at Mosley.

"Then your friend can come to." his grin widened "How about it?"

"Mm, no."

"Aw come on it'll be fun."

Mike/Aug grabbed his arm as he tried drape it around her shoulders "Dude, she said no.

"Stay outta this." The man sneered, jerking his arm free and spilling Claire's Scotch.

Sam blinked and almost missed it. There was a massive crash as Claire slammed the Fuser face first into the bar. They all heard the crunch of metal as his muzzle deformed. He stumbled backwards as Claire stood up. Gone was the happily giggling drunk from a fraction of a second ago.

The man took a swing at her and she just seemed to slide out of the way. He swung again and she slipped around behind him grabbing his tail and yanking him into a spin towards the front. Mosley pinched the bridge of her nose while Ajax was laughing so hard he had fallen out of his seat. She slipped past his strikes again and again before counter attacking. This time Sam missed it because of Mel, but she still heard the rending crash as the man broke through the wall and landed in the street.

Before Claire could another step she was engulfed by Mel. She put her hands over her heart, eyes closed, as she took deep breaths. Sam could hear the blaring of police sirens as the APD showed up.

{{series bar
|series=Ghost's of Zharus
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[[:Category:Story|Category:Chimera|Transgender|Bear|Anthropomorphic|Dog]]

User talk:JonBuck

2014-02-06T05:05:25Z

Oddoneout: Would like to be an Author

User:Oddoneout

2014-02-06T04:59:42Z

Oddoneout: Doing away with a redirect.

Hello, new here. Hoping to learn the ropes and post a story eventually.

[[Ghosts: The Return]]

ZPA The Return

2014-02-06T04:58:15Z

Oddoneout: Oddoneout moved page ZPA The Return to Ghosts: The Return: Settled on a better name for the series

#REDIRECT [[Ghosts: The Return]]

User:Oddoneout/Ghosts: The Return

2014-02-06T04:58:15Z

Oddoneout: Oddoneout moved page ZPA The Return to Ghosts: The Return: Settled on a better name for the series

Sam couldn't believe it she was going to be late for the rendezvous. She couldn't help it that she lost track of time whenever she started navel gazing. Three months ago the young human woman named Samantha Maiuri had integrated with her Malti-Poo RIDE becoming a single techno-organic being. It was only a few hours later that she was snatched up and taken to an Enclave at the edge of the Dry Ocean. For her it was horrible, she wanted to go back to Aloha, top her friends and family. But she wouldn't, she didn't think they would all be able to accept what she had become. So she stayed away from them and slowly began to accept the idea that she was better off that way, after all they were just mech and meat. Now that she was away she was free to fully indulge her guilty pressure of playing MMORPGs.

Which is exactly what she was doing. She crested another hill as the grass have way to stone and the sky grew cloudy, ahead of her the Tower of Dusk reached high into the air. Oz was a fairly new MMO whose servers where run and maintained by a group of Integrates living in Aloha. They were 'very' strict about not letting people use their Intie powers to tip the game in their favor. The game was in a high fantasy setting with a special set of mechanics and to allow for mech and meat to play as a fusing pair. They could be separate when they needed or wanted to be but fusing provided its own advantages and disadvantages.

To everyone in the game Sam appeared as a black furred Malti-poo Fuser dressed in an ornate white and gold robe. Last month she had found a good group of fellow Intie players and joined their clan. Today was important because it was her first true raid boss. She was ecstatic and very glad she had put in the extra time to learn some decent offensive spells. As she jumped to clear a trench she caught sight of a RIDE and its partner before she was yanked downward into the trench.

"Slow down Sam. Let the mechie get beaten, then we'll have our run." The speaker was a heavily armored grizzly bear integrate in Fuser disguise with a massive sword strapped to his back.

"Dominic's right," a hyena rouge spoke up "this should be good for a laugh if nothing else. It's practically impossible for an Intie to solo The Bone Hoard. There's no way a mechie can manage it even if they were fused."

"Especially with how they've got their settings done." another member spoke up drawing everyone's attention" They have their system assist and feedback canceler's turned off."

"How can anyone play like that? Even we have to use the system assist and without the canceler on things feel a little too real for most people to be comfortable."

"I had a cousin who played MMOs like that," Sam said "but he disappeared years ago."

Dominic asked the obvious question "Did he Integrate?"

She shook her head "I don't think so. He got a government job and we heard from him regularly for a few months. His last message said something about a new assignment, then nothing."

"Have you tried hacking?"

She nodded "His personnel file is there but it’s all dead ends."

He frowned "I'll put out some requests; someone has to know more about what happened to him."

A rattling announced the awakening of The Bone Hoard. The powerful raid boss burst from the ground, a giant serpentine skeleton one hundred meters long with dozens of pairs of legs and a wicked set of pincers. Red light shone from the empty sockets of its triangular head. Equally massive horns adorned its head. The HUD displayed five health bars and with her scanning skill Sam should have been able to see its level. Instead all she saw was a skull, anyone trying to fight it alone would spend more money than they would make, assuming they managed to kill it.

The person was instantly in motion covering the distance to the boss in a matter of seconds. One of its pincers shot forward only to be knocked aside and quickly severed by a plain looking black broadsword. He kept moving and severed the remaining pincer taking out the boss's main weapons and a portion of its first health bar in the process. The Bone Hoard's AI refused to let it settle into a pattern as it constantly adapted. Normally this would give it an enormous advantage, even against raid groups, but ultimately it's ability was rendered useless by one thing, speed. The solo player had been fast to begin with and only got faster as the battle moved into its second minute.

"Look at the HP," Dominic said "Do you see it?"

Sam nodded "Whenever he dodges he uses his free hand for some kind of unarmed DOT counterattack."

In the space of three minutes The Bone Hoard's HP had been cut down to only one and a half bars. It lashed out with one of its remaining legs and a quick follow up by a second leg knocked it from his hand. He jumped away, he had to be fleeing either to rearm or to give up. He did neither, with a shout he charged straight at its head ducking under as it thrust forward in an attempt to swallow him. His right hand shot up and struck the bone plate under its mouth and The Bone Hoard shattered into glittering iridescent blue dust, killed by a single unFused and unassisted player in just over four minutes.

He slouched as he shook out his wrists. His RIDE retrieved the fallen sword. They seemed...subdued, disappointed, like things hadn't gone the way they were hoping. Dominic, as be fitting his status as raid leader, was the first to recover from the shock they had all received. He clambered out of the trench running towards and hailing the mystery duo. Sam followed after him a moment later.

"That was amazing! I've only ever heard of people soloing The Bone Hoard and they didn't do nearly as well as you just did." All true but why was he kissing up to mechie?

Now that Sam was closer she could see their mystery man was actually a mystery woman. She stood about a meter and a half tall. Her white blonde hair was in short pixie cut. The woman's broadsword was indeed the black color Sam had originally thought it was. Her RIDE tags were very unusual. She had a feline nose, the rounded ears of a lion, white fur, goat horns and a black cobra for a tail. Sam shuddered as both pairs of green eyes turned to look at her.

The woman's RIDE was easily the most bizarre mythical Sam had ever seen. She was easily the size of a large horse, marking her as a Heavy class RIDE. Her she had the body and head of a lion with the horns of a goat. Her white fur was the same as her partner's and her black cobra tail was staring intently at Dominic. A large pair of dark iridescent blue bird wings completed her appearance.

Finally the woman sighed "I was nine point three seconds off."

Her ride giggled “Aren’t you the one who’s always saying that it’s just a game Claire?”

Claire frowned “I know but the benchmark gives us a place to start looking.” She gestured and several windows appeared “The more important question is why y’all are here. This area is supposed to be closed off for maintenance. There was a game wide announcement yesterday.”

Dominic stiffened “Um, none of us were on yesterday.”

“They sent out a memo to everyone just in case, you should have gotten it as soon as you logged in.”

“We were all busy prepping for this raid. When I got on I came straight here, didn’t have time to check my messages and since you said this area is closed what are you doing here?”

“Obviously we’re here to perform the maintenance.” Her RIDE deadpanned

“Thank you Mel. Now, I’m going to need your player IDs.”

“So you can ban us?”

She laughed “I could ban you even without them but it’s not my job. I’ll pass the info on to one of the other GMs, they might have given y’all open access to this area. If they didn’t and think you need to be banned they’ll contact you so you can appeal your case.”

“Oh so it’s just that you’re lazy?”

“Yup, now that I can afford to be lazy I’ve gotten to the point where enabling God Mode is too much of a hassle. Easier just to go without and fight my way through. That’s also why I don’t use the assist and have the canceler disabled.” She frowned “But y’all already knew that didn’t you.”

Sam was suddenly nervous. Claire was clearly skilled IRL, how else could she beat a raid boss alone, and she somehow knew they had peeked at her settings. On top of that she was a GM and, Intie or not, could insta-ban them on a whim. Sam had read the message she was talking about and just assumed it was wrong or meant for non-Inties, in hindsight she realized she had just been fooling herself. She liked to think that she didn’t buy into the whole Integrates Ascendant thing at all. But seeing a human deftly manage what would be an extreme and time consuming challenge in mere minutes and then subtly hint that she ''knew'' exactly what they were. Half a dozen members of the raid team suddenly disconnected and Claire shook her head.

“Apparently you people buy into your own press ''way'' too much.” Mel said

“What did you do?” Dominic asked

“It’s not what we did but what they tried to do. Which was hack us. Claire and I have had extensive time to prep for a variety of things, one of the perks of having a forward thinking boss. As such we can easily shut you out when you try and hack us.”

“Hey boss, let’s just give them our IDs and go. No need to start a fight.” The speaker was a burgundy Allosaurus.

“You scared of mech and meat, Durendal?”

“When the flesh alone can kick that much ass? Hell yeah, I’m scared out of my scales right now. Besides Mel's right, this is just a game and it’s supposed to be for fun.” There was a quiet round of agreement “If the other GMs are willing to trust these two then we should too. Since they got the job they must be exceptionally skilled.”

Olivia quirked a smile as she received several data packets “Roland Durendal, you named yourself after the paladin and his sword from the Matter of France?”

He shrugged “I used to study medieval literature as a hobby.”

“Claire,” Mel said “I’ve just finished submitting our report.”

She nodded “Good, unfortunately this is where we all part ways. To everyone who has transmitted their data, thank you for your cooperation. We’ll do our best to make sure you don’t get banned because of your raid leader. Please, direct any further questions to this com code.”

As the two logged out Sam came to a decision, she needed to move out of her Enclave and get away from the supremacy ideas that governed it. Another mage used a group teleport spell to bring them all back to a safe zone so they could all log out. When she opened her eyes in the real world Sam came to a second decision. Rather than another Enclave she would go back to her family, everyone had seen the now famous reunion footage of the Munn family with its long absent Integrate members. So for the first time in months she accessed her lifetime mailbox.

[[File:Separator_k.png]]

Claire Olivia Maiuri groaned as she got up from her cot and stretched after her marathon play session. Across the room Mel yawned as she carefully did the same, mindful of her wings. Their home was the cargo area of The Forward Unto Dawn. The D82-EST Darter was a single deck twenty meter sub-orbital when she returned to Zharus proper just over three months ago. After five hard years her mission had finally ended and she had come home to Zharus.

At the time he had been Stuart Miles Maiuri, a person he no longer wanted to be. Luckily his bonus and hazard pay had made him a small fortune. If he was careful he would never have to work again. Because his dad had worked for Nextux RIDEWorks all his life, the first thing he decided to do was find a RIDE partner.

His post mission handler had suggested he try a small dealership in Nuevo San Antonio. He spent most of the day talking to the occasional RIDE who caught his attention. He had spent most of the day looking when he the owner said he wanted to introduce him to someone. In the back area was a RIDE named Melody, Mel for short.

She was an experimental unit, a Nextus RIDEWorks CMA(f)-ASA-001. The last of the half dozen produced and the only one who's RI had survived the program's termination. The original idea had been a variation on the one introduced by the Sturmhaven WLF-CSA-01As. A secondary RI core in the tail that would manage an extra sensor suite, long range communications, and point defense. The idea was for it to free up extra processing power to allow more accurate targeting and deliver artillery strikes from an unparallelled range. Unfortunately it ran into some of the same problems as the CSAs, the RIs wouldn't link.

In the end the secondary core idea had been scrapped when they succeed in producing a single RI core capable of doing the entire work load. That RI was Mel. The higher ups had been pleased with the results but not enough to overlook the price tag. Between the parts they needed and increased cost for the specialized RI core, it was less than a month after her First Boot that the project was scrapped.

She had honestly expect to have her core destroyed like her predecessors, luckily the RIDEWorks still "owned" her core, DE and weapons package. Rather than let Nextus destroy her, she had been discreetly sold her to their friend who owned the dealership. She had spent her weeks worrying about what would happen to her if Nextus found her. The owner introduced them and after an hour Mel and Stuart had begun discussing where they would live. She had made the suggestion that they get a sub-orbital as a starting point in case they had to run. After all, Nexts had been known to go to lengths to recover things, even if it never belonging to them.

As far as ASA's went she was on the smaller end of the spectrum, in Walker mode she stood at just over two meters and was half a meter taller in Fuser mode. The empty space in her tail's cobra head was retooled to house an extra set of sarium batteries. Her ASA chassis came equipped with two retractable plasma cannons and a particle beam cannon in her mouth.

They had just finished loading up their new D82-EST Darter when Nextus Material Recovery Service showed up to try. Stuart tried to talk them down and provided ample proof that he, and the dealership before him, had legal ownership over Mel and the weapons. When they refused to back down he sent a few messages and started stalling. It didn't take long for him to get a response.

The MRS Officers apologized for their mistake and attempted to make a ''very'' quick exit, promising that it would ''never'' happen again. Claire wouldn’t let them off that easily. She swore to them that if it ''did'' their boss would in serious trouble. Stuart had been employed by the Zharus Planetary Authority to conduct espionage, on Earth.

It was supposed to be a five year mission, seven counting travel, and everything had gone wrong from the first day off the boat. His cover had nearly been blown and it was only quick thinking and a quicker kill that had saved his life. He spent the next three years gathering Intel and practically living underground. After three years they were finally able to extract him. He spent a week being debriefed before they put him on indefinite leave and gave him a nice fat bonus. He had also been given a set of direct comm codes and told that if he needed anything to reach out to them.

Once cleared, she had upgraded her special military cortical implant with quibitite. If she was in trouble she wanted to have the best chance of coming out on top. They spent almost a month traveling around Zharus. When they had been out in the Dry Ocean they ran into a group of Integrates who were looking to hire a temporary GM in their game, Oz.

It was an easy job. Mel and Claire were told to do their best to break everything in game and send their observations on to the Dev Team. Claire began checking her email and flagged several things for her implant to draft responses to before reading one from Sebastian, her ZPA handler. After five years and two months she would finally be able to see her family again. She sent out a flurry of emails letting everyone know she was in Aloha and would be flying to Nextus to see everyone at their family compound.

"Mel, I can finally introduce you to my family."

She perked up "I'll file a flight plan with ATC."

Claire stripped out of her underwear and went to take a shower while her implant began running the pre-flight checks. Everything checked out as she finished her shower, replies coming in as began to dry off. She sighed as she looked through her rather limited wardrobe. She ruled out her beloved combat gear, too many questions. After sorting through her crossover gifts she settled on a yellow sun dress Sebastian had sent her. His note had said she needed something she could 'actually' use instead of the usual gag gifts.

'':Mel, we need something for you to wear. As much fun as it would be to show up in a metal bikini, I don't think my family would like it.''

'':Can it be black? I was thinking of a nice sweater skirt combo.''

'':Sure, it'll match your tail.''

As they fused up Mel felt Claire's nervousness and did her best to comfort her. She reabsorbed the metal-kini anatomically correct RIDEs often wore for decency. Some of her hardlight winked out then came back up projecting her outfit of choice. She had chosen a knee length skirt and loose sleeved sweater complimenting her form and drawing attention up to her face and away from her chest. They stopped in the small kitchen and made a quick lunch of last night's take out before the lifters warmed up.

They sat down in the cockpit as they received a message from ATC approving them for departure. At twenty meters long the D82-EST Darter was a small transport craft. It had a lifting body design and top of the line heat shielding ensuring it could land without the use of its lifters. They had split the cargo area in half, turning the forward section into their living quarters/maintenance area with a bathroom and kitchen.

They taxied out of their hangar and into the civilian departure zone. No one would suspect that their modest little black and white craft was fully stealth capable…or armed. Claire had spared no expense in overhauling their home. The end result had been a ten percent increase in mobility and enough offensive power to take out a large military sub. Sebastian made sure what they were doing was within the letter of the law.

They dropped into virtual for a time compressed lesson as they waited their turn for takeoff. They walked through the basic stances of Claire’s duel sword style. She was critiquing her foot work on the first set of intermediate forms when they had to stop. They quickly began to pick up speed as the lifters’ output increased and the hardlight aero shielding adjusted for maximum speed and lift. The surface fell away beneath them as the sky gradually changed from iridescent blue to a star studded black.

[[File:Separator_k.png]]

Even at top speed, Sam had a long flight to the Aloha aerodrome but it gave her plenty of time to check the outgoing flights. Finally she found one that she could slip onto unnoticed. She slipped into the lobby and boarded the high speed sub. She settled into her seat to wait. She had gotten a surprise when she checked her mail.

Her cousin Stuart had finally turned up and was flying out to Nextus from Aloha. She had already checked and couldn’t find his name on any of the passenger manifests. She had waited five years. She could wait a few more hours. Without a second thought she logged back into Oz.

She had a message from Dominic waiting for her. She read it a few times before deleting it and removing herself from the guild. Now that she realized her emerging bigotry she was going to work hard to get rid of it. Her next order of business was getting to Taft where new players arrived fresh from the tutorial. She had heard rumor of a dungeon hidden beneath the town.

She made her way to the western part of town and stopped at a player owned shop to sell her guild gear. Most of the uniform was inferior to what she had been using before. She smoothed out her red robe and settled its armored plates into place as she re-equipped. Her old Hound Saber was a welcome change from the stereotypical mage staff she had been using for two weeks. The bonuses to her spell were less because of the change but she preferred being a red mage anyway.

She made her way to a massive cathedral. If the rumors were true the entrance to the bonus dungeon was hidden somewhere inside. As soon as she stepped inside she realized that just finding the entrance would be a chore. You could have easily fit a Starmaster into the main worship area. She started by checking the dozens of side rooms for anything odd.

There were a lot more than she thought. It took her the entire flight to thoroughly check half of the side rooms. She sighed as stood up on the sub. If the bonus dungeon did exist the GMs were keeping information about the entrance tightly controlled. It was probably filled with exclusive gear unobtainable anywhere else. Once outside the aerodrome she lifted into the Fuser/scooter traffic lanes and headed for her family's compound on the southern end of city. Sam was ten and a half kilometers away when she got a nasty shock when a familiar grizzly Fuser flew up next to her.

"Sam it’s nice too finally meet you IRL." Dominic said

She stiffened "How did you know?"

He smirked "I didn't. I noticed you decided to leave the guild."

"You said I could leave whenever I wanted. ''You'' said that neither mech nor meat could beat us but that GM this morning, she opened my eyes.” She shook her head “In some ways we are better than meat, but they have us beat in other areas.”

He snorted “Here in the real world they’re nothing compared to us.”

She stopped “Get bent Dominic. I don’t want anything to do with people like you anymore."

He sputtered "I'm trying to help you!" he grabbed her wrist "We are the next step in human evolution. You don't need mech or meat for anything!"

"Let go." a pulse gun formed on her wrist "I'm not afraid to shoot you."

He laughed "Both of your halves were civvie." he whispered "I'm ex-military; your little pop guns won't scratch me."

"How about mine?" a woman's voice asked

A feline hand landed on his head and he heard the whine of charging capacitors. How had she snuck up on him? He instinctively reached out to hack them and had to bite down on his tongue to keep from screaming. He felt thousands of tiny burning bites all over his body before his DIN burnt out. Even without it the sensations persisted and he had to concentrate just to maintain his disguise.

"Ah, you're one of ''those'' people. Too bad your little tricks are less than worthless against us." The speaker was a two and a half meters chimera Fuser. "Now, you can let her go or I can cut you in half."

Dominic felt a chill down his spine. These two were extremely dangerous. The fact that they had snuck up on, not just one but, two Integrates was proof of that. Their tone of voice was casual, like they had all been discussing the weather. His military instincts were screaming at him to run. But his pride as an Integrate wouldn't let him.

"I'm not scared of meat!"

She sighed "Wrong answer."

She lifted her hand and tapped two fingers against his hardlight. His systems suddenly started blaring half a dozen different warnings at him. What had they just done to him?

"Here's a little physics lesson for you. ''Everything'' has a frequency where it will resonate. Under certain conditions it can cause things to build up energy till they literally shake themselves apart. That's what’s happening to your hardlight emitters right now. They’ll fail sometime within the next ten minutes. I suggest that you get as far from Nextus as possible before they do."

They had him backed into a corner. “This isn’t over meat!” He vanished and ignoring how the chimera’s black tail tracked his progress as he flew. He had been completely humiliated. Somehow he would get back that damn mechie.

Sam took the opportunity become invisible and leave as well. She still had ten klicks left to get to the family compound. She quickly covered the remaining distance and landed on the lawn in front of the main house. Her aunts, uncles, cousins, and her mother’s parents were milling about. Her cousin Joseph and Dexter, his coyote RIDE, were talking to her parents. Everyone stopped when she revealed herself.

“Sam? Maria?” her mother asked

Sam nodded “We…I, go by Sam, but yes. It’s me, I’m back.”

She was engulfed by her family. She was given so many hugs and asked so many questions. She had trouble keeping up for a second. She sent the details over to everyone’s RIDEs. After a few minutes of time compressed sharing everyone was caught up.

“So, where’s Stuart?” there was ping on Sam’s sensors

She turned around. Standing several meters behind her was the same chimera Fuser from earlier. She was wearing a loose black sweater and matching knee length skirt. Her wings gave a nervous twitch, like she was trying not to run away. It took a few seconds but RIDE and rider finally seemed to come to an agreement.

The Fuser slowly split open and a young woman in a yellow sun dress stepped onto the lawn. Her white blonde hair was in a pixie cut. She had feline ears, swiveling at every sound and matching nose was twitching at every smell. She nervously thumbed the end of one of her goat horns while her black cobra headed tail curled around in front of her.

She hesitated before saying “Tadaima.”

Sam stared at her in disbelief. She used time compression to replay everything a dozen times to make sure she reached the right conclusion. Since her family lived and breathed crazy it made perfect sense. After all only one person in their family would use Japanese. Claire was her cousin Stuart.

Only one way to be sure "Stuart?"

She grinned nervously "Hey," she sniffed and her eyes widened "Sam you integrated? Last time we spoke you refused to even think about getting a RIDE."

Now it was turn Sam to smile "A lot can happen in five years. Why don't we all go inside?"

"No," Sam's Aunt Cathy, the youngest daughter, spoke up "You can't be Stuart. You can't be my son."

"Cathy." her husband warned

"No Bill, I don't want to hear it! There is no way that woman can be our son!"

"Before I left I got you a sterling silver bracelet. The note I put on it said that no matter what I put you though I wanted you to know how much I loved you."

"This bitch has probably been spying on us." Aunt Gina said "I'll bet she's here to try and scam us."

What little confidence Claire seemed to have built up disappeared. “This was a mistake.” She said as tears began welling up in her eyes before she fused with Mel. Sam and Joseph recovered first. Dexter quickly fusing with his partner.

'':Sam, I believe her. Only my brother, sister, would know that. Aunt Gina is just being a spiteful bitch.''

'':Normally she would lash out and bite right back. Do you think there's something wrong with her?''

'':Maybe, we’re lucky her RIDE wants her to stay.''

'':Yeah, it looks like Mel is trying to calm her down. You guys are with the Marshal right?''

'':We’re Diamond Stars, why?''

'':Can you find out what kind of RIDE Mel is?’’

'':One step ahead of ya. I sent out an inquiry when we saw her enter the property and Dexter just got a match.''

Sam paled '':CMA(f)-ASA-001, skimmer mode is a high speed flier.''

'':I’ve read the report about them, project canceled due to quote unquote budget issues. I hope she isn’t still combat capable.''

'':She is. The only thing she’s missing is her hand carried weapon.''

'':Then let’s count that as a blessing.''

Behind them Gina had continued to spout increasingly caustic and illogical words. At last her Aunt Cathy seemed to remember ''who'' was talking and ignoring her. Everything was starting to fall apart. What should have been a happy family reunion was turning into a feud. As they finally got close enough Mel there was a smack from back on the porch.

“Regina, be quiet.” Geosaffati said to his third daughter.

Geosaffati J. Maiuri Junior, Pawpaw to his friends and family, stepped down from the front porch. The family patriarch eyed his assembled children and grandchildren, eyes settling on Joseph/Dexter, Sam and Claire/Mel. At just over 100 he had seen more than his fair share of fighting, first on Earth and then during the Sturmhaven Nextus War. On Earth, his skills hheld a high level management position and made a fortune in investments.

He was a big broad shouldered man who worked hard to maintain his physical health. What little hair he had left on his head was wispy gray and going white. White furred simian ears twitched atop his head as his tail lashed behind him. Even with his face marred by a frown you could still see the lines etched into it from years of laughing. Behind him stood his RIDE, MKY(m)-LMA-009L, Vinnie.

“Welcome home.”

Claire blinked as she felt a pair of strong arms wrapped around her. She hesitated before she gently reached out and hugged her grandfather. When they separated she took a few deep breaths. She could do this. She ‘’had’’ to do this. After a few seconds they broke part.

“Thanks Pawpaw. Mel, you can let me go now.”

“Aw, does this mean I can’t keep you?” she teased before they defused.

Claire and Mel had obviously spent a lot of time fused. Her nails had begun to narrow and were curved to a slight point. She had the slight beginnings of a muzzle, complete with short whiskers. She even had a slightly feline tongue and her canines were definitely getting longer. The real kicker was the fine layer of white fur that had recently started to cover her; most people missed it because it blended seamlessly with her skin tone.

“We keep each other. We’re partners, equals, and don’t let anyone try and tell you otherwise.”

“I’m glad you found such a good match.” Joseph said “Now let’s go inside. I’m sure y’all have quite the story to tell about working for the Zharus Planetary Authority.”

[[File:Separator_k.png]]

It had taken about an hour for Claire to finish telling her family about her job helping to bust a smuggling ring. That was the cover story she had been given. It would be in all the official records. It was also partially true. She was originally assigned to the Contraband Task force.

"You were on the Contraband Task force? Stu...Claire, that's impressive." Cathy said

"They wanted my eye for detail. You know better than anyone just how good I am at hiding in plain sight." Also true and she had been reassigned.

"So they wanted you to act as an observer?" Dexter asked

"Yeah." Also true.

"Then why have you changed so much? Everything I know about you shows that you were a lot more energetic. It's like you're a completely different person. What happened?" Claire looked away.

Joseph sighed "Sis, we're just trying to help. We can't do that if you won't let us."

Mel sheltered her with a wing "Its okay. Why don't we stay here tonight, hmm?"

"You'll have sleep in the family room. You're old room's been turned into an expansion of the workshop." Vinnie said

Mel started licking her ears "Come on Claire! You can't lie to me. We both want to!"

"Alright. Alright!" she said as she laughed "We can sleep here tonight! No more kitty bath! It tickles!"

"''That's'' why I do it." she said and gave one more sloppy lick "It was more fun when you had long hair."

"Maybe for you."

Mel smiled "I know for a 'fact' one of your favorite pictures is the aftermath of the first tongue bath."

Claire blushed as she slid out from under the wing "Tha-that's because it was the first one! It was a special event."

"Is that why you're grinning like an idiot?"

"I'm not like an idiot."

"Oh? Let me guess you ''are'' an idiot." Mel narrowed her eyes as she got off the RIDE couch.

"Damn right I am." She crossed her arms.

There was a full minute of silence "Well," Bill said "it’s nice to see you acting like yourself again."

Claire blinked and went red, brushing a hand along her right horn. Mel purred as she rubbed up against her. Sam watched all of this from the kitchen as she helped Pawpaw finish preparing dinner. Spaghetti with a three meat sauce, his specialty dish and a family favorite. Mentally, her Maria half was fully expressing itself by worrying over her cousin's biometrics.

"There's something wrong with her." Pawpaw said "Vinnie said her biometrics are wonky. So I know you can see it to."

Sam sighed "Maria thinks so too. I would've missed it if she hadn't split off to point it out."

He nodded "How is she?"

Sam frowned "That's part of the problem. We can't tell."

He chuckled "Not Claire, Maria. I don't know how Integration works but I know she's forever part of you now."

"Oh," she flushed at her blunder "never better, but she still wants a proper weapon. I've read some stuff about how it 'might' be possible to get one. But if get caught or something goes wrong I'd be in really deep trouble."

"Fritz, right?"

"How did you know?"

He smiled "Dear, I know people and he ''isn't'' as omnipotent as he wants everyone to believe. Besides that, there are other people you could ask for help. Especially if you're going back to live with your folks in Aloha. I know the Marshals have hired a lot of Integrates so you might be able to ask Joseph for some comm codes." he stepped into the doorway “Alright everyone time to eat.”

There is only one word that can be used to describe dinner with the Maiuri family, loud. Of the seventeen people, Joseph and Michael were the only two louder than the assembled mothers. It may have been louder than Claire liked but its familiarity was a welcome comfort. She noticed that Sam deliberately sat next to her. The paranoid part of her thought it was a statement about how she was probably going to be the next one to ‘ascend’.

"So Cous, I noticed you have some heavy fuse signs."

"Mel is a lot of RIDE for someone to handle."

“So…have you two considered…Integrating?” Sam asked.

Mel groaned from the other room “You know Claire ''killed'' the last person who asked us that right?”

“I only did that because she was trying to force it onto us. Besides we both know he probably survived.”

“Not for lack of trying on your part.”

She put her elbow on the table and rested her chin on her hand “If he had held still for another half a second I could’ve destroyed his brain and…what?” The table had gone silent “It was self-defense.”

“Based on the intel we have now I think ''pest control'' is a better term."

Sam couldn’t keep the disbelief out of her voice “Back up, you two walked away from a fanatic without being Integrated, how?”

“By frying his DIN port, shelling him from fifteen hundred kilometers and destroying sixty-seven percent of his body mass.” At Sam's incredulous look she shrugged and started twirling her loaded fork between her fingers "You asked."

Sam stared at the fork. "All things considered you are an excellent shot, but I recommend sticking to CQC." Mel said

She had seen before, it was a nervous habit. "So we should practice by taking pot shots at the Rodinian Nature Preserve? Aim for the deadest looking trees?"

Replace the fork with a knife. "Rohit would be pissed when she found out."

Claire had been telling half-truths "You mean if."

She was supposed to be on the task force but had done something else instead. "No, I mean ''when''. Someone will notice and she would be able to trace it back to us. I'd rather not have ‘'her'’ angry with us, pacifist or not."

Sam cleared her throat "All of this is very interesting but you still haven't answered my question."

She sighed "We have thought about it. For now it's not for us, maybe someday but it'll be because it’s what we want."

Sam nodded "Glad to hear that you aren't planning on rushing into it. Being an Integrate is nice, but it has its drawbacks."

"Like the fact that your leaders are all the bad kind of crazy."

"Among other problems, yes. On the subject of supremacists I'd like to know what you did to Dominic."

"He a friend of yours?"

She snorted "Not anymore."

Claire blinked “Alright, you’ll have to be more specific.”

“When he tried to hack you.”

“Oh that," she ate her forkful of spaghetti "not much to tell, I have a special program called Cardinal.”

“And…?” Sam asked.

She shrugged “That’s all I know.”

Sam groaned “You’re kidding.”

“Nope, the rest of the information is above my pay grade.”

At this point the rest of the table had returned to normal conversation. Claire and her father got into a discussion about RIDE maintenance. He really wanted a chance to give Mel a once over. It was strictly out of professional curiosity. Mel accepted the offer on the condition that it be performed at their house with their tools, a perfectly reasonable request.

They asked about Claire's co-workers on the task force, more half-truths. They asked about her crossrider party and the gifts she received, most were surprisingly useful. Why she had waited so long to contact them, she had been told to by her handler. What Sebastian, her handler, was like and why she even needed one. She said to keep her safe, a straight lie.

Regina wanted to know if Claire would be moving back to Nextus, no way in Hell. Then she wanted to know if Claire was planning to live in Sturmhaven like her. This earned a string of words in a language no one could identify and a small rant about idiotic feminists. When Claire had first returned to Zharus a Valkyrie had tried to force herself on him. Marshal intervention was the only thing that had prevented a fight from breaking out.

Right now they were living out of their sub. They were usually docked at the Aloha aerodome since they were working for Oz. Sam and Bobbie wanted to know more about that. Bobbie was a programmer and as always interested in learning more. Bobbie's hare and Keith's deer were both on their way back from running out to pick up dessert.

“I heard there’s a dungeon in Taft.” Sam said

“That’s right. A hundred sub-basements beneath a church, each one is a microcosm unto itself. We just made it down to the seventy-fourth yesterday.”

“It took you two months?”

“I spent sixty hours power leveling before I could start that dungeon. You could make it pretty far at your current level, but it would be time consuming.”

“Do you have any suggestions?”

“Once you find the entrance there’ll probably be some people you can party with, or you can go with me. Though, you’ll still have to find the entrance on your own.”

She groaned “I spent my sub flight over checking the side rooms and found nothing.”

“Sorry Cous, that’s the way it is. I’ll meet you there later.”

She shrugged “Alright, it’s not like I have anything better to do.”

“You could find a job.” Her mother said

Sam harrumphed. If she was looking for a job her best bet a Fuser based establishment, like a Fuser bar. She didn’t mind going back into that line of work. She might even go back to school. Online classes had a lot more appeal to her now. But it wouldn't do her any good if she just cheated her way through.

A few hours after dinner Claire was finally able to log into Oz and meet Sam in Taft. One second the room was empty, the next Claire was sitting in one the pews with Mel sprawled in the aisle. Sam had spent the entire time searching the church's remaining side rooms. She quirked an eyebrow but didn't say anything as she went back to searching. Half an hour later she sat down and leaned back against the alter, only to yelp as it slid backwards.

Sam sighed "Beneath the alter, how cliched."

"The entrance is different for everyone, but it’s always literally in the last place you look. That's why I couldn't help you find it."

"So I have to search this place every time?"

"Once you reach the first town it gives you a teleport spell. You can also use it to travel between the various floors."

They were able to start off on the fiftieth floor dungeon. Claire played as the forward guard drawing in the attention of the mobs and letting Sam get bonus xp and special items for killing them. The few times she attacked her blade would cut down groups at a time. When they reached the fifty fifth floor Claire took her to a blacksmith for new gear and upgrades. They spent the next several hours traipsing through the floor dungeons until they reached the seventy fourth floor.

By the time they got there Sam was several levels higher and had replaced most of her gear thrice over. They met up with other players along the way, several of which made no attempt to hide their Integrate status behind disguises. Sam soon joined them reveling in the new found freedom. The others shared stories about various raids, trades, duels and integrations. They made it halfway back to town before she noticed Claire and Mel were gone.

She dropped back into the real world and noticed her internal chronometer said it was close to four in the morning. They had probably logged out to go to sleep and she just hadn't been paying attention. She quietly stretched as she went down to the kitchen to get a snack. On her way back she peeked into the family room. Mel was lying awake in the middle of the room, her head resting on her paws. Claire was fast asleep on her back, half her face buried in Mel's scruff like it was a fuzzy living pillow.

As she turned to go back upstairs she heard the faintest of whimpers. She looked back and saw Claire start to twitch in her sleep as she whimpered again. Mel looked concerned as she shifted, trying to make her more comfortable without waking her up. When the whimpering continued, a part of Sam realized that she was intruding on something very 'very' private. The instant Claire began to thrash Mel fused up around her, staying on hands and knees as she interrupted whatever figment was tormenting Claire.

Sam watched as the Fuser took several deep breathes before curling up on the RIDE couch and seemingly going to sleep. She quietly returned to her room, never once noticing that the eyes of the cobra tail had been watching her the entire time. Everything about her cousin's odd behavior confirmed her theory. Something terrible had happened to Claire.

[[File:Separator_k.png]]

The first thing Sam noticed when she came down for breakfast was the twenty meter sub-orbital parked in the backyard. A quick query showed it was registered to, and owned by, Claire. She grabbed a bowl of cereal to eat as she went outside to take a closer look. When she stepped outside she could hear the voices coming from inside it.

"It's good to see you, I would've been here last night but I got caught up at the office."

"It’s okay, thanks for the crossover gift."

She laughed "I bet it got some strange looks when you opened it, but I always thought the traditional gifts were a little dumb."

As she stepped into the sub Sam recognized her older cousin Heather. The petite wolverine tagged ZPA employee was still half a head shorter than Claire. Her brown ears were almost completely hidden by her shoulder length dirty blonde hair. Sam heard the end of the comm discussion the two of them were secretly having as Heather broke the hug she had on Claire.

'':I'm sorry, if I had known where they were sending you I wouldn't have put your name up as a possible for The Ghosts.''

'':It’s okay, from what I heard I'd be dead if I had stayed with the task force.''

'':Still.''

"Heather allow me to reintroduce you to our cousin Samantha and her RIDE Maria."

Before she could blink Heather had wrapped her in a bone crushing hug. "Look at you two, all Integrated and furry!"

She returned the gesture "Thanks, what are The Ghosts?"

That wiped the smiles off their faces "Classified, and don't even try to dig up information on it. Integrate or not you won't find anything."

"Alright, alright you don't need to go biting my head off. Where are Mariko and Mel?"

"Over here." Mel called from the other room "Your Uncle was just finishing his inspection."

Bill shook his head as Mel was released from the cradle "You have an excellent chassis, looks like it could take just about anything. Like those wings, they weren't in the original design. At least not any of the drafts I’ve seen."

"I felt like I was in the wrong body. We tried a bunch of things but it wasn't until we were in Rodinia that we found an answer. They used a winged lioness as one of my bases."

He nodded recognizing the symptoms of body diaspora "Installing micro solar panels for solid state feathers, pretty clever idea."

"Glad you like, it was Claire's."

"It’s nice being on indefinite leave, lots of time to travel and just relax." Claire turned to Heather "Earlier you said there was some sort of convention I might like to go to?"

"That's right; it’s a convention for people with ASA RIDEs. Kind of like a RIDE or skimmer show, you can meet lots of people and learn more about maintenance and stuff. I thought it might do you some good to spend time with people you aren't related to."

"I do that in Oz."

She gave Sam a pleading look "You've been having nightmares."

She looked away "Maybe."

"There might be people who can help you."

"Claire," Heather put a hand on her shoulder "you're not alone anymore. If you're still having nightmares let us help you. At the very least let Mel help, she's your partner for crying out loud."

"I know that." she snapped "At least, I do intellectually. I'm trying but it’s not easy, it’s a hard
habit to break after three years."

Sam sighed "Let's make a deal. I had planned to take you shopping today, that dress is probably one of the few outfits you can actually use." Claire's blush confirmed this "So we'll go to the Con with you and, when you want to leave, we'll take you shopping for some real clothes. Deal?"

Claire groaned "Fine, you've got me backed into a corner."

Sam waved at her "And that's why I'm your favorite."

"Besides," she smirked "I could use proper pair of sweats anyway."

Now it was Sam's turn to groan as she punched Claire's shoulder. Stuart had never understood the appeal of being fashionably dressed. Ironically this had an incredible fashion sense, he could look downright amazing if he wanted to. But he would much rather run around in comfortable clothing regardless of whether or not was in style or matched.

Within an hour the five of them were on their way to the largest convention center in the polity. Artillery Support Armor was a bit of misnomer. The classification included everything from gunships and indirect fire to low orbit bombardment and sniper style direct fire units. This broad range meant they were also produced in an equal large range of sizes, mostly on the larger end of the scale. Thus they needed a convention center whenever they wanted to gather in large groups.

There were thousands of people and RIDEs packed into the center. They were even able to spot a few Integrates taking advantage of the crowd to wander around exposed to the world. They ended up meeting up with a few veterans of Nextus-Sturmhaven war. Whenever Mel was noticed she immediately became the center of attention and received everything from sympathy and comm codes to death threats.

Claire had just sat down in the food court when a hand landed on her shoulder "Excuse me ma'am," a feminine voice said "but it’s important that I speak to you."

Her tail hissed as it examined the woman behind her. She yanked her hand back in surprise, badger ears flattening. The fact that she didn't step away from Claire said she was used to getting what she wanted. Her accent marked her as belonging to the upper levels of the Nextus government.

Claire sighed "About what?" Why did Sam and Heather have to get food now.

"That RIDE belongs to you right? My superiors in the MRS want me to demand its return."

Mel growled "We're partners, we belong to each other. A few months I ago I had to send some of your co-workers packing."

She snorted "I heard about that."

"Lieutenant Colonel Steele, how nice to see you again." Heather, Fused with Mariko, walked over with a tray of food.

"D-Director, I...I didn't see you there."

"Oh course you didn't,” she sat down "I just got back with our food." she pushed out a chair "Please, sit down." It wasn't a request. "This is the second time Nextus has harassed one of my operatives. I thought I made it clear what would happen if this continued, regardless of 'who' was doing the harassing."

“I understand, but my superiors obviously don't." she pinched the bridge of her nose "This was supposed to be my weekend off, got it approved months ago. I just wanted to come here and enjoy the time with other people with ASAs. Then I got a call an hour ago and was told that facial rec placed you here and was given orders to try and convince you to hand you RIDE over to me."

"How long have you been partnered?"

She smiled tiredly "Fifteen years now, she’s a BDR(f)-ASA-014W. She ran into some of her friends who’ve already mustered put. I think this whole debacle is a sign that we should tender our resignation.”

“Any idea why your top brass is so interested in Mel?”

“Not a clue, someone in the military or one of the upper tiers might be putting them up to it. You know quid pro quo.”

Claire grunted “I ‘hate’ career politicians.”

There was a murmur of agreement “Well, I’ve bothered you enough.” Steele offered her hand and Claire shook it. “I’m going to find Cressa and get back to enjoying the convention.”

Sam showed up shortly after Steele left and they ate their late lunch. This time when Claire said she wanted to leave there were no objections. The trip had served its purpose which was to get introduce Claire to other people. A handful of the RIDEs gave Mel advice on how to help Claire deal with her night terrors.

Compared to everything that was happening at the convention shopping was uneventful. However Sam’s idea of shopping hadn’t included the half a dozen specialty stores Claire dragged them into. That aside, it was easy to find clothes for her. Convincing her to buy some of the more feminine ones was impossible. It took a while to talk her into defusing to actually try on different outfits. Her pragmatism about clothes had clearly crossed over with her.

They caught a lucky break, one of shops was run by an Integrate and Sam was able to try on real clothes for the first time in months. Claire refused to entertain anything that had frills or lace. Just about the only feminine clothes she bought were sundresses and a pair of sunhats. Everything else was t-shirts and shorts. As far as she was concerned indefinite leave was the same as retirement, just with better pay.

The entire time they were shopping Claire was doing something on the net. Sam’s fear of the mysterious Cardinal System was the only thing that prevented her from taking a closer peek. After all, just because she could look in on everything digital didn’t mean she should. Everyone was entitled to just as much privacy as she was. Then again, she could always ask.

“Claire, are you going to share the reason you’ve been on the net for the past six hours with the group?”

She was silent for a bit "Swear not tell anyone?"

"On pain of death."

"Therapy," she was blushing "you know I had a nightmare last night. The problem is I've been having them for several months now. They're less frequent now but I'm still having them. Cardinal was helping at first but now its doing more harm than good."

Heather swore "Nobody said you were given a copy of Cardinal."

"They probably didn't think it was important."

"Like Hell it isn't. Who authorized it?"

She shrugged "Romulus something or other."

Heather groaned "Romulus Mengsk?" a nod "That power hungry idiot. Cardinal is designed for rapid tactical analysis not psychiatric care. Do you at least have control over it?"

"Umm..."

Sam frowned "I'm guessing this Mengsk person didn't tell you that you could adjust it."

Claire snorted "He didn't say much of anything about it. I could probably hack it."

"Don't," Mariko said "I'll pass over the control codes so you can disable it, take an image before you adjust it."

"Hopefully Tassidar will throw him out on his ass, politics be damned."

"Um, are you sure its okay for you guys to discuss this in fornt of me?"

"Its useless to anyone else you might know."

Sam briefly thought of Fritz "I'm not sure about that."

"The Bosscat wouldn't be able to do anything useful with the information. Even if he wants Mengsk to stay in power he knows better than to try anything."

"Wait the ZPA knows about Fritz?"

"We've had contact with certain individuals who brought him to our attention. We've been...monitoring the situation ever since."

"We understand you're scared of him but he's just a person. If it came down to a fight the odds are stacked 'against' his favor."

"Easy for you to say." Sam muttered.

[[File:Separator_k.png]]

Claire, stilled Fused with Mel yawned as she woke up the next morning.They had a very productie night in OZ, lots of level grinding with Sam. The boss room had been found and its raid was currently in the early planning stages. Depending on the information the scout teams gathered they might be able to clear it within a few days. But that was just wishful thinking on her part.

With most of Cardinal disabled Claire had been able to download a lucid dreaming app for her implant and get a direct look at her subconscious. If she ever saw Mengsk again he would be subjected to a swift and unbearably painful death. That bastard had tried to use Cardinal to brainwash her into becoming his obedient little puppet.It was easy enough to fix what he had changed and Mel kept meticulous notes on what they found. It was damning enough that he would probably be locked up for the rest of his life.

For the first time since coming back Claire really felt like herself. At breakfast she had a pointless argument with her brother (she lost), pounced on Vinnie, and generally made a minor nuisance of herself. Though she didn't say anything she could feel Mel's approval of the return towards her true normalcy. She knew she could never go all the way back, too much had happened, but she could get close.

Last night they had flown to Cascadia to visit one of Keith's friends and do a little sight seeing before heading back to Aloha. It had been going great until they announced that they were going to let some of the rain through the domes. It wasn't really dangerous, more of a minor annoyance, but it did force them to cut their tour short. They were almost to the aerodome when Claire put a hand on Sam's shoulder.

'':We're being followed.''

Sam checked her sensor '':Doesn't look like it.''

'':Trust me we are, take your parents and get back to The Dawn. I, we, will handle this.''

Sam noticed the hesitation with the pronouns '':Alright.''

It took only a few minutes for them to be out of sight "You can come out now."

From under a nearby awning stepped a red panda Fuser "Corporal Mort and Private Eugene," she shook the offered hand "its a pleasure to meet you ma'am."

A fellow Ghost "Likewise, now let's get down to brass tacks. Why were you following us?"

He offered he a tablet "Emergency orders, direct from Colonel Tiger himself."

"I'm supposed to be on leave. Why didn't he just comm me?"

"He's been trying to."

Claire swore "I bet its something Mengsk imbedded in that copy of Cardinal. We're gonna have to get a full work up done on my implants."

Colonel Tiger Sauer was the founding member and commanding officer of the Ghosts. It had been he who sent her on indefinite leave, after approving her new partner. He was also an Integrate and gave every Ghost a special encryption key. There was no doubt in her or Mel's mind that he was fully aware Claire had family with her right now. If he was giving her direct orders there were no other options.

The mission was a simple extraction operation that required them to stop at the southern end of a mineral formation called the Towers. She wouldn't be required to fight anyone. All she had to do was fly in pick up the fireteam and fly them all out without attracting the attention of the local Enclave.

If Sam hadn’t been watching the entrance she would have missed Claire and Mel’s return. She could tell something was different as soon as they stepped aboard. Her parents didn’t notice Mel’s hardlight fur had become smooth armor.

“There’s been a slight change in our flight plan. Claire and I need to make a work related detour.”

“I thought everything Oz related was in Aloha.” Bobbie said.

“This is ZPA related. Need to pick up a survey team we have out in the Towers. They’re probably going to be tired. So, I want y’all to try and stay out of their way.”

“There might not be anyone for you to pick up. There’s an Enclave in the Towers and they have been known to forcibly remove tethers from RIDEs and they sometimes…encourage Integration in others.”

“Trust me the Enclave has no idea that they’re there. Its more towards the central section so they won't notice us either.”

"I don't know..."

"Sam we were able to sneak up on you and Dominic."

She winced "There's going to be a lot more than just two this time."

Claire/Mel shrugged "Two or 2000, numbers are only important if they're paying attention. Now, I'm going to grab something from my room and then we'll be off."

The trip from Cascadia to the Towers was very short. A straight line flight instead of an parabolic arc. Sam couldn't believe how fast The Dawn was Claire had done some major upgrades from its stock configuration. It was only very strict self-control that kept her from running a deep scan to find out what made her tick. That and Sam was worried that she might expose them if she did.

Claire had the loading ramp open before they even landed. Everything was still and it would have been eerily quiet if the wind stopped. They sat there for ten minutes before she kicked on her stealth and went to go talk to Claire. Except the cockpit was empty. A quick search proved both she and Mel had left The Dawn.

Throwing her worries aside she reached out and pinged Mel on the sidebands. Several seconds passed before Mel pinged her back letting her know she had met with the survey team and they were on their back. Sam walked into the back area and stood right in the entrance her sensors on full alert.

She stood there for fifteen minutes and was about to walk back in when an arm wrapped around her neck. She would've screamed if the a hand hadn't clamped over her mouth. She was quickly dragged backwards into the main cargo area as the ramp closed sealing up the ship.

A man's voice growled in her ear "If I where an enemy you'd be dead." she was released "Come on Probie, Mike and Aug need help with Mosley."

Mosley turned out to be a wounded Bandicoot Integrate being tapped on cheek by a Wombat Fuser "Come on Mosley stay with us!"

She caught the wrist before it could tap against her cheek again "Hit me again and I'll break your wrists."

The Fuser gave a sigh "Thank God you're alright. Ajax, Probie, give me a hand getting her to kitchen."

Ajax turned out to be an LSA black lab Fuser. When Sam made no move to follow he grabbed her wrist and dragged her forward. With a combination of lifter control and hand support they got Mosley settled on the kitchen table. Ajax opened a cabinet and gave a spare sarium battery to Mosley. Why had he called Sam been Probie?

"Where's Claire?" Sam asked, the quiet hum of the lifters answered her question.

"The LT is making sure we get out of here in one piece." Mosely answered "I know we asked for emergency evac but I didn't think they'd send the Ace of Aces herself." she looked over at Sam "Probie, front and center. I thought I knew every female Ghost and recruit we have."

Claire's voice came over their comms' '': Neither, she's my cousin.''

"That explains her lack of reflexes." Ajax said.

"I'm standing right here you know."

'':Where are y'all going to stay when we get to Aloha?'' Mel asked.

'':No idea. We were supposed to be out here for another week.''

"Um you guys can stay at my house." They looked at her. "Well its technically my parents house. But we've got plenty of room for guests."

"You'll have to run it by them first and I don’t think there is anyway they’ll let us stay for a week."

It was the second night after they arrived in Aloha. Ajax (Andrew and his RIDE Jackson), Mosley, Mike and Aug had spent the first day busily preparing their reports and getting some much needed rest. They had most of the day in Oz being brought up to speed on the raid strategy and gathering supplies. They had already spent most of the night out on the town, slowly going from bars up to clubs with Claire getting progressively drunker, probably because she was lounging on Mel’s back when they traveled, her hair now shoulder length.

“I had no idea Claire was a happy drunk.”

“Let’s just hope she stays that way.” Ajax said.

“What do you mean?”

“Pray that you never have to find out.” Mosley muttered as Claire babbled to Mel.

“What language is she speaking anyway?”

“No idea, she must have picked it up on her last assignment.” Aug said

Sam shook her head "We have about two hours till the bars close up for the night, any suggestions."

"Loch Ness, its on 32nd Street." Claire giggled as she motioned its general direction.

Mosley patted her head "No more for you."

Loch Ness turned out to be a rather upscale bar staffed only by marine Fusers. They grabbed seats at the bar proper, Claire half slumping over in hers. The place was surprisingly full for its location and the time of night. They were on their second round of drinks when a musk-ox Fuser walked over and started talking to Claire.

"What's cookin good lookin?" Sam frowned at his Cape Nord accent. "How about I buy you a drink."

Claire giggled "Sure, Edradour on the rocks."

What was she doing? She had agreed she wouldn't have another drink and why was Ajax smirking? Sam looked at the others. Mosley looked resigned while Mike and Aug just looked confused. Clearly the three of them were missing something. Claire's Scotch sat there for a minute before the Fuser said anything.

"Well aren't you going to drink it?"

"Nope, Mosley said no more for me so no more will I drink." she grinned.

He spluttered "But you said I could buy you a drink!"

"And you did, you didn't ask if I could drink it, which I can't." she shrugged.

He frowned "Well, then why don't we go somewhere else and you can have a drink there."

"She said no more so it doesn't matter where. I can't drink any."

"Then how about I take you over to my place. I got a nice hotel room just down the street." He gave her a winning smile.

Claire let out a laugh and patted him on the cheek "You are just to cute, but I'm not that kind of crossrider."She winked at Mosley.

"Then your friend can come to." his grin widened "How about it?"

"Mm, no."

"Aw come on it'll be fun."

Mike/Aug grabbed his arm as he tried drape it around her shoulders "Dude, she said no.

"Stay outta this." The man sneered, jerking his arm free and spilling Claire's Scotch.

Sam blinked and almost missed it. There was a massive crash as Claire slammed the Fuser face first into the bar. They all heard the crunch of metal as his muzzle deformed. He stumbled backwards as Claire stood up. Gone was the happily giggling drunk from a fraction of a second ago.

The man took a swing at her and she just seemed to slide out of the way. He swung again and she slipped around behind him grabbing his tail and yanking him into a spin towards the front. Mosley pinched the bridge of her nose while Ajax was laughing so hard he had fallen out of his seat. She slipped past his strikes again and again before counter attacking. This time Sam missed it because of Mel, but she still heard the rending crash as the man broke through the wall and landed in the street.

Before Claire could another step she was engulfed by Mel. She put her hands over her heart, eyes closed, as she took deep breaths. Sam could hear the blaring of police sirens as the APD showed up.

{{series bar
|series=Ghost's of Zharus
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[[:Category:Story|Category:Chimera|Transgender|Bear|Anthropomorphic|Dog]]

User:Oddoneout/Ghosts: The Return

2014-02-06T04:55:11Z

Oddoneout: Adding the bulk of the story

Sam couldn't believe it she was going to be late for the rendezvous. She couldn't help it that she lost track of time whenever she started navel gazing. Three months ago the young human woman named Samantha Maiuri had integrated with her Malti-Poo RIDE becoming a single techno-organic being. It was only a few hours later that she was snatched up and taken to an Enclave at the edge of the Dry Ocean. For her it was horrible, she wanted to go back to Aloha, top her friends and family. But she wouldn't, she didn't think they would all be able to accept what she had become. So she stayed away from them and slowly began to accept the idea that she was better off that way, after all they were just mech and meat. Now that she was away she was free to fully indulge her guilty pressure of playing MMORPGs.

Which is exactly what she was doing. She crested another hill as the grass have way to stone and the sky grew cloudy, ahead of her the Tower of Dusk reached high into the air. Oz was a fairly new MMO whose servers where run and maintained by a group of Integrates living in Aloha. They were 'very' strict about not letting people use their Intie powers to tip the game in their favor. The game was in a high fantasy setting with a special set of mechanics and to allow for mech and meat to play as a fusing pair. They could be separate when they needed or wanted to be but fusing provided its own advantages and disadvantages.

To everyone in the game Sam appeared as a black furred Malti-poo Fuser dressed in an ornate white and gold robe. Last month she had found a good group of fellow Intie players and joined their clan. Today was important because it was her first true raid boss. She was ecstatic and very glad she had put in the extra time to learn some decent offensive spells. As she jumped to clear a trench she caught sight of a RIDE and its partner before she was yanked downward into the trench.

"Slow down Sam. Let the mechie get beaten, then we'll have our run." The speaker was a heavily armored grizzly bear integrate in Fuser disguise with a massive sword strapped to his back.

"Dominic's right," a hyena rouge spoke up "this should be good for a laugh if nothing else. It's practically impossible for an Intie to solo The Bone Hoard. There's no way a mechie can manage it even if they were fused."

"Especially with how they've got their settings done." another member spoke up drawing everyone's attention" They have their system assist and feedback canceler's turned off."

"How can anyone play like that? Even we have to use the system assist and without the canceler on things feel a little too real for most people to be comfortable."

"I had a cousin who played MMOs like that," Sam said "but he disappeared years ago."

Dominic asked the obvious question "Did he Integrate?"

She shook her head "I don't think so. He got a government job and we heard from him regularly for a few months. His last message said something about a new assignment, then nothing."

"Have you tried hacking?"

She nodded "His personnel file is there but it’s all dead ends."

He frowned "I'll put out some requests; someone has to know more about what happened to him."

A rattling announced the awakening of The Bone Hoard. The powerful raid boss burst from the ground, a giant serpentine skeleton one hundred meters long with dozens of pairs of legs and a wicked set of pincers. Red light shone from the empty sockets of its triangular head. Equally massive horns adorned its head. The HUD displayed five health bars and with her scanning skill Sam should have been able to see its level. Instead all she saw was a skull, anyone trying to fight it alone would spend more money than they would make, assuming they managed to kill it.

The person was instantly in motion covering the distance to the boss in a matter of seconds. One of its pincers shot forward only to be knocked aside and quickly severed by a plain looking black broadsword. He kept moving and severed the remaining pincer taking out the boss's main weapons and a portion of its first health bar in the process. The Bone Hoard's AI refused to let it settle into a pattern as it constantly adapted. Normally this would give it an enormous advantage, even against raid groups, but ultimately it's ability was rendered useless by one thing, speed. The solo player had been fast to begin with and only got faster as the battle moved into its second minute.

"Look at the HP," Dominic said "Do you see it?"

Sam nodded "Whenever he dodges he uses his free hand for some kind of unarmed DOT counterattack."

In the space of three minutes The Bone Hoard's HP had been cut down to only one and a half bars. It lashed out with one of its remaining legs and a quick follow up by a second leg knocked it from his hand. He jumped away, he had to be fleeing either to rearm or to give up. He did neither, with a shout he charged straight at its head ducking under as it thrust forward in an attempt to swallow him. His right hand shot up and struck the bone plate under its mouth and The Bone Hoard shattered into glittering iridescent blue dust, killed by a single unFused and unassisted player in just over four minutes.

He slouched as he shook out his wrists. His RIDE retrieved the fallen sword. They seemed...subdued, disappointed, like things hadn't gone the way they were hoping. Dominic, as be fitting his status as raid leader, was the first to recover from the shock they had all received. He clambered out of the trench running towards and hailing the mystery duo. Sam followed after him a moment later.

"That was amazing! I've only ever heard of people soloing The Bone Hoard and they didn't do nearly as well as you just did." All true but why was he kissing up to mechie?

Now that Sam was closer she could see their mystery man was actually a mystery woman. She stood about a meter and a half tall. Her white blonde hair was in short pixie cut. The woman's broadsword was indeed the black color Sam had originally thought it was. Her RIDE tags were very unusual. She had a feline nose, the rounded ears of a lion, white fur, goat horns and a black cobra for a tail. Sam shuddered as both pairs of green eyes turned to look at her.

The woman's RIDE was easily the most bizarre mythical Sam had ever seen. She was easily the size of a large horse, marking her as a Heavy class RIDE. Her she had the body and head of a lion with the horns of a goat. Her white fur was the same as her partner's and her black cobra tail was staring intently at Dominic. A large pair of dark iridescent blue bird wings completed her appearance.

Finally the woman sighed "I was nine point three seconds off."

Her ride giggled “Aren’t you the one who’s always saying that it’s just a game Claire?”

Claire frowned “I know but the benchmark gives us a place to start looking.” She gestured and several windows appeared “The more important question is why y’all are here. This area is supposed to be closed off for maintenance. There was a game wide announcement yesterday.”

Dominic stiffened “Um, none of us were on yesterday.”

“They sent out a memo to everyone just in case, you should have gotten it as soon as you logged in.”

“We were all busy prepping for this raid. When I got on I came straight here, didn’t have time to check my messages and since you said this area is closed what are you doing here?”

“Obviously we’re here to perform the maintenance.” Her RIDE deadpanned

“Thank you Mel. Now, I’m going to need your player IDs.”

“So you can ban us?”

She laughed “I could ban you even without them but it’s not my job. I’ll pass the info on to one of the other GMs, they might have given y’all open access to this area. If they didn’t and think you need to be banned they’ll contact you so you can appeal your case.”

“Oh so it’s just that you’re lazy?”

“Yup, now that I can afford to be lazy I’ve gotten to the point where enabling God Mode is too much of a hassle. Easier just to go without and fight my way through. That’s also why I don’t use the assist and have the canceler disabled.” She frowned “But y’all already knew that didn’t you.”

Sam was suddenly nervous. Claire was clearly skilled IRL, how else could she beat a raid boss alone, and she somehow knew they had peeked at her settings. On top of that she was a GM and, Intie or not, could insta-ban them on a whim. Sam had read the message she was talking about and just assumed it was wrong or meant for non-Inties, in hindsight she realized she had just been fooling herself. She liked to think that she didn’t buy into the whole Integrates Ascendant thing at all. But seeing a human deftly manage what would be an extreme and time consuming challenge in mere minutes and then subtly hint that she ''knew'' exactly what they were. Half a dozen members of the raid team suddenly disconnected and Claire shook her head.

“Apparently you people buy into your own press ''way'' too much.” Mel said

“What did you do?” Dominic asked

“It’s not what we did but what they tried to do. Which was hack us. Claire and I have had extensive time to prep for a variety of things, one of the perks of having a forward thinking boss. As such we can easily shut you out when you try and hack us.”

“Hey boss, let’s just give them our IDs and go. No need to start a fight.” The speaker was a burgundy Allosaurus.

“You scared of mech and meat, Durendal?”

“When the flesh alone can kick that much ass? Hell yeah, I’m scared out of my scales right now. Besides Mel's right, this is just a game and it’s supposed to be for fun.” There was a quiet round of agreement “If the other GMs are willing to trust these two then we should too. Since they got the job they must be exceptionally skilled.”

Olivia quirked a smile as she received several data packets “Roland Durendal, you named yourself after the paladin and his sword from the Matter of France?”

He shrugged “I used to study medieval literature as a hobby.”

“Claire,” Mel said “I’ve just finished submitting our report.”

She nodded “Good, unfortunately this is where we all part ways. To everyone who has transmitted their data, thank you for your cooperation. We’ll do our best to make sure you don’t get banned because of your raid leader. Please, direct any further questions to this com code.”

As the two logged out Sam came to a decision, she needed to move out of her Enclave and get away from the supremacy ideas that governed it. Another mage used a group teleport spell to bring them all back to a safe zone so they could all log out. When she opened her eyes in the real world Sam came to a second decision. Rather than another Enclave she would go back to her family, everyone had seen the now famous reunion footage of the Munn family with its long absent Integrate members. So for the first time in months she accessed her lifetime mailbox.

[[File:Separator_k.png]]

Claire Olivia Maiuri groaned as she got up from her cot and stretched after her marathon play session. Across the room Mel yawned as she carefully did the same, mindful of her wings. Their home was the cargo area of The Forward Unto Dawn. The D82-EST Darter was a single deck twenty meter sub-orbital when she returned to Zharus proper just over three months ago. After five hard years her mission had finally ended and she had come home to Zharus.

At the time he had been Stuart Miles Maiuri, a person he no longer wanted to be. Luckily his bonus and hazard pay had made him a small fortune. If he was careful he would never have to work again. Because his dad had worked for Nextux RIDEWorks all his life, the first thing he decided to do was find a RIDE partner.

His post mission handler had suggested he try a small dealership in Nuevo San Antonio. He spent most of the day talking to the occasional RIDE who caught his attention. He had spent most of the day looking when he the owner said he wanted to introduce him to someone. In the back area was a RIDE named Melody, Mel for short.

She was an experimental unit, a Nextus RIDEWorks CMA(f)-ASA-001. The last of the half dozen produced and the only one who's RI had survived the program's termination. The original idea had been a variation on the one introduced by the Sturmhaven WLF-CSA-01As. A secondary RI core in the tail that would manage an extra sensor suite, long range communications, and point defense. The idea was for it to free up extra processing power to allow more accurate targeting and deliver artillery strikes from an unparallelled range. Unfortunately it ran into some of the same problems as the CSAs, the RIs wouldn't link.

In the end the secondary core idea had been scrapped when they succeed in producing a single RI core capable of doing the entire work load. That RI was Mel. The higher ups had been pleased with the results but not enough to overlook the price tag. Between the parts they needed and increased cost for the specialized RI core, it was less than a month after her First Boot that the project was scrapped.

She had honestly expect to have her core destroyed like her predecessors, luckily the RIDEWorks still "owned" her core, DE and weapons package. Rather than let Nextus destroy her, she had been discreetly sold her to their friend who owned the dealership. She had spent her weeks worrying about what would happen to her if Nextus found her. The owner introduced them and after an hour Mel and Stuart had begun discussing where they would live. She had made the suggestion that they get a sub-orbital as a starting point in case they had to run. After all, Nexts had been known to go to lengths to recover things, even if it never belonging to them.

As far as ASA's went she was on the smaller end of the spectrum, in Walker mode she stood at just over two meters and was half a meter taller in Fuser mode. The empty space in her tail's cobra head was retooled to house an extra set of sarium batteries. Her ASA chassis came equipped with two retractable plasma cannons and a particle beam cannon in her mouth.

They had just finished loading up their new D82-EST Darter when Nextus Material Recovery Service showed up to try. Stuart tried to talk them down and provided ample proof that he, and the dealership before him, had legal ownership over Mel and the weapons. When they refused to back down he sent a few messages and started stalling. It didn't take long for him to get a response.

The MRS Officers apologized for their mistake and attempted to make a ''very'' quick exit, promising that it would ''never'' happen again. Claire wouldn’t let them off that easily. She swore to them that if it ''did'' their boss would in serious trouble. Stuart had been employed by the Zharus Planetary Authority to conduct espionage, on Earth.

It was supposed to be a five year mission, seven counting travel, and everything had gone wrong from the first day off the boat. His cover had nearly been blown and it was only quick thinking and a quicker kill that had saved his life. He spent the next three years gathering Intel and practically living underground. After three years they were finally able to extract him. He spent a week being debriefed before they put him on indefinite leave and gave him a nice fat bonus. He had also been given a set of direct comm codes and told that if he needed anything to reach out to them.

Once cleared, she had upgraded her special military cortical implant with quibitite. If she was in trouble she wanted to have the best chance of coming out on top. They spent almost a month traveling around Zharus. When they had been out in the Dry Ocean they ran into a group of Integrates who were looking to hire a temporary GM in their game, Oz.

It was an easy job. Mel and Claire were told to do their best to break everything in game and send their observations on to the Dev Team. Claire began checking her email and flagged several things for her implant to draft responses to before reading one from Sebastian, her ZPA handler. After five years and two months she would finally be able to see her family again. She sent out a flurry of emails letting everyone know she was in Aloha and would be flying to Nextus to see everyone at their family compound.

"Mel, I can finally introduce you to my family."

She perked up "I'll file a flight plan with ATC."

Claire stripped out of her underwear and went to take a shower while her implant began running the pre-flight checks. Everything checked out as she finished her shower, replies coming in as began to dry off. She sighed as she looked through her rather limited wardrobe. She ruled out her beloved combat gear, too many questions. After sorting through her crossover gifts she settled on a yellow sun dress Sebastian had sent her. His note had said she needed something she could 'actually' use instead of the usual gag gifts.

'':Mel, we need something for you to wear. As much fun as it would be to show up in a metal bikini, I don't think my family would like it.''

'':Can it be black? I was thinking of a nice sweater skirt combo.''

'':Sure, it'll match your tail.''

As they fused up Mel felt Claire's nervousness and did her best to comfort her. She reabsorbed the metal-kini anatomically correct RIDEs often wore for decency. Some of her hardlight winked out then came back up projecting her outfit of choice. She had chosen a knee length skirt and loose sleeved sweater complimenting her form and drawing attention up to her face and away from her chest. They stopped in the small kitchen and made a quick lunch of last night's take out before the lifters warmed up.

They sat down in the cockpit as they received a message from ATC approving them for departure. At twenty meters long the D82-EST Darter was a small transport craft. It had a lifting body design and top of the line heat shielding ensuring it could land without the use of its lifters. They had split the cargo area in half, turning the forward section into their living quarters/maintenance area with a bathroom and kitchen.

They taxied out of their hangar and into the civilian departure zone. No one would suspect that their modest little black and white craft was fully stealth capable…or armed. Claire had spared no expense in overhauling their home. The end result had been a ten percent increase in mobility and enough offensive power to take out a large military sub. Sebastian made sure what they were doing was within the letter of the law.

They dropped into virtual for a time compressed lesson as they waited their turn for takeoff. They walked through the basic stances of Claire’s duel sword style. She was critiquing her foot work on the first set of intermediate forms when they had to stop. They quickly began to pick up speed as the lifters’ output increased and the hardlight aero shielding adjusted for maximum speed and lift. The surface fell away beneath them as the sky gradually changed from iridescent blue to a star studded black.

[[File:Separator_k.png]]

Even at top speed, Sam had a long flight to the Aloha aerodrome but it gave her plenty of time to check the outgoing flights. Finally she found one that she could slip onto unnoticed. She slipped into the lobby and boarded the high speed sub. She settled into her seat to wait. She had gotten a surprise when she checked her mail.

Her cousin Stuart had finally turned up and was flying out to Nextus from Aloha. She had already checked and couldn’t find his name on any of the passenger manifests. She had waited five years. She could wait a few more hours. Without a second thought she logged back into Oz.

She had a message from Dominic waiting for her. She read it a few times before deleting it and removing herself from the guild. Now that she realized her emerging bigotry she was going to work hard to get rid of it. Her next order of business was getting to Taft where new players arrived fresh from the tutorial. She had heard rumor of a dungeon hidden beneath the town.

She made her way to the western part of town and stopped at a player owned shop to sell her guild gear. Most of the uniform was inferior to what she had been using before. She smoothed out her red robe and settled its armored plates into place as she re-equipped. Her old Hound Saber was a welcome change from the stereotypical mage staff she had been using for two weeks. The bonuses to her spell were less because of the change but she preferred being a red mage anyway.

She made her way to a massive cathedral. If the rumors were true the entrance to the bonus dungeon was hidden somewhere inside. As soon as she stepped inside she realized that just finding the entrance would be a chore. You could have easily fit a Starmaster into the main worship area. She started by checking the dozens of side rooms for anything odd.

There were a lot more than she thought. It took her the entire flight to thoroughly check half of the side rooms. She sighed as stood up on the sub. If the bonus dungeon did exist the GMs were keeping information about the entrance tightly controlled. It was probably filled with exclusive gear unobtainable anywhere else. Once outside the aerodrome she lifted into the Fuser/scooter traffic lanes and headed for her family's compound on the southern end of city. Sam was ten and a half kilometers away when she got a nasty shock when a familiar grizzly Fuser flew up next to her.

"Sam it’s nice too finally meet you IRL." Dominic said

She stiffened "How did you know?"

He smirked "I didn't. I noticed you decided to leave the guild."

"You said I could leave whenever I wanted. ''You'' said that neither mech nor meat could beat us but that GM this morning, she opened my eyes.” She shook her head “In some ways we are better than meat, but they have us beat in other areas.”

He snorted “Here in the real world they’re nothing compared to us.”

She stopped “Get bent Dominic. I don’t want anything to do with people like you anymore."

He sputtered "I'm trying to help you!" he grabbed her wrist "We are the next step in human evolution. You don't need mech or meat for anything!"

"Let go." a pulse gun formed on her wrist "I'm not afraid to shoot you."

He laughed "Both of your halves were civvie." he whispered "I'm ex-military; your little pop guns won't scratch me."

"How about mine?" a woman's voice asked

A feline hand landed on his head and he heard the whine of charging capacitors. How had she snuck up on him? He instinctively reached out to hack them and had to bite down on his tongue to keep from screaming. He felt thousands of tiny burning bites all over his body before his DIN burnt out. Even without it the sensations persisted and he had to concentrate just to maintain his disguise.

"Ah, you're one of ''those'' people. Too bad your little tricks are less than worthless against us." The speaker was a two and a half meters chimera Fuser. "Now, you can let her go or I can cut you in half."

Dominic felt a chill down his spine. These two were extremely dangerous. The fact that they had snuck up on, not just one but, two Integrates was proof of that. Their tone of voice was casual, like they had all been discussing the weather. His military instincts were screaming at him to run. But his pride as an Integrate wouldn't let him.

"I'm not scared of meat!"

She sighed "Wrong answer."

She lifted her hand and tapped two fingers against his hardlight. His systems suddenly started blaring half a dozen different warnings at him. What had they just done to him?

"Here's a little physics lesson for you. ''Everything'' has a frequency where it will resonate. Under certain conditions it can cause things to build up energy till they literally shake themselves apart. That's what’s happening to your hardlight emitters right now. They’ll fail sometime within the next ten minutes. I suggest that you get as far from Nextus as possible before they do."

They had him backed into a corner. “This isn’t over meat!” He vanished and ignoring how the chimera’s black tail tracked his progress as he flew. He had been completely humiliated. Somehow he would get back that damn mechie.

Sam took the opportunity become invisible and leave as well. She still had ten klicks left to get to the family compound. She quickly covered the remaining distance and landed on the lawn in front of the main house. Her aunts, uncles, cousins, and her mother’s parents were milling about. Her cousin Joseph and Dexter, his coyote RIDE, were talking to her parents. Everyone stopped when she revealed herself.

“Sam? Maria?” her mother asked

Sam nodded “We…I, go by Sam, but yes. It’s me, I’m back.”

She was engulfed by her family. She was given so many hugs and asked so many questions. She had trouble keeping up for a second. She sent the details over to everyone’s RIDEs. After a few minutes of time compressed sharing everyone was caught up.

“So, where’s Stuart?” there was ping on Sam’s sensors

She turned around. Standing several meters behind her was the same chimera Fuser from earlier. She was wearing a loose black sweater and matching knee length skirt. Her wings gave a nervous twitch, like she was trying not to run away. It took a few seconds but RIDE and rider finally seemed to come to an agreement.

The Fuser slowly split open and a young woman in a yellow sun dress stepped onto the lawn. Her white blonde hair was in a pixie cut. She had feline ears, swiveling at every sound and matching nose was twitching at every smell. She nervously thumbed the end of one of her goat horns while her black cobra headed tail curled around in front of her.

She hesitated before saying “Tadaima.”

Sam stared at her in disbelief. She used time compression to replay everything a dozen times to make sure she reached the right conclusion. Since her family lived and breathed crazy it made perfect sense. After all only one person in their family would use Japanese. Claire was her cousin Stuart.

Only one way to be sure "Stuart?"

She grinned nervously "Hey," she sniffed and her eyes widened "Sam you integrated? Last time we spoke you refused to even think about getting a RIDE."

Now it was turn Sam to smile "A lot can happen in five years. Why don't we all go inside?"

"No," Sam's Aunt Cathy, the youngest daughter, spoke up "You can't be Stuart. You can't be my son."

"Cathy." her husband warned

"No Bill, I don't want to hear it! There is no way that woman can be our son!"

"Before I left I got you a sterling silver bracelet. The note I put on it said that no matter what I put you though I wanted you to know how much I loved you."

"This bitch has probably been spying on us." Aunt Gina said "I'll bet she's here to try and scam us."

What little confidence Claire seemed to have built up disappeared. “This was a mistake.” She said as tears began welling up in her eyes before she fused with Mel. Sam and Joseph recovered first. Dexter quickly fusing with his partner.

'':Sam, I believe her. Only my brother, sister, would know that. Aunt Gina is just being a spiteful bitch.''

'':Normally she would lash out and bite right back. Do you think there's something wrong with her?''

'':Maybe, we’re lucky her RIDE wants her to stay.''

'':Yeah, it looks like Mel is trying to calm her down. You guys are with the Marshal right?''

'':We’re Diamond Stars, why?''

'':Can you find out what kind of RIDE Mel is?’’

'':One step ahead of ya. I sent out an inquiry when we saw her enter the property and Dexter just got a match.''

Sam paled '':CMA(f)-ASA-001, skimmer mode is a high speed flier.''

'':I’ve read the report about them, project canceled due to quote unquote budget issues. I hope she isn’t still combat capable.''

'':She is. The only thing she’s missing is her hand carried weapon.''

'':Then let’s count that as a blessing.''

Behind them Gina had continued to spout increasingly caustic and illogical words. At last her Aunt Cathy seemed to remember ''who'' was talking and ignoring her. Everything was starting to fall apart. What should have been a happy family reunion was turning into a feud. As they finally got close enough Mel there was a smack from back on the porch.

“Regina, be quiet.” Geosaffati said to his third daughter.

Geosaffati J. Maiuri Junior, Pawpaw to his friends and family, stepped down from the front porch. The family patriarch eyed his assembled children and grandchildren, eyes settling on Joseph/Dexter, Sam and Claire/Mel. At just over 100 he had seen more than his fair share of fighting, first on Earth and then during the Sturmhaven Nextus War. On Earth, his skills hheld a high level management position and made a fortune in investments.

He was a big broad shouldered man who worked hard to maintain his physical health. What little hair he had left on his head was wispy gray and going white. White furred simian ears twitched atop his head as his tail lashed behind him. Even with his face marred by a frown you could still see the lines etched into it from years of laughing. Behind him stood his RIDE, MKY(m)-LMA-009L, Vinnie.

“Welcome home.”

Claire blinked as she felt a pair of strong arms wrapped around her. She hesitated before she gently reached out and hugged her grandfather. When they separated she took a few deep breaths. She could do this. She ‘’had’’ to do this. After a few seconds they broke part.

“Thanks Pawpaw. Mel, you can let me go now.”

“Aw, does this mean I can’t keep you?” she teased before they defused.

Claire and Mel had obviously spent a lot of time fused. Her nails had begun to narrow and were curved to a slight point. She had the slight beginnings of a muzzle, complete with short whiskers. She even had a slightly feline tongue and her canines were definitely getting longer. The real kicker was the fine layer of white fur that had recently started to cover her; most people missed it because it blended seamlessly with her skin tone.

“We keep each other. We’re partners, equals, and don’t let anyone try and tell you otherwise.”

“I’m glad you found such a good match.” Joseph said “Now let’s go inside. I’m sure y’all have quite the story to tell about working for the Zharus Planetary Authority.”

[[File:Separator_k.png]]

It had taken about an hour for Claire to finish telling her family about her job helping to bust a smuggling ring. That was the cover story she had been given. It would be in all the official records. It was also partially true. She was originally assigned to the Contraband Task force.

"You were on the Contraband Task force? Stu...Claire, that's impressive." Cathy said

"They wanted my eye for detail. You know better than anyone just how good I am at hiding in plain sight." Also true and she had been reassigned.

"So they wanted you to act as an observer?" Dexter asked

"Yeah." Also true.

"Then why have you changed so much? Everything I know about you shows that you were a lot more energetic. It's like you're a completely different person. What happened?" Claire looked away.

Joseph sighed "Sis, we're just trying to help. We can't do that if you won't let us."

Mel sheltered her with a wing "Its okay. Why don't we stay here tonight, hmm?"

"You'll have sleep in the family room. You're old room's been turned into an expansion of the workshop." Vinnie said

Mel started licking her ears "Come on Claire! You can't lie to me. We both want to!"

"Alright. Alright!" she said as she laughed "We can sleep here tonight! No more kitty bath! It tickles!"

"''That's'' why I do it." she said and gave one more sloppy lick "It was more fun when you had long hair."

"Maybe for you."

Mel smiled "I know for a 'fact' one of your favorite pictures is the aftermath of the first tongue bath."

Claire blushed as she slid out from under the wing "Tha-that's because it was the first one! It was a special event."

"Is that why you're grinning like an idiot?"

"I'm not like an idiot."

"Oh? Let me guess you ''are'' an idiot." Mel narrowed her eyes as she got off the RIDE couch.

"Damn right I am." She crossed her arms.

There was a full minute of silence "Well," Bill said "it’s nice to see you acting like yourself again."

Claire blinked and went red, brushing a hand along her right horn. Mel purred as she rubbed up against her. Sam watched all of this from the kitchen as she helped Pawpaw finish preparing dinner. Spaghetti with a three meat sauce, his specialty dish and a family favorite. Mentally, her Maria half was fully expressing itself by worrying over her cousin's biometrics.

"There's something wrong with her." Pawpaw said "Vinnie said her biometrics are wonky. So I know you can see it to."

Sam sighed "Maria thinks so too. I would've missed it if she hadn't split off to point it out."

He nodded "How is she?"

Sam frowned "That's part of the problem. We can't tell."

He chuckled "Not Claire, Maria. I don't know how Integration works but I know she's forever part of you now."

"Oh," she flushed at her blunder "never better, but she still wants a proper weapon. I've read some stuff about how it 'might' be possible to get one. But if get caught or something goes wrong I'd be in really deep trouble."

"Fritz, right?"

"How did you know?"

He smiled "Dear, I know people and he ''isn't'' as omnipotent as he wants everyone to believe. Besides that, there are other people you could ask for help. Especially if you're going back to live with your folks in Aloha. I know the Marshals have hired a lot of Integrates so you might be able to ask Joseph for some comm codes." he stepped into the doorway “Alright everyone time to eat.”

There is only one word that can be used to describe dinner with the Maiuri family, loud. Of the seventeen people, Joseph and Michael were the only two louder than the assembled mothers. It may have been louder than Claire liked but its familiarity was a welcome comfort. She noticed that Sam deliberately sat next to her. The paranoid part of her thought it was a statement about how she was probably going to be the next one to ‘ascend’.

"So Cous, I noticed you have some heavy fuse signs."

"Mel is a lot of RIDE for someone to handle."

“So…have you two considered…Integrating?” Sam asked.

Mel groaned from the other room “You know Claire ''killed'' the last person who asked us that right?”

“I only did that because she was trying to force it onto us. Besides we both know he probably survived.”

“Not for lack of trying on your part.”

She put her elbow on the table and rested her chin on her hand “If he had held still for another half a second I could’ve destroyed his brain and…what?” The table had gone silent “It was self-defense.”

“Based on the intel we have now I think ''pest control'' is a better term."

Sam couldn’t keep the disbelief out of her voice “Back up, you two walked away from a fanatic without being Integrated, how?”

“By frying his DIN port, shelling him from fifteen hundred kilometers and destroying sixty-seven percent of his body mass.” At Sam's incredulous look she shrugged and started twirling her loaded fork between her fingers "You asked."

Sam stared at the fork. "All things considered you are an excellent shot, but I recommend sticking to CQC." Mel said

She had seen before, it was a nervous habit. "So we should practice by taking pot shots at the Rodinian Nature Preserve? Aim for the deadest looking trees?"

Replace the fork with a knife. "Rohit would be pissed when she found out."

Claire had been telling half-truths "You mean if."

She was supposed to be on the task force but had done something else instead. "No, I mean ''when''. Someone will notice and she would be able to trace it back to us. I'd rather not have ‘'her'’ angry with us, pacifist or not."

Sam cleared her throat "All of this is very interesting but you still haven't answered my question."

She sighed "We have thought about it. For now it's not for us, maybe someday but it'll be because it’s what we want."

Sam nodded "Glad to hear that you aren't planning on rushing into it. Being an Integrate is nice, but it has its drawbacks."

"Like the fact that your leaders are all the bad kind of crazy."

"Among other problems, yes. On the subject of supremacists I'd like to know what you did to Dominic."

"He a friend of yours?"

She snorted "Not anymore."

Claire blinked “Alright, you’ll have to be more specific.”

“When he tried to hack you.”

“Oh that," she ate her forkful of spaghetti "not much to tell, I have a special program called Cardinal.”

“And…?” Sam asked.

She shrugged “That’s all I know.”

Sam groaned “You’re kidding.”

“Nope, the rest of the information is above my pay grade.”

At this point the rest of the table had returned to normal conversation. Claire and her father got into a discussion about RIDE maintenance. He really wanted a chance to give Mel a once over. It was strictly out of professional curiosity. Mel accepted the offer on the condition that it be performed at their house with their tools, a perfectly reasonable request.

They asked about Claire's co-workers on the task force, more half-truths. They asked about her crossrider party and the gifts she received, most were surprisingly useful. Why she had waited so long to contact them, she had been told to by her handler. What Sebastian, her handler, was like and why she even needed one. She said to keep her safe, a straight lie.

Regina wanted to know if Claire would be moving back to Nextus, no way in Hell. Then she wanted to know if Claire was planning to live in Sturmhaven like her. This earned a string of words in a language no one could identify and a small rant about idiotic feminists. When Claire had first returned to Zharus a Valkyrie had tried to force herself on him. Marshal intervention was the only thing that had prevented a fight from breaking out.

Right now they were living out of their sub. They were usually docked at the Aloha aerodome since they were working for Oz. Sam and Bobbie wanted to know more about that. Bobbie was a programmer and as always interested in learning more. Bobbie's hare and Keith's deer were both on their way back from running out to pick up dessert.

“I heard there’s a dungeon in Taft.” Sam said

“That’s right. A hundred sub-basements beneath a church, each one is a microcosm unto itself. We just made it down to the seventy-fourth yesterday.”

“It took you two months?”

“I spent sixty hours power leveling before I could start that dungeon. You could make it pretty far at your current level, but it would be time consuming.”

“Do you have any suggestions?”

“Once you find the entrance there’ll probably be some people you can party with, or you can go with me. Though, you’ll still have to find the entrance on your own.”

She groaned “I spent my sub flight over checking the side rooms and found nothing.”

“Sorry Cous, that’s the way it is. I’ll meet you there later.”

She shrugged “Alright, it’s not like I have anything better to do.”

“You could find a job.” Her mother said

Sam harrumphed. If she was looking for a job her best bet a Fuser based establishment, like a Fuser bar. She didn’t mind going back into that line of work. She might even go back to school. Online classes had a lot more appeal to her now. But it wouldn't do her any good if she just cheated her way through.

A few hours after dinner Claire was finally able to log into Oz and meet Sam in Taft. One second the room was empty, the next Claire was sitting in one the pews with Mel sprawled in the aisle. Sam had spent the entire time searching the church's remaining side rooms. She quirked an eyebrow but didn't say anything as she went back to searching. Half an hour later she sat down and leaned back against the alter, only to yelp as it slid backwards.

Sam sighed "Beneath the alter, how cliched."

"The entrance is different for everyone, but it’s always literally in the last place you look. That's why I couldn't help you find it."

"So I have to search this place every time?"

"Once you reach the first town it gives you a teleport spell. You can also use it to travel between the various floors."

They were able to start off on the fiftieth floor dungeon. Claire played as the forward guard drawing in the attention of the mobs and letting Sam get bonus xp and special items for killing them. The few times she attacked her blade would cut down groups at a time. When they reached the fifty fifth floor Claire took her to a blacksmith for new gear and upgrades. They spent the next several hours traipsing through the floor dungeons until they reached the seventy fourth floor.

By the time they got there Sam was several levels higher and had replaced most of her gear thrice over. They met up with other players along the way, several of which made no attempt to hide their Integrate status behind disguises. Sam soon joined them reveling in the new found freedom. The others shared stories about various raids, trades, duels and integrations. They made it halfway back to town before she noticed Claire and Mel were gone.

She dropped back into the real world and noticed her internal chronometer said it was close to four in the morning. They had probably logged out to go to sleep and she just hadn't been paying attention. She quietly stretched as she went down to the kitchen to get a snack. On her way back she peeked into the family room. Mel was lying awake in the middle of the room, her head resting on her paws. Claire was fast asleep on her back, half her face buried in Mel's scruff like it was a fuzzy living pillow.

As she turned to go back upstairs she heard the faintest of whimpers. She looked back and saw Claire start to twitch in her sleep as she whimpered again. Mel looked concerned as she shifted, trying to make her more comfortable without waking her up. When the whimpering continued, a part of Sam realized that she was intruding on something very 'very' private. The instant Claire began to thrash Mel fused up around her, staying on hands and knees as she interrupted whatever figment was tormenting Claire.

Sam watched as the Fuser took several deep breathes before curling up on the RIDE couch and seemingly going to sleep. She quietly returned to her room, never once noticing that the eyes of the cobra tail had been watching her the entire time. Everything about her cousin's odd behavior confirmed her theory. Something terrible had happened to Claire.

[[File:Separator_k.png]]

The first thing Sam noticed when she came down for breakfast was the twenty meter sub-orbital parked in the backyard. A quick query showed it was registered to, and owned by, Claire. She grabbed a bowl of cereal to eat as she went outside to take a closer look. When she stepped outside she could hear the voices coming from inside it.

"It's good to see you, I would've been here last night but I got caught up at the office."

"It’s okay, thanks for the crossover gift."

She laughed "I bet it got some strange looks when you opened it, but I always thought the traditional gifts were a little dumb."

As she stepped into the sub Sam recognized her older cousin Heather. The petite wolverine tagged ZPA employee was still half a head shorter than Claire. Her brown ears were almost completely hidden by her shoulder length dirty blonde hair. Sam heard the end of the comm discussion the two of them were secretly having as Heather broke the hug she had on Claire.

'':I'm sorry, if I had known where they were sending you I wouldn't have put your name up as a possible for The Ghosts.''

'':It’s okay, from what I heard I'd be dead if I had stayed with the task force.''

'':Still.''

"Heather allow me to reintroduce you to our cousin Samantha and her RIDE Maria."

Before she could blink Heather had wrapped her in a bone crushing hug. "Look at you two, all Integrated and furry!"

She returned the gesture "Thanks, what are The Ghosts?"

That wiped the smiles off their faces "Classified, and don't even try to dig up information on it. Integrate or not you won't find anything."

"Alright, alright you don't need to go biting my head off. Where are Mariko and Mel?"

"Over here." Mel called from the other room "Your Uncle was just finishing his inspection."

Bill shook his head as Mel was released from the cradle "You have an excellent chassis, looks like it could take just about anything. Like those wings, they weren't in the original design. At least not any of the drafts I’ve seen."

"I felt like I was in the wrong body. We tried a bunch of things but it wasn't until we were in Rodinia that we found an answer. They used a winged lioness as one of my bases."

He nodded recognizing the symptoms of body diaspora "Installing micro solar panels for solid state feathers, pretty clever idea."

"Glad you like, it was Claire's."

"It’s nice being on indefinite leave, lots of time to travel and just relax." Claire turned to Heather "Earlier you said there was some sort of convention I might like to go to?"

"That's right; it’s a convention for people with ASA RIDEs. Kind of like a RIDE or skimmer show, you can meet lots of people and learn more about maintenance and stuff. I thought it might do you some good to spend time with people you aren't related to."

"I do that in Oz."

She gave Sam a pleading look "You've been having nightmares."

She looked away "Maybe."

"There might be people who can help you."

"Claire," Heather put a hand on her shoulder "you're not alone anymore. If you're still having nightmares let us help you. At the very least let Mel help, she's your partner for crying out loud."

"I know that." she snapped "At least, I do intellectually. I'm trying but it’s not easy, it’s a hard
habit to break after three years."

Sam sighed "Let's make a deal. I had planned to take you shopping today, that dress is probably one of the few outfits you can actually use." Claire's blush confirmed this "So we'll go to the Con with you and, when you want to leave, we'll take you shopping for some real clothes. Deal?"

Claire groaned "Fine, you've got me backed into a corner."

Sam waved at her "And that's why I'm your favorite."

"Besides," she smirked "I could use proper pair of sweats anyway."

Now it was Sam's turn to groan as she punched Claire's shoulder. Stuart had never understood the appeal of being fashionably dressed. Ironically this had an incredible fashion sense, he could look downright amazing if he wanted to. But he would much rather run around in comfortable clothing regardless of whether or not was in style or matched.

Within an hour the five of them were on their way to the largest convention center in the polity. Artillery Support Armor was a bit of misnomer. The classification included everything from gunships and indirect fire to low orbit bombardment and sniper style direct fire units. This broad range meant they were also produced in an equal large range of sizes, mostly on the larger end of the scale. Thus they needed a convention center whenever they wanted to gather in large groups.

There were thousands of people and RIDEs packed into the center. They were even able to spot a few Integrates taking advantage of the crowd to wander around exposed to the world. They ended up meeting up with a few veterans of Nextus-Sturmhaven war. Whenever Mel was noticed she immediately became the center of attention and received everything from sympathy and comm codes to death threats.

Claire had just sat down in the food court when a hand landed on her shoulder "Excuse me ma'am," a feminine voice said "but it’s important that I speak to you."

Her tail hissed as it examined the woman behind her. She yanked her hand back in surprise, badger ears flattening. The fact that she didn't step away from Claire said she was used to getting what she wanted. Her accent marked her as belonging to the upper levels of the Nextus government.

Claire sighed "About what?" Why did Sam and Heather have to get food now.

"That RIDE belongs to you right? My superiors in the MRS want me to demand its return."

Mel growled "We're partners, we belong to each other. A few months I ago I had to send some of your co-workers packing."

She snorted "I heard about that."

"Lieutenant Colonel Steele, how nice to see you again." Heather, Fused with Mariko, walked over with a tray of food.

"D-Director, I...I didn't see you there."

"Oh course you didn't,” she sat down "I just got back with our food." she pushed out a chair "Please, sit down." It wasn't a request. "This is the second time Nextus has harassed one of my operatives. I thought I made it clear what would happen if this continued, regardless of 'who' was doing the harassing."

“I understand, but my superiors obviously don't." she pinched the bridge of her nose "This was supposed to be my weekend off, got it approved months ago. I just wanted to come here and enjoy the time with other people with ASAs. Then I got a call an hour ago and was told that facial rec placed you here and was given orders to try and convince you to hand you RIDE over to me."

"How long have you been partnered?"

She smiled tiredly "Fifteen years now, she’s a BDR(f)-ASA-014W. She ran into some of her friends who’ve already mustered put. I think this whole debacle is a sign that we should tender our resignation.”

“Any idea why your top brass is so interested in Mel?”

“Not a clue, someone in the military or one of the upper tiers might be putting them up to it. You know quid pro quo.”

Claire grunted “I ‘hate’ career politicians.”

There was a murmur of agreement “Well, I’ve bothered you enough.” Steele offered her hand and Claire shook it. “I’m going to find Cressa and get back to enjoying the convention.”

Sam showed up shortly after Steele left and they ate their late lunch. This time when Claire said she wanted to leave there were no objections. The trip had served its purpose which was to get introduce Claire to other people. A handful of the RIDEs gave Mel advice on how to help Claire deal with her night terrors.

Compared to everything that was happening at the convention shopping was uneventful. However Sam’s idea of shopping hadn’t included the half a dozen specialty stores Claire dragged them into. That aside, it was easy to find clothes for her. Convincing her to buy some of the more feminine ones was impossible. It took a while to talk her into defusing to actually try on different outfits. Her pragmatism about clothes had clearly crossed over with her.

They caught a lucky break, one of shops was run by an Integrate and Sam was able to try on real clothes for the first time in months. Claire refused to entertain anything that had frills or lace. Just about the only feminine clothes she bought were sundresses and a pair of sunhats. Everything else was t-shirts and shorts. As far as she was concerned indefinite leave was the same as retirement, just with better pay.

The entire time they were shopping Claire was doing something on the net. Sam’s fear of the mysterious Cardinal System was the only thing that prevented her from taking a closer peek. After all, just because she could look in on everything digital didn’t mean she should. Everyone was entitled to just as much privacy as she was. Then again, she could always ask.

“Claire, are you going to share the reason you’ve been on the net for the past six hours with the group?”

She was silent for a bit "Swear not tell anyone?"

"On pain of death."

"Therapy," she was blushing "you know I had a nightmare last night. The problem is I've been having them for several months now. They're less frequent now but I'm still having them. Cardinal was helping at first but now its doing more harm than good."

Heather swore "Nobody said you were given a copy of Cardinal."

"They probably didn't think it was important."

"Like Hell it isn't. Who authorized it?"

She shrugged "Romulus something or other."

Heather groaned "Romulus Mengsk?" a nod "That power hungry idiot. Cardinal is designed for rapid tactical analysis not psychiatric care. Do you at least have control over it?"

"Umm..."

Sam frowned "I'm guessing this Mengsk person didn't tell you that you could adjust it."

Claire snorted "He didn't say much of anything about it. I could probably hack it."

"Don't," Mariko said "I'll pass over the control codes so you can disable it, take an image before you adjust it."

"Hopefully Tassidar will throw him out on his ass, politics be damned."

"Um, are you sure its okay for you guys to discuss this in fornt of me?"

"Its useless to anyone else you might know."

Sam briefly thought of Fritz "I'm not sure about that."

"The Bosscat wouldn't be able to do anything useful with the information. Even if he wants Mengsk to stay in power he knows better than to try anything."

"Wait the ZPA knows about Fritz?"

"We've had contact with certain individuals who brought him to our attention. We've been...monitoring the situation ever since."

"We understand you're scared of him but he's just a person. If it came down to a fight the odds are stacked 'against' his favor."

"Easy for you to say." Sam muttered.

[[File:Separator_k.png]]

Claire, stilled Fused with Mel yawned as she woke up the next morning.They had a very productie night in OZ, lots of level grinding with Sam. The boss room had been found and its raid was currently in the early planning stages. Depending on the information the scout teams gathered they might be able to clear it within a few days. But that was just wishful thinking on her part.

With most of Cardinal disabled Claire had been able to download a lucid dreaming app for her implant and get a direct look at her subconscious. If she ever saw Mengsk again he would be subjected to a swift and unbearably painful death. That bastard had tried to use Cardinal to brainwash her into becoming his obedient little puppet.It was easy enough to fix what he had changed and Mel kept meticulous notes on what they found. It was damning enough that he would probably be locked up for the rest of his life.

For the first time since coming back Claire really felt like herself. At breakfast she had a pointless argument with her brother (she lost), pounced on Vinnie, and generally made a minor nuisance of herself. Though she didn't say anything she could feel Mel's approval of the return towards her true normalcy. She knew she could never go all the way back, too much had happened, but she could get close.

Last night they had flown to Cascadia to visit one of Keith's friends and do a little sight seeing before heading back to Aloha. It had been going great until they announced that they were going to let some of the rain through the domes. It wasn't really dangerous, more of a minor annoyance, but it did force them to cut their tour short. They were almost to the aerodome when Claire put a hand on Sam's shoulder.

'':We're being followed.''

Sam checked her sensor '':Doesn't look like it.''

'':Trust me we are, take your parents and get back to The Dawn. I, we, will handle this.''

Sam noticed the hesitation with the pronouns '':Alright.''

It took only a few minutes for them to be out of sight "You can come out now."

From under a nearby awning stepped a red panda Fuser "Corporal Mort and Private Eugene," she shook the offered hand "its a pleasure to meet you ma'am."

A fellow Ghost "Likewise, now let's get down to brass tacks. Why were you following us?"

He offered he a tablet "Emergency orders, direct from Colonel Tiger himself."

"I'm supposed to be on leave. Why didn't he just comm me?"

"He's been trying to."

Claire swore "I bet its something Mengsk imbedded in that copy of Cardinal. We're gonna have to get a full work up done on my implants."

Colonel Tiger Sauer was the founding member and commanding officer of the Ghosts. It had been he who sent her on indefinite leave, after approving her new partner. He was also an Integrate and gave every Ghost a special encryption key. There was no doubt in her or Mel's mind that he was fully aware Claire had family with her right now. If he was giving her direct orders there were no other options.

The mission was a simple extraction operation that required them to stop at the southern end of a mineral formation called the Towers. She wouldn't be required to fight anyone. All she had to do was fly in pick up the fireteam and fly them all out without attracting the attention of the local Enclave.

If Sam hadn’t been watching the entrance she would have missed Claire and Mel’s return. She could tell something was different as soon as they stepped aboard. Her parents didn’t notice Mel’s hardlight fur had become smooth armor.

“There’s been a slight change in our flight plan. Claire and I need to make a work related detour.”

“I thought everything Oz related was in Aloha.” Bobbie said.

“This is ZPA related. Need to pick up a survey team we have out in the Towers. They’re probably going to be tired. So, I want y’all to try and stay out of their way.”

“There might not be anyone for you to pick up. There’s an Enclave in the Towers and they have been known to forcibly remove tethers from RIDEs and they sometimes…encourage Integration in others.”

“Trust me the Enclave has no idea that they’re there. Its more towards the central section so they won't notice us either.”

"I don't know..."

"Sam we were able to sneak up on you and Dominic."

She winced "There's going to be a lot more than just two this time."

Claire/Mel shrugged "Two or 2000, numbers are only important if they're paying attention. Now, I'm going to grab something from my room and then we'll be off."

The trip from Cascadia to the Towers was very short. A straight line flight instead of an parabolic arc. Sam couldn't believe how fast The Dawn was Claire had done some major upgrades from its stock configuration. It was only very strict self-control that kept her from running a deep scan to find out what made her tick. That and Sam was worried that she might expose them if she did.

Claire had the loading ramp open before they even landed. Everything was still and it would have been eerily quiet if the wind stopped. They sat there for ten minutes before she kicked on her stealth and went to go talk to Claire. Except the cockpit was empty. A quick search proved both she and Mel had left The Dawn.

Throwing her worries aside she reached out and pinged Mel on the sidebands. Several seconds passed before Mel pinged her back letting her know she had met with the survey team and they were on their back. Sam walked into the back area and stood right in the entrance her sensors on full alert.

She stood there for fifteen minutes and was about to walk back in when an arm wrapped around her neck. She would've screamed if the a hand hadn't clamped over her mouth. She was quickly dragged backwards into the main cargo area as the ramp closed sealing up the ship.

A man's voice growled in her ear "If I where an enemy you'd be dead." she was released "Come on Probie, Mike and Aug need help with Mosley."

Mosley turned out to be a wounded Bandicoot Integrate being tapped on cheek by a Wombat Fuser "Come on Mosley stay with us!"

She caught the wrist before it could tap against her cheek again "Hit me again and I'll break your wrists."

The Fuser gave a sigh "Thank God you're alright. Ajax, Probie, give me a hand getting her to kitchen."

Ajax turned out to be an LSA black lab Fuser. When Sam made no move to follow he grabbed her wrist and dragged her forward. With a combination of lifter control and hand support they got Mosley settled on the kitchen table. Ajax opened a cabinet and gave a spare sarium battery to Mosley. Why had he called Sam been Probie?

"Where's Claire?" Sam asked, the quiet hum of the lifters answered her question.

"The LT is making sure we get out of here in one piece." Mosely answered "I know we asked for emergency evac but I didn't think they'd send the Ace of Aces herself." she looked over at Sam "Probie, front and center. I thought I knew every female Ghost and recruit we have."

Claire's voice came over their comms' '': Neither, she's my cousin.''

"That explains her lack of reflexes." Ajax said.

"I'm standing right here you know."

'':Where are y'all going to stay when we get to Aloha?'' Mel asked.

'':No idea. We were supposed to be out here for another week.''

"Um you guys can stay at my house." They looked at her. "Well its technically my parents house. But we've got plenty of room for guests."

"You'll have to run it by them first and I don’t think there is anyway they’ll let us stay for a week."

It was the second night after they arrived in Aloha. Ajax (Andrew and his RIDE Jackson), Mosley, Mike and Aug had spent the first day busily preparing their reports and getting some much needed rest. They had most of the day in Oz being brought up to speed on the raid strategy and gathering supplies. They had already spent most of the night out on the town, slowly going from bars up to clubs with Claire getting progressively drunker, probably because she was lounging on Mel’s back when they traveled, her hair now shoulder length.

“I had no idea Claire was a happy drunk.”

“Let’s just hope she stays that way.” Ajax said.

“What do you mean?”

“Pray that you never have to find out.” Mosley muttered as Claire babbled to Mel.

“What language is she speaking anyway?”

“No idea, she must have picked it up on her last assignment.” Aug said

Sam shook her head "We have about two hours till the bars close up for the night, any suggestions."

"Loch Ness, its on 32nd Street." Claire giggled as she motioned its general direction.

Mosley patted her head "No more for you."

Loch Ness turned out to be a rather upscale bar staffed only by marine Fusers. They grabbed seats at the bar proper, Claire half slumping over in hers. The place was surprisingly full for its location and the time of night. They were on their second round of drinks when a musk-ox Fuser walked over and started talking to Claire.

"What's cookin good lookin?" Sam frowned at his Cape Nord accent. "How about I buy you a drink."

Claire giggled "Sure, Edradour on the rocks."

What was she doing? She had agreed she wouldn't have another drink and why was Ajax smirking? Sam looked at the others. Mosley looked resigned while Mike and Aug just looked confused. Clearly the three of them were missing something. Claire's Scotch sat there for a minute before the Fuser said anything.

"Well aren't you going to drink it?"

"Nope, Mosley said no more for me so no more will I drink." she grinned.

He spluttered "But you said I could buy you a drink!"

"And you did, you didn't ask if I could drink it, which I can't." she shrugged.

He frowned "Well, then why don't we go somewhere else and you can have a drink there."

"She said no more so it doesn't matter where. I can't drink any."

"Then how about I take you over to my place. I got a nice hotel room just down the street." He gave her a winning smile.

Claire let out a laugh and patted him on the cheek "You are just to cute, but I'm not that kind of crossrider."She winked at Mosley.

"Then your friend can come to." his grin widened "How about it?"

"Mm, no."

"Aw come on it'll be fun."

Mike/Aug grabbed his arm as he tried drape it around her shoulders "Dude, she said no.

"Stay outta this." The man sneered, jerking his arm free and spilling Claire's Scotch.

Sam blinked and almost missed it. There was a massive crash as Claire slammed the Fuser face first into the bar. They all heard the crunch of metal as his muzzle deformed. He stumbled backwards as Claire stood up. Gone was the happily giggling drunk from a fraction of a second ago.

The man took a swing at her and she just seemed to slide out of the way. He swung again and she slipped around behind him grabbing his tail and yanking him into a spin towards the front. Mosley pinched the bridge of her nose while Ajax was laughing so hard he had fallen out of his seat. She slipped past his strikes again and again before counter attacking. This time Sam missed it because of Mel, but she still heard the rending crash as the man broke through the wall and landed in the street.

Before Claire could another step she was engulfed by Mel. She put her hands over her heart, eyes closed, as she took deep breaths. Sam could hear the blaring of police sirens as the APD showed up.

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[[:Category:Story|Category:Chimera|Transgender|Bear|Anthropomorphic|Dog]]

Category talk:FreeRIDErs

2014-02-06T02:33:16Z

Oddoneout: I have a question.

If I want to post a story in this setting do I need to have anyone approve it first?
--[[User:Oddoneout|Oddoneout]] ([[User talk:Oddoneout|talk]]) 20:33, 5 February 2014 (CST)

User:Oddoneout

2014-02-01T18:14:23Z

Oddoneout: Creating link to my first story.

Hello, new here. Hoping to learn the ropes and post a story eventually.

[[ZPA The Return]]

Talk:FreeRIDErs (background material)

2013-12-28T14:22:11Z

Oddoneout: Range and targeting

I'd like to know more about ASA armors. Do they act as their own Forward Observes? What kind of standard equipment do they have? What their sizes range. Anything and everything basically. --Oddoneout

:Well, we haven't really ''needed'' to work out details like this because they haven't come up in any story. I'm sure the avian RIDES (Light Scouts, Light Mobility) would act as spotters and use comm lasers. Feel free to bring your own ideas to the table. Also, make sure you hit the Signature button when you post. :) --[[User:JonBuck|Buck]] ([[User talk:JonBuck|talk]]) 02:11, 28 December 2013 (CST)

::Alright, I was thinking it would be good if they have a long range sensor suite so they can be deployed without the need for an FO except when targeting at extreme ranges. My brother is in the military and he confirmed for me that this is, to an extent, how artillery can currently operate. If the target is within a certain distance they can target and fire on their own. But most of the time they have an FO or at least someone to call in coordinates for them because they're going for extreme ranges.--[[User:Oddoneout|Oddoneout]] ([[User talk:Oddoneout|talk]]) 08:22, 28 December 2013 (CST)

Talk:FreeRIDErs (background material)

2013-12-28T05:26:15Z

Oddoneout: Artillery Support Armor

I'd like to know more about ASA armors. Do they act as their own Forward Observes? What kind of standard equipment do they have? What their sizes range. Anything and everything basically.

User:Oddoneout

2013-11-24T18:40:25Z

Oddoneout: second edit, added missing words

Hello, new here. Hoping to learn the ropes and post a story eventually.

User:Oddoneout

2013-11-24T18:39:24Z

Oddoneout: first edit

Hello, new here. Hoping to learn the ropes and post story.