Sarah7

Ch25

“It is with a heavy heart that I have assembled you all here today.”

The Leader, dressed in a dark brown cloak and surrounded by her stoic advisors spoke to the great hall. Sarah 7 stood before them with her eyes downcast - with dark circles under them - and her clothing in shambles. She had large iron handcuffs on her wrists and legs. The Leader was taking no chances with Sarah 7. But the guards had not been given any resistance when they had burst into her room early in the morning demanding she put on the shackles. She had merely nodded quietly and followed them - docile and silent.

“Yesterday was marked with celebration. We had found a new sister who we thought could join us in starting a new era. One of peace and prosperity. Instead, we have discovered her to be a wolf in the fold. Not only does she reject our way of living, she has assaulted me as your leader.”

There was a collective gasp throughout the great hall. All eyes turned from the elderly Sarah 5 to Sarah 7. Sarah 7 lifted her eyes to them. Her body shook slightly with pent up emotions and a night without sleep.

“Your Leader is a fraud. She is buying an empty peace by giving away your freedom to the Vixen. She is - ”

Her voice was cut off by a sharp swipe to her legs with a spear by one of the guards. With a yelp of pain she fell to the floor. The shackles bit into her arms and legs painfully as she fell.

The ragtag assemblage of followers numbered in the hundreds in the great hall, and they all gave out a collective cheer.

Painfully, Sarah 7 looked up to see the fervor in their eyes. Any hope of convincing them to see the truth about their insane leader shriveled within her.

‘Is this how it ends for me? Perhaps it is for the best. These people do not want a fighter, they just want to live their lives without fear...’ She thought bitterly. Her hopes of escape also faltered. She was alone, surrounded by hundreds of people who hated her, and even someone who WAS her, in a bizarre twisted way now hated her as well.

“Now as your leader I have to make the hard decisions , and do what is best for our community. I loved our dear Sarah 7 like a granddaughter to me. But does she return the love?” Her eyes grew wild. The audience before the Leader was rapt with attention.

“No!” Her words fell upon Sarah like a gavel. “She rejects our ways. Ways of peace! And she sought to injure me!”

The crowd began yelling insults and shaking their fists. Sarah 7 could feel the malice in their voices. She wondered distantly if she’d ever see Amil again, or Creed, or the little girl she had saved in the cave.

“By my decree, Sarah 7 has been sentenced... to death.” The eyes of the Leader were red and heavy lidded. Sarah gasped. The self doubt and depression that had been clouding her thoughts dissolved before the cold reality that she saw before her. Her heart paced rapidly in her chest. She pulled at the handcuffs, but only succeeded in making them bite further into their wrists.

Hale emerged from the throng of people, his face stony and his hand raised to the pummel of his sword. Sarah spied Leaf and Twig looking very uncomfortable on one side of the assembly. She tried to catch their eye but they hid their faces and faded into the crowd.

Sarah gave Hale a pleading look as he approached her.

“Hale! Look at this! Look at the madness here! Don’t you see what you are doing? ” She cried.

Hale paused, closing his eyes as if pondering her words. He shook himself visibly and gave her a languid look.

“I’m sorry, we only have room for one Sarah here.” He replied.

With one smooth motion, he drew his massive sword and held it before him. Sarah 7 cringed back, struggling to regain her feet.

It was at that moment everyone in the room heard a distant BOOM. Some bits of plaster from the ceiling fell.

BOOM.

Another sound, closer this time.

The Leader gestured to the nearby guards. “Find out who is causing that disturbance, now.” She commanded.

A glimmer of hope fluttered within Sarah. She continued to stare at Hale, who took another step toward her. A calmness came over her, and in that detachment she knew her instilled training was coming to fore. She stood now, the awkwardness fading.

“Hale, carry out my sentence. She is starting to tap into her conditioning. Let’s not make this messy.” The Leader said.

BOOOM!

The floor shook with the force of the impact. Everyone turned to see cracks forming on the wall opposite The Leader and Sarah 7.

“Do it!” Sarah 5 screeched.

Hale strode forward and swept downward with his sword with a sinister grin on his face. Sarah knew she could not duck the blow. She was too tired, hungry, and weak. She tried to roll away but clenched knowing that a sword was about to slash her side.

Instead she heard a teeth rattling “clang” of sword against sword.

“What!” Yelled Hale, as a cowled figure leaped in front of him and expertly parried the sword.

Sarah turned to see the cowl fall back and Creed’s huge grin as he started slashing back at Hale in a series of fluid strikes , intended to push him backward away from Sarah.

“Creed! You’re here!” Sarah cried hoarsely.

He gave her another big grin and replied “And I brought a friend.”

With that the wall shattered with a tremendous blow that sent huge chunks of wall flying and the assembly of citizens of New Chicago fleeing in terror.

Through the hole stepped a ten foot tall battle mech in full attack mode. Guns mounted on its shoulders fires near the feet of the crowd, sending them fleeing in further panic.

Max grabbed a row of seats and flung it headlong at a line of guards that had formed to attack, they fell back for a moment but leapt over the shattered wood and metal to press the attack.

“Max!” Sarah cried out.

Hale glanced back at Max and pressed his attack on Creed.

“I’ve heard of you. You think you’re some kind of swordsman” Hale spoke as he sent a flurry of sword strikes at Creed, the ferocity causing Creed to step backwards a few paces.

“Funny, I’ve never heard of you” Creed countered and feinted to his left before slashing Hale’s right arm as he twisted his sword in mid strike.

“Arrgh! Well you’ll remember me today!” He jeered and slashed his sword with renewed malice.

“Guards! Use your guns! Kill them! Kill them all!” The Leader screeched and pulled back her own cloak to reveal a large pistol like device that she trained on Max. Other guards entered the hall with staffs that had metal tips that arced with electricity.

Max contracted his powerful legs and leapt over both guards and civilians alike and landed next to Sarah, shaking the floor with the impact . Her eyes widened as twin lasers shot forth and cut free her shackles.

“Max I - ”

“No time Sarah! Please do as I say quickly” Max replied - the emotion was thick in his voice - more so than she had ever heard before. “Climb in. Your bodysuit will know what to do!” He pivoted in place and dropped to the ground, presenting his back to the astonished Sarah.

A panel opened up in Max’s back - revealing a compartment full of lights, read outs and it seemed formed to allow someone to climb within.

The ground erupted at Sarah’s feet. The Leader’s energy weapon blasted a smoking hole and she ran to the opening and climbed inside.

“No!” The Leader cried. Her blaster shots bounced harmlessly off of Max’s armor as he turned toward her.

Inside, Sarah felt her suit respond to the compartment, tubes connected with leads on her suit, ripping the fabric. Her arms and legs extended almost automatically, coaxed into position by hundreds of small servos. For a moment she felt smothered, almost claustrophobic as Max’s inner workings moved into tight contact.

Then there was The Connection.

She no longer was trapped within Max, she was Max. Her awareness blossomed like a flower as she could See through Max’s eyes, Feel his powerful arms and legs. And new senses and readouts threatened to overwhelm her .

“Max, help!”

“I’m here. This wasn’t how things were supposed to happen, Sarah , but you have to trust me. You have full control over my systems. I cannot respond as quickly as you - let’s get out of here together”

Something clicked within Sarah. An overwhelming sense of rightness. She Knew how to do this. It was something instilled in her memories just like the ability to fight, or her knowledge of the original Sarah’s past.

She was no longer a tired, helpless girl surrounded by angry and dangerous guards. She was a warrior, and this was the enemy. Her thoughts became a red haze.

After Sarah climbed into Max, Creed almost lost his head to Hale’s sword as he watched the transformation that came over the Mech. Max moved into a graceful fighting stance. His head turned toward Creed and nodded.

Hale slashed at Creed’s blade with renewed fervor. “You’re not getting out of here alive Creed.”

“Not if I can help it” Sarah’s voice came from within Max. Max rolled forward and plucked Hale from the ground like a child. He bellowed in anger and more than a touch of fear but was helpless in the mech’s grip.

More guards arrived and began shooting bullets at Max/Sarah . Diving behind the machine Creed called out to Sarah.

“We have to get out of here!”

Sarah nodded and tossed Hale toward Sarah 5. She underestimated her own strength and sent them both flying backward into the line of guards with a tumble of arms and legs.

“Follow me!” Sarah cried and ran for the blasted opening in the wall. Max’s enhanced strength and speed seemed somehow natural to Sarah as she flew out of the room like a cannonball, the metal legs gouging huge divots in the floor as they went. Creed could barely keep up, but had few obstacles racing behind as Max/ Sarah cut a wide path before him.

Alarms were going up all over the city, but luck - or fate - was on their side and they escaped the city before the guards could organize a solid resistance. Any cluster of fighters offered little resistance to the combined speed of Sarah and the raw strength of Max. Creed struggled to keep up, but survival motivated him to press on and he guided Sarah out of the city.

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