Author's note: There are some pretty strong emotions in this one and I've had to rein it in a few times to keep in line with the original intent of the show.

I will also admit that I'm jumping the gun on this. I had expected to find more time to write, but again, it's not happening. I managed to crunch through this chapter and decided to post it without having anything else written yet. So yet again, please be patient with me. I hate this delay even more than you do.

Oh, thanks for reading too.

48 – 1 Mark 3; 1636 Hours

Jonathan Power felt the tension in his shoulders and neck as he silently watched the few remaining civilians board the UTO transport. They carried their meager belongings with them; from the looks on their faces, he knew this wasn't the first time most had had to leave their homes quickly.

When his team had arrived at the settlement not ten minutes prior, they'd been greeted with cold stares and a hint of resentment. Many had stayed in their dwellings, leaving the decision to flee to their leaders.

Power understood their hesitancy to come forward. An Overunit had once taken his likeness to lure the innocent into Dread's hands. With marauders and bandits laying waste to what Dread hadn't managed to obliterate, the urge to simply hide was powerful.

He'd felt that urge when they'd left the Passages only hours earlier. The jumpship had been fully repaired and stocked with supplies and they'd laid in the coordinates for the first leg of the journey to Northstar. In spite of the possibilities ahead of him, the desire to walk away was strong. Find somewhere, anywhere, he could hide from the pain and devastation.

Yet when the UTO had sounded the alarm of the impending attack, they had changed course immediately and rendezvoused with the transport.

There is simply nowhere to hide. Nowhere to find peace.

"Captain." Scout's voice interrupted his thoughts and he found the younger man at his side. "Some of the folks have indicated a man is still in this one." Baker gestured to the building at their left. "He told them he doesn't need our help and would like to remain here."

He acknowledged the information with a nod. "I'll check it out. See if he's holding firm to that decision."

Quickly picking his way over the debris, Power peered inside through the nearest door. The visor on his suit automatically adjusted to the blackness, allowing him to see with relative ease. Though he'd hesitated using the suits, he knew they had to be prepared for the oncoming attack by Dread's troops.

"Hello? Is anyone here? I'm Captain Power and my team is here to move this camp before Dread's troopers arrive." His words echoed through the cavernous room, followed by silence. He took several steps inside, carefully turning his head from side to side to get a clear view of the interior.

"We've been told someone wishes to remain here. I'd sincerely like to change your mind."

Searching intently for stairs to the upper level, he nearly missed the movement just outside the visor's view. A shadow, quickly passing out the door to his right.

He gave chase, unwilling to allow another person to fall into Dread's hands. "Wait! I just want to talk to you!" he yelled, glimpsing the figure as he cleared the edge of the building. With a burst of speed, he closed the gap within seconds and reached forward.

Power felt the man's coat at his fingertips and grabbed, snagging the material. The sudden reversal in motion caused the other man to stumble and fall to his knees.

"Listen, pal, I'm not going to stop you if you want to stay here. But it's not safe. This place is going to be crawling with clickers in just a few minutes and I want you to realize what you're getting yourself into." He hauled the man to his feet and was stunned when he took off again.

"Gimme a break," he muttered as he went in pursuit.

It took only a few seconds to regain the ground he'd lost by the surprise move. This time, he firmly grabbed the man's arm and held tight. "Alright, so you don't want to leave. Just give me a reason why."

Jon spun the man around to get his attention. Even with a stocking cap covering the shock of blond and black hair, the recognition was immediate and rage surge forward in his gut.

The man's head smacked into the nearest wall with a sickening thud, Power's fingers around his throat.

Power brought his face to within two inches of the other man's and growled, "Good to see you again, Locke." His fingernails dug a little further into the data broker's throat. If the gloves hadn't been in place, he was sure he'd have drawn blood.

"Let me go," Locke rasped, struggling to find a grip on the wall to pull free.

Jon barely reigned in the fury. "There is no chance in hell I am letting you go, Locke." He saw the panic in the man's eyes. "Did you think you were going to get away with sending Dread to our base? Did you think you could hide from us forever? Did you think I wasn't going to tear you apart when I found you?" With each question, he slammed the man against the wall. "You are the reason Jennifer is dead. And I can think of no reason at all why you should continue living if she's gone."

Prying at Power's fingers, Locke managed to sputter out a few words. "He has my kids."

The information barely registered in Jon's brain. He hadn't even realized Scout and Hawk were beside him until Hawk spoke.

"He deserves this, Jon, but let's get some information out of him first."

Locke groaned in pain but still fought against Power's fingers. "Told me… no one would get… hurt." His voice cracked as he attempted to get the words out.

Power slammed him against the wall again, his jaw clenched. "Did you actually believe he wasn't going to hurt anyone if he found our base? He wants to destroy the entire planet and we're the only thing standing in his way. Of course we're going to get hurt." He squeezed the man's throat a little harder. "One of my team is dead, Locke. She is dead."

"My kids," he croaked again.

"Were probably dead ten minutes after he got them. Or maybe they were digitized." Jon paused for a moment, allowing his words to sink in. "You didn't stop to think about what would happen when you double-crossed mankind, did you? Guess what, Locke? You take something from someone else, something will be taken from you. It's a lesson you should have learned when you were three."

Tank's voice broke through on their communicators. "Captain, BioDread ETA is two minutes."

"Copy, Tank. Tell the UTO to move out. We're bringing this one with us." Power released Locke's throat and watched as Hawk and Scout flanked him, arms firmly enclosed in their grip. "Secure him in the hold. We'll take care of him as soon as we drop off the civilians."

Matt shot Jon a curious look over his shoulder.

Though his face was now impassive, Power's voice conveyed the fury that raged within. "He'll tell us what we need to know."

48-1 Mark 4; 0835 Hours

Jennifer Chase had been staring at the wall of the debriefing room. She had listened to the words of the man who was speaking, but they were merely an echo of what had already been said by two others for nearly the past hour.

She knew that every person in the room was focused on her, on her reaction, on her every move. So far, she'd managed to remain silent, barely even lifting a finger. But the questions were now flowing through her brain with such force that she found herself on her feet, pacing.

The man who had introduced himself as Stanton Sheppard stopped speaking, his hands folded on the table in front of him. Jennifer turned her attention to him, scrutinizing him with the same intensity he had used on her for nearly the entire session.

"You're telling me that you intercepted a distress call from Major Masterson while he was inside Volcania. And because of the deal you'd made with Dr. Power, you sent in a team to rescue us, but that it was too late by the time you arrived."

Sheppard nodded. "Yes, Corporal, that would be the gist of it."

Jennifer faced him squarely, as if they were the only two people in the room. "I want to see them. I want to confirm they were killed. They're not dead until I get some solid DNA evidence from bodies. Just because I blacked out doesn't mean they couldn't have somehow made it out of there alive. Especially Sergeant Baker and Captain Power. At the very least Sergeant Baker and Captain Power. I want you to take me to their bodies and I want to see for myself that they're gone."

Stanton's expression softened. "We don't have the bodies. The team was forced to leave them due to the massive assault that was taking place."

She was already shaking her head. "No. You don't just leave them behind! Not with the technology of the power suits. If Dread gets his hands on any of the suits, regardless of whether they're charged or not, he can figure out the whole damn system!" Jennifer felt her pulse rate rising, felt the panic beginning to set in once again. Nearly every part of her body ached and she closed her eyes, taking several deep breaths to regain her composure. To lock away the pain. To make sense of what was being said to her.

The hangar flashed into her mind and she saw the room in crystal clear detail. The biomechs, the fire, Jon. How close they had come to reaching the jumpship.

The jumpship.

"When did you say the distress call came through?" Jennifer focused on Sheppard once again.

Sheppard shuffled the papers in front of him, analyzing the information. "We received the transmission at 1337 hours on 12 mark 31."

"By then they would have rendezvoused with the skybike I sent from the base. It had the remaining suits and a backup of Mentor's systems on it." She folded her arms across her chest, ignoring the pain that rippled through her forearm and side.

Jacqmain sat forward in his seat. "You sent a skybike out of the base?"

Pilot glared at him. Timothy Jacqmain had been introduced as the leader of the team sent into Volcania. With the exception of two guards posted at the door, the Council and Jacqmain were the only people present at the debriefing. She had no doubts why the guards hadn't spoken, but had grown frustrated by Jacqmain's lack of response to anything that was said. Her annoyance at his unwavering attention to her gave way with his question. "Yes. They would have picked it up and possibly even loaded Mentor onto the jumpship's system by that time."

She stopped for a moment, staring at their blank faces. "None of you get it! The jumpship was in that hangar at Volcania! There's a chance the extra suits and Mentor were in it! Where's the jumpship now?"

Jacqmain spoke again. "We were under heavy attack and we knew there was no way we were going to get it out of there. One of my team set it with explosives before he was killed."

A look of pure horror crossed her face.

"I'm sorry, Corporal, but we had run out of options. I had an entire team with me. You and I were the only ones that made it out of there." Jacqmain's jaw set and he held her gaze. "I did what had to be done."

"I can't accept that." Jennifer turned back to the three men who had been introduced as the Council of Eden II and addressed them. "I don't wish to sound ungrateful for everything you did to rescue and care for me. I truly appreciate the sacrifices all of you, and especially Sergeant Jacqmain, have made on behalf of my team. But I must respectfully inform you that my return to the resistance forces on the front lines is of the most vital importance."

"That is not possible," Sheppard quickly responded, noting the agreement of Badasu and Kowalczyk.

Jennifer raised an eyebrow. "It's not possible or you're going to make it not possible?"

Sheppard, Badasu and Kowalczyk simply stared at her.

Their indifference to her question ignited her anger. "I'm not going to sit around, waiting for an answer. There's too much at stake here. Too many lives have already been lost. Now you can help me get back to the resistance or you can sit in your precious little haven you've made for yourselves, pretending there isn't a war going on outside these walls. Either way, I'm leaving."

Through her peripheral vision, she saw the two guards at the door raise their weapons in an interceptive posture.

Jacqmain rose and placed himself between Sheppard and Chase. "Corporal, I strongly suggest you stand down immediately."

Her lips parted slightly and a mild look of shock crossed her face. "You can suggest anything you like, but the fact remains that the team I am from isn't an official military group. Those of us who were chosen for it may have military training, but as anyone in the resistance will tell you, rank doesn't mean a hell of a lot on the front lines. If you hadn't noticed, Major Masterson wasn't the leader of our group, even though he outranked Captain Power and had significantly more battle experience. So don't try to pull rank on me."

With his back to Sheppard and the rest of the Council, Jacqmain's look was aimed solely at her. And it was deadly. "Stand down. Now." The words hissed out of his mouth.

From behind Jacqmain, she heard Sheppard speak. "That will be all for now, Corporal Chase."

The finality in his tone and the two armed guards at her side effectively ended the conversation.

48-1 Mark 4; 1007 Hours

"I hate lying to her." Jacqmain stared at his hands, his jaw set. "I hate making her think they're all dead. She hasn't done anything wrong, yet they're using her as a pawn in this game." He looked up, caught the slight grin that was flashed for only a moment.

"Then we need to make sure she's got all the rules."

He nodded in agreement. And prayed she would understand what they were up against.

48-1 Mark 4; 1015 Hours

Power held up the tightly wrapped currency. "Can we trust you to keep this between us?" He stared across the console at the black haired woman. Even with the dim lighting of the room, he could still make out the smirk that nearly always turned up the corners of her mouth, highlighted by the shocking shade of red that covered her lips.

"It's always a pleasure doing business with you boys." Mindsinger slowly looked at each of them before her gaze settled on Power. She had an eerie calmness that both reassured and unsettled him. "But this one is on me."

He raised a questioning eyebrow. His first foray into the cyberweb had cost two hundred stads a minute – a phenomenal fee when most refugees were subsisting on the goodwill of others.

But Mindsinger was unlike any of the refugees or resistance fighters they'd encountered. Like most of the residents of Tech City, her hair and clothing were from a time long gone. It had been seen as the "punk" style during the late twentieth century and then again multiple times over the decades that followed, resurfacing just before the Metal Wars had begun. Mindsinger's fashion followed the trend of black leather, hardware and hair that stood on end, but in no particular direction.

Upon their return to the jumpship after their initial encounter, Tank had wondered out loud whether the style had been created by sticking her finger in a socket. Pilot and Scout had asked if she'd salvaged the metal she wore from the broken electronics in the room upstairs.

Standing before her now, Power wondered what hid behind the leather, the makeup and the impassive demeanor.

"We all have our reasons for doing what we do." Her gaze turned briefly on the man seated at the console, his arms firmly secured to the chair. "But unlike Livewire here, I don't sell out people."

"You don't understand," Locke half-snarled.

"We will soon enough," Hawk assured him.

"I want to be in there with him. Can you do that?" Power saw Locke flinch at the question. Mindsinger had ordered him to go in alone the first time he'd entered the web. With Dread's sudden presence during that run, he knew it was possible for two people to be within the web at the same time. He just didn't know if she had the technology to accomplish such a task.

Mindsinger mulled it over for several long moments, her red-tipped fingernails clicking on the console. She finally nodded, then focused her attention on Locke. "You both know how this goes. Think about the information you want, you're drawn to it. You get too close to the secure areas, you get cinders in your skull." Turning to Power, she continued. "You follow him. Scan me?"

He nodded.

Dread.

Previously, he would have heard the voice of the super computer speak his name. In the time since his conversion to a fully mechanized body, he had more and more frequently communicated with it and his BioDreads via the mind link. Now, Overmind's message appeared in his mental matrix and he sensed it, rather than heard it.

Yes, Overmind. I too noticed the unauthorized access to the cyberweb.

You will enter and destroy Power. He is weak now.

Dread knew Overmind was correct. Jonathan Power had lost not only his base of operations, but one of his soldiers as well. He would be at his weakest level, crippled by the devastation. No Overmind. Locate where he entered the web. I will personally greet him when he exits. Prepare the Phantom Striker. Estimated time until Blastarr's complete regeneration. The regeneration process had been slow on the ground guardian. The head had been severed from the remaining parts of the body, requiring full synthesis. Such a task had never been undertaken, but it was proceeding without issue.

Full regeneration estimated in seven hours, eighteen minutes.

That will be too long. He refocused his thoughts. Soaron.

Yes, my lord. The Sky Sentry's response was instantaneous.

I have a new mission for you. You will receive coordinates from Overmind.

Yes, my lord.

Jonathan Power removed the headgear that had taken him into the web and felt the same queasiness in his stomach as before. Stepping from a virtual world back into reality required several moments to adjust to using appendages instead of simply moving with thoughts. He doubted he'd ever get used to the shift.

Locke, still bound to the chair, remained with the headgear in place. Mindsinger tended to him as Hawk leaned over to Power.

"Did he show you anything?"

Jonathan nodded grimly as he stood and moved several steps away from the console. "He doesn't seem to be lying about his kids, but there's more he's not telling us or something he was trying to hide. I couldn't tell what he saw, but he panicked and that's why we're out."

He motioned to Tank and Scout to remove the bonds from Locke. "You three get him back to the jumpship. I'll meet you there."

Scout and Tank hustled the man from the room as Hawk shot him a quizzical look.

"Something she said earlier." Power's eyes flicked to Mindsinger, who was resetting the console from the run. "I want to find out what it meant."

Hawk hesitated, then finally nodded. "Alright. But you yell if anything happens."

Jon almost laughed, but stifled it. He understood the older man's concerns. "I'll be five minutes behind you."

With a final nod, Masterson disappeared up the stairs after the others.

Mindsinger watched him out of the corner of her eye. "Have something else in mind, Cotter?" She stowed the headgear into a lower cabinet, securing it with a keypad system.

"He's been in the web before."

She straightened and stared at him with her familiar impassive gaze.

Jonathan continued. "While we were looking for information on his kids, we passed by one particular file several times. I noticed it was protected. It's his private information, isn't it?"

The woman breathed out a small smile. "I said before that we all have our reasons for what we do. Some of us hide things better than others. Scan me?"

Power nodded. "I want back in the web."

"No can do, Cotter," she said firmly. "If there's too much traffic, the metal minds will pick up on it. Zone Boy's little dance with Dread has kept me on my toes since the last time you were here."

Jonathan understood the risk she took allowing them in as she did. Her contact had double-crossed them all upon his first foray into the cyberweb, holding Mindsinger at gunpoint while Dread attempted to kill him virtually. With the magnification Overmind had instituted, his virtual death would have meant his physical death as well. Fortunately, he had outwitted Dread within the web while his team had obliterated the forces that threatened outside.

The cascade of events had forced Mindsinger to move her facility further underground to remain hidden. With Scout's assistance, she'd installed more security measures as well. How long those would last was anyone's guess, but it had worked for the short term.

"Alright. Can you give me a time frame when you think it will be safe to enter again?"

His communicator chirped and before he could answer it, Hawk's voice broke through. "Jon, get outta there now! We're registering a BioDread and at least one transport, along with a Phantom Striker, all headed in your direction!"

"Acknowledged! Mindsinger's with me!"

"Tank and I on our way back to cover you! Scout's getting Locke to the jumpship and will rendezvous with us at Mindsinger's!"

"Copy!" Jon immediately energized his suit and pulled Mindsinger up the stairs with him. "We'll have to discuss that cyber trip some other time."

She rolled her eyes. "Cotter, if I have to move again, you won't get another trip."

He grinned. "Charge me double."

"That I can do."

They raced across the altar of what had once been a church, slowing as they neared the chapel door. Power motioned Mindsinger to the wall as he eased the door ajar. Laser fire erupted, smashing into the metal and sending sparks through the small gap.

"Great," Power muttered, slamming it shut. "How many other doors are there?"

She pointed to the right, behind a row of wooden pews. "Just that one. It opens to an alley in the back."

He located it, but quickly crossed it off their list of options. "The alley will be full of Clickers. We'll never make it out of there." Pressing his wrist communicator, he spoke quickly. "Hawk, we're pinned down here. We could use a little help."

Amid a crackle of static, Masterson's voice came through. "Jon, we're doing our best, but there's a least a squadron of mechs. Give us a couple of minutes."

"Do what you can. We'll try to blast our way out of here," he replied, inwardly cringing.

"So much for the cavalry," Mindsinger said softly.

Jon reached for the door again, only to be stopped by her. Through the darkness, he saw the fear in her eyes, but the determination on her face.

"There's another way. Downstairs."

She'd no sooner finished the statement when the window to her right crashed to the floor amid a spray of blaster fire. Shots rained through the room, leaving bright afterimages in the darkness before burning into the walls and pews.

"Let's go!" Power pushed her to the wall and they ducked low as they quickly made their way back to the stairs. Flames began to lick slowly at a cloth that had been draped across the altar. He knew the entire building was a tinderbox and the match had just been lit.

Mindsinger spun on her heels as she hit the bottom step, grabbing the handle of the door and slamming it in place behind Power. Quickly keying in a code, she warned, "Don't touch it again. You'll end up with more than just cinders in your skull."

Crossing the room, she grabbed several disks and memory cards from a drawer in the main computer deck and shoved them into a small, already filled bag that she slung over her shoulder.

Footsteps sounded overhead, scattering in all directions. The search had begun.

"How thick is this ceiling?" Power asked, preparing for an assault from overhead.

"It'll hold. Powered with enough juice to incinerate an entire fleet of tin cans. They try to get through? That's when the party starts." She slipped her hand behind a console on the wall. It slid forward quietly, exposing an opening halfway up the wall. "We squeeze through, it opens to a full passage. I've rigged it to seal, so they won't get through from this side."

"And on the other side?"

"Passage leads to a warehouse a quarter click south."

Power nodded and shoved himself through the opening. His visor immediately adjusted to the darkness and true to her word, he found himself able to stand almost completely erect. Mindsinger followed, a small light in her hand illuminating a panel on the wall. With the press of a few buttons and a retinal scan, the console slid back as the opening sealed.

"Same system as the other door." She turned and led the way, illuminating the ground to keep them from stumbling.

"Is this used often?" Power asked softly. The smell of dirt and mold had assaulted him as soon as he'd broken the plane of the opening. With his visor and the dim light Mindsinger held, he could see rough framework above, preventing collapse of the tunnel.

"Depends on how many seek sanctuary in the church."

From the scan he'd done of the structure as they'd bolted through, Power realized the church itself had been used relatively recently. "Still people who believe there's a god watching over us all?"

"Everyone needs something to believe in, Cotter. If it gets them through a little longer, I'm not going to say anything against it." She quickened the pace and they continued. "Where is she?"

"Who?" Power was focused on the path, unaware that Mindsinger had turned several times to regard him.

"The woman on your team. She wasn't with you this time."

Jon felt like he was being punched in the gut again. When will this end, Jennifer? When will I stop wanting to die every time someone mentions your name or asks about you? "Dread found our base and she was in it. We didn't get back before she blew the power core."

He heard her blow out a deep breath.

"Cotter, I'm sorry." A moment of silence followed. "I saw the relief on her face when she realized you hadn't flatlined on your first run. You two were linked, weren't you?"

He was grateful for the darkness so she couldn't see the expression on his face. "Only when it was too late."

Mindsinger slowed her pace, motioning him to slow as well. "Here we go," she whispered as the door drew within sight. She pulled the pack forward, rummaging in it as they walked. "Padre gave me this. Long range sensor to make sure the other side is clear." She pressed it to the door, watching the readout on a handheld monitor. "No tin cans, no organics. We should be clear until we get to the warehouse doors."

Dropping the sensor back into the bag, she came out with a blaster.

Power nodded his approval, then stepped toward the door as Mindsinger coded in the release sequence. She signaled him to the wall, pressing herself against the opposite side as the door slid back. Doing a quick sweep with his visor, Jon found the area to be wide open. And empty.

He stepped into the room and waited as she sealed the door. Motioning for Mindsinger to stay between his back and the wall, he moved toward the west. She moved quickly with him, guarding the rear. The shuffling of their feet was the only sound and dust the only thing visible in the light filtering through cracks in the ceiling.

A voice buzzed in his ears through his helmet. "Jon, where the hell have you been? We're locking onto your suit now and will be there in three minutes."

"We had to make an underground escape to a warehouse," he said softly. "We'll be waiting on the west side."

"Copy."

He slowed as they neared the already blown-out door, hiding in the shadows while still trying to surveil the area just outside. "Hang tight until my team gets here."

Looking up, he scanned the building across the way and saw a familiar gray metal head. Then another. "We've got company."

The clickers sensed their presence the same instant he'd noticed them and blasts began surging from each direction.

Power pushed Mindsinger further inside, attempting to provide as much cover for her as possible. "Stay here!" he ordered as he picked off the two mechs with his blaster.

A shot from the left bounced off Power's armor, colliding with the wall and charring a hole the size of his fist into it. He heard the woman shift, ducking down to get in position for her own assault.

"I want their intel system," Mindsinger growled. "Then I'm gonna shove it down their mechanical gullets. I've got a lot of valuable equipment down there that I want back." She fired at the troops approaching from the left, easily knocking them down.

He'd never heard her sound so fierce. "We'll work on that once we get out of here."

A deep rumbling sounded from the passageway.

"You were saying?" Her voice dripped with sarcasm. "We've got maybe four minutes before they storm the warehouse."

"Hawk, we're about as far out of this frying pan as we can get without being in the fire!" he yelled into his communicator. A dozen mechs had come into view as he spoke.

"Sixty seconds!"

The assault continued and Power aimed at a pile of crates on a platform twenty feet off the ground. They crashed down, crushing three troopers with their descent.

"Incoming striker!" Scout's voice sounded through the headset.

"We're coming in with the ramp down! You're going to have to make a run for it!"

Power knew Hawk would only make that decision if there were no other options. "You stay right behind me and you run as fast as you can," he ordered Mindsinger. "They can't land in all of this. We're going to have to jump onboard." He hoped that by going out first, he could take the bulk of the shots that were being sent.

The jumpship appeared to their right, coming in dangerously fast and low.

"NOW!" Jon yelled, grabbing Mindsinger's arm and pulling her out the door. He began the cover fire as they raced toward the ship.

Another plane swooped into view, tracking the jumpship.

In an instant, Power saw the ground around them peppered by shots, heard the explosion to the right and then Mindsinger's agonized cry. He turned, reaching for her arm, only to find another figure in full military gear hauling her up, firing an ion blaster at the mechs to their left.

Who the hell is this?

The jumpship slowed as it broke through the cloud created by the explosion and he saw Tank and Scout, fully suited and tethered to the interior, extending their hands for them.

He and the armored soldier pulled Mindsinger forward and Tank lifted her almost effortlessly inside. Power's mind locked on the blood running down the woman's back even as he pushed the other soldier in front of him; they both jumped for the ramp. The momentum they'd lost by getting Mindsinger on board slowed them enough that they missed, tumbling backward as the jumpship soared ahead.

Power scrambled to his feet amid the continued blaster fire, dragging the soldier with him to the nearest building that didn't have shots coming from it.

"Power level at 63%," the suit warned him.

"Matt?" he shouted as they landed behind the relative shelter of a wall.

"We're coming around again!"

The striker was now upon them, slowing as it descended for a landing.

"Why doesn't he just fire at us and blow up the building?" the soldier asked incredulously. The helmet and shield fully covered the face, but didn't hide the voice.

Trying hard not to sound surprised at the decidedly female soldier beside him, Power said, "It's Dread. He's gloating. Probably wants to take me out personally."

"What an idiot."

Jon couldn't have agreed more. "Hawk, the striker's in your way! You're going to have to drop straight down and keep moving forward."

"Copy!"

"Thermal grenades. We can lob them at him as a diversion when your ship gets close." He found several being shoved into his hands by the other soldier. Without any other options, Jon nodded his agreement.

The mechs halted the onslaught as the striker landed. "Come out, Captain. You may try to defend yourself, but you will not win. It is over." Dread's amplified voice broke through the sudden stillness, taunting him.

"Well isn't he just a ray of sunshine?" The soldier at his side continued the sarcastic assault.

"Ten seconds!" said Hawk.

An explosion in the building next to the striker caught them off guard and they looked up to find the jumpship, still open, nearly falling from the sky. The missile gun on the underbelly of the ship fired at the striker while the lasers at the front shot at the mechs on the ground.

Lobbing the grenades in the direction of the striker, they ran for the ramp, this time hitting their mark. Scout and Tank hauled them inside, Scout slamming his hand on the control panel.

"We've got them!" he yelled to the front as the ramp lifted and secured.

The ship rocked from a direct hit to the aft. "Hang on back there!" Hawk yelled.

Power moved to his command console and punched in the codes for the XT-7. "Prepare to launch XT-7 on my mark!" He bolted to the lift and was strapped into the pilot's seat within seconds. "On three! Three, two, one, mark!"

The familiar feel of the separation barely registered in his brain as he guided the craft upward and starboard.

"Soaron is already down. We hit the striker with that explosion, but not hard enough to knock it out." Tank relayed the tactical information, feeding more coordinates to the smaller ship to aid in the assault.

"Hawk, get as far away from here as you can. I've got Dread." Jon heard the audible warning system on the XT-7, indicating the proximity breach of the enemy ship. Blasts glanced off the starboard as it passed. Power brought the ship around, firing at the striker as he came in position behind.

With satisfaction, he saw the direct hit to the port engine. The striker veered right in a plume of smoke.

"Jon, Mindsinger's in bad shape."

He could hear the regret in the older man's voice. And though he longed to follow the striker to completely destroy it, he knew it would further jeopardize her welfare. With Soaron out of commission, they would be able to get the computer genius to the Passages for medical attention without much fear of retaliation.

"I'm on my way." He set the coordinates to rendezvous and within minutes, the two ships were flawlessly joined together again.

When he reached the medibunk, Power found Scout with his eyes closed, leaning against the bulkhead. "Scout?"

A simple shake of his head was all it took.

"Dammit!" he yelled, slamming his fist into the wall. He knew the wound had been substantial for the amount of blood he'd seen, but he'd pinned his hopes yet again on the positive. That something – anything – would finally go right.

Yanking off his helmet, he stormed into the hold, where he knew Scout would have secured Locke. "There went your shot at finding your kids." He snapped off the words, feeling the rage growing inside once again. "You're just racking up the body count, aren't you?"

"I didn't kill her!" Locke retorted.

"Just like you didn't kill Jennifer, right? Guilt by association, Locke!" The urge to punch the man was almost more than he could stand. Instead of giving in to desire, he returned to the medibunk, where Scout stood guard.

He quietly turned as Power drew near. "There was nothing we could have done for her. That blast hit her too hard." He reached out and pulled the bag that she'd been carrying.

"There's some data disks in there. Scan through them and see what she brought with her." Power looked at the now covered body, the anger receding slightly. "Thanks for coming back after us."

Scout nodded. "I'm sorry it wasn't enough."

Power shook his head. "You did everything you could. Remember that." He climbed the steps to the main deck, clapping Tank's shoulder as he walked by.

Sitting at Scout's station was the newcomer.

"I owe you thanks." He extended his hand to her as she stood. "For not leaving her there and for getting me back to my team. I'm Jonathan Power."

The redhead nodded. "Christine O'Connor. My associates call me Ranger." She extended a gloved hand to Power, shaking his firmly. Her green eyes sparkled as they shifted from Power to the interior of the jumpship. "So, this is how the Power team gets around."

"It is." He turned his attention to his lieutenant. "Tank, contact the Passages. Tell them we're on our way with Locke and Mindsinger. See if they can handle Locke. We need him secured and under surveillance until further notice. We're going to need him again if we can get back into the web."

Hawk looked back at him from his position in the copilot's seat and grimaced. "We just lost our sole source for it."

Power nodded. "Her equipment likely went up with the room when the mechs entered." Seeing Scout pause at the top of the steps, he filled the team in on the events that occurred following their departure.

"So we've lost again." Scout's comment and his pained expression summed up the way they all felt.

"She couldn't have been the only one."

They all turned at the feminine voice.

O'Connor raised an eyebrow. "There have to be others like her out there."

Power nodded. "Agreed." He thought for a moment, then focused on Scout. "See what you can dig up through your contacts. Only reveal as much as necessary." His expression softened. "And see if she had any family or friends. We'll leave word at the Passages, but the sooner we can locate someone, the better."

He shifted his attention. "Hawk, get us back to the Passages." For the first time since he'd boarded the jumpship, he noticed the pain in his head and right shoulder. This is not going to feel good in the morning.

"I thought there were five of you? I'm only counting four."

O'Connor's question caught him off-guard. And for the second time in less than an hour, it felt like a deadly blow. Forcing the anger from his voice, he simply said, "Dread found our base. Pilot sacrificed herself to ensure he didn't get anything out of it."

"I'm very sorry for your loss." He was surprised that she held his gaze in spite of the palpable tension. "My entire unit went down in our last assault outside St. Louis. Six of them were immediate, two more were on our retreat and the last two days later from injuries." Her green eyes clouded at the memory. "I understand what you're going through."

I doubt you do. She wasn't just a member of my team.

Tank interrupted her thoughts. "You were with the Devil's Brigade?"

She looked surprised. "You heard of us?"

Even Hawk had turned to regard her. "That attack brought down a major mech production facility. And on the heels of freeing those resistance folks who'd been captured? If anyone hasn't heard about your group, they've been living under a rock."

She nodded slowly. "I thought we were going down on that raid at the holding facility. It was close, but everyone made it out in one piece. I think they just anticipated it because we were in the vicinity. They hit us with everything they had." As almost an afterthought, she said softly, "Damn good team. Huge loss for the resistance too."

Power heard the condolences offered by his own team and was grateful to them for deflecting the attention from their loss to hers.

As the conversation waned, he wearily rubbed his forehead. "You'll have to excuse this very blunt question, but I'm not much for formalities right now. You just happened to be in the area and noticed we were being attacked?"

O'Connor leaned forward on the chair, resting her elbows on her thighs. "I was looking for Mindsinger. I'd heard she was somewhere in the area and I wanted her assistance locating a group."

"You could have stayed in hiding and no one would have found you."

Her eyes narrowed, nearly burning through him. "My entire unit was wiped out, Captain. Any chance I get to retaliate, I'm going to take it."

Power silently regarded her for several long moments; her focus on him never wavered. Finally, he acknowledged her explanation with the barest of nods. "I hope you'll understand that in spite of your military background, we need to keep the Passages hidden."

An amused look flashed across her face for just a moment. "So you want me to hide until we get there."

He nodded. "Yeah. Something like that. Tank." He beckoned his lieutenant. "Will you escort her to the hold? And make sure Locke is secure. He has a habit of weaseling his way out of places."

O'Connor followed Ellis down the stairs. The appreciative sweep of her eyes over Tank's body didn't escape Power and he shook his head slightly. She'd appraised each of them in the fifteen minutes she'd been on board the ship.

And Tank had received the strongest approval.