verynaughtymutant | Oh mother tell your children, not to do what I have done.

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Oh mother tell your children, not to do what I have done.

Cable could be called a great deal of things but he wasn't a coward. He wasn't scared of physical pain, or death, or of what people thought of him or of making the hard choices. He wasn't afraid of anything, really.

So when he opened his eyes to find that the trees and sun of Tabula Rasa had turned into stone dark tunnels and the birdsong replaced by the familiar march of pounding feat, he reacted more with annoyance then fear. This was another trick by his hosts, presumably, and he intended to treat this one just like he treated any other. He would sit patiently in a comfortable seat and wait for it to be over with as little fuss as possible. He'd long since grown tired of other people trying to make him dance on their strings and didn't like to give them the satisfaction of reacting.

It wasn't until he heard the voices that he knew that something was wrong. Around him were soldiers, which wasn't unusual and they were looking at him expectantly, which also wasn't unusual but, in this case, he recognized them. They all wore faces and voices that should have been forgotten over the years but somehow never had been.

"Dayspring," he heard himself being addressed by a name he'd long discarded and realized, vaguely, how much younger he must be, "do you think the Autosystems are still on line?"

And that was when he knew which day it was. And for the first time in a very long time, he was afraid of what came next.

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For a moment, no longer, after Cable spoke to her, Rahne hesitated. When it came to fighting, her feelings were understandably mixed. It was often a necessity, a job requirement, and she wasn't the sort to back down from a fight. All the same, she had never liked to think of herself as a killer, still struggled with one death nearly a year prior, and the thought of costing more people their lives, in war or not, real or not, was enough to make her stomach turn.

Jaw set, she nodded once, and cocked the gun.

It was awkward in her hands, heavy, and on the first few shots, she faltered, but quickly gained confidence. There were better ways to attack, though, and once empty, she cast the gun aside in favor of changing, remaining with the group but poised for a further attack. Impulsive though she was prone to being, she still hadn't the first idea of what was happening, and was more set on getting out of here than causing a scene. To want to get back to the island wasn't anything she had ever thought she would want, but this still wasn't right.

It took Zell a few moments to quite understand what Cable was referring to. What would he possibly know about....

..!!..

This was the cavern from the projection he had seen! Cable was about to... oh man! This was gonna suck really, really hard.

He braced himself for the first barrage of gunfire. Zell was in the back. Not because he was afraid or wanted Cable's men to do the work for him, but this was the strategic place to be. In a moment, he'd be bustin' heads. He would need an opening..... and then he saw one.

He dashed forward, hopped onto a rock and twirled in the air as the energy blasts flew by him. He landed in the midst of the enemy.

Zell landed in a crouch, then sprang forth to start dealin' some pain. Fists flew and helmets hit dirt. He started weaving a trail of downed soldiers. It was difficult for the large group to effectively blast the close-quarters fighter in the midst of their group without taking their own men down. Zell kept moving and dodging. To stop was to die.

One of Cable's men took a shot in the chest as they advanced and Cable heard him scream as he fell, the familiar smell of burning flesh filling his nostrils. Tetherblood was beside him as it happened, shooting down the last of the platforms, and he turned to Cable with the callousness of a life long soldier.

"Nothing like a bit of random weapon discharging to settle the nerves, eh Dayspring?"

Cable grimaced in reply without saying anything and gestured ahead, where Stryfe and his soldiers were emerging. They outnumbered Cable's men 2 to 1 but they weren't shooting yet, just lining up their shots, while their master prepared for his next move.

Stryfe himself was at the head of the pack and Cable wondered how that face covering mask and mad voice had fooled him for so many years. Seeing him again, he could see al the clues that this was Cable's twin, that this was a man with Cable's mind and Cable's body but a different history. That this madman was what Cable would be if ever let his anger overcome his reason and just started hurting people so he could see fear in someone else's eyes for a change. It was not something Cable appreciated being reminded of.

Cable's jaw stiffened as he waited for his clone to make the move but, as it turned out, Stryfe didn't get a chance. Zell had broken ranks and jumped straight into Stryfe's gang, breaking their line. And Cable, cursing indiscipline beneath his breath, started shooting into the ranks to help him. And around him, his men followed his lead. Stryfe for his part, merely reached out with his powers and stopped Zell cold in his tracks as if an invisible hand had grabbed him.

"This means death," he chortled, in a voice unlike anything Cable every used.

And then Tyler was there, grabbing Zell and neurolinking them together.

"Don't attempt a bodyslide to escape, father," Cable heard as his clan mates gasped in surprise and he raised his gun, firmly and calmly and prepared to take his shot.

This was what the whole trick was about, of course. Putting him in a place where he had to shoot his own son, once again. It was petty sadism of the worst kind, but if it was meant to leave him a sobbing mess then they had sorely underestimated him. He had taken the shot once and survived, he could certainly do so again.

"Oh, what in the bloody hell —" Rahne ground out through clenched teeth, shifting once more back into human form. However incapable they had been so far of getting out of this, some part of her was well aware that soon she wouldn't have the chance to do so again, and she relished the feeling, the familiar rush that came with a transformation. When it came to fighting, she didn't do much thinking, either, but for that split second, she could've killed Zell herself for falling into that position. She wouldn't have meant it, of course, but it was her first thought.

She could do nothing, though, watching open-mouthed as Cable prepared to take the shot, not having the first clue what the #$@% was going on. Less expectant and more curious, she asked, "Are ye going to do something?"

Zell saw Cable fire, and that's when the mental anguish began. It felt like a fireball erupting in his head. It felt like he was havin' a stroke!

After Stryfe released the telekinesis, Zell dropped to his knees, and immediately collapsed onto the ground. It wasn't necessarily apparent if he was alive or not, but he was still breathing shallowly. Also not apparent were the signs of brain damage from the neurolink collapsing.

But, Cable would know what Zell had just suffered.

Edited 2010-06-30 00:15 (UTC)

Cable's response to Rahne was to pull the trigger. The blast broke the link and hit Tyler and the results were exactly the same as it had been last time. Cable's son fell down like a dead man and Zell collapsed just like Dawnslik had.

He heard some mutterings from his men but Cable was the one to react first, bounding over to grab Zell before Stryfe's men could react.

And then Tetherblood body-slided them all out of there.

Cable stood in the Askani camp and carefully lowered Zell yo the floor. When he woke up the brain damage would probably cripple his speech and movement but hopefully that would be reset when the time loop ended.

Reassured that the boy was blacked out, he turned back to Rahne. "Shouldn't be long now," he said flatly, "I think that was all they wanted to see."

And then, as if in response to his words, the loop restarted and he was back in the tunnels again.

"Dayspring, do you think the Autosystems are still on line?"

And Cable didn't know whether he should laugh or cry or punch something so instead he just closed his eyes for a second. Of course it wouldn't work. Of course he would shoot his son and shatter his student's mind and it would make no difference at all. He didn't know why he expected anything else.

Edited 2010-06-30 07:30 (UTC)

For a few seconds, too stunned by the turn of events to do otherwise, Rahne could only gape, mouth too dry to speak, as the world changed around them again and she turned to face Zell, looking perfectly alright as if nothing had happened. She'd not even been able to question it, to find out what was wrong, what had been done to him. Her stomach turning, she took a few deep breaths, hands curled into fists, in an attempt to keep herself steady — one that was wildly unsuccessful. She had held her temper well thus far, but couldn't take any more of this.

"Right, exactly what they wanted to see," she said, tone clipped, the edge in the words more than apparent. She did have to rely on Cable here and she knew it, knowing so little about the situation, but she couldn't just hold her tongue, either, when lives were on the line, and when she wanted little more than to get the #%!$ out of here. "That worked wonderfully. Now, would ye mind sharing what all of that was?"

After being mercifully reset, Zell froze in place. He had no idea what kind of power that enemy leader used to immobilize him, and he had no idea how badly he had been hurt. He could've... could've ended up... like a....

He said nothing. It even took him a moment to think to re-establish his junctions. He slowly set down the gun which had reappeared and turned away. He couldn't look Cable in the eye right now. He would deal with the shock and fear as best as he could on his own.

Maybe if Squall had been here...

"It was a neurolink," Cable told Rahne without looking at her, his voice flat and dead, "Stryfe linked one of his mind controlled soldiers to Zell so if we tried to bodyslide out they would both die."

"He did the same when this really happened. His way of keeping us trapped so we could be picked off one by one. When I broke the connection, the pain gave Zell brain damage and likely killed the innocent he was connected to. It meant only one death rather than more but it's not something I'm particularly proud of having done."

Which was as close to an apology as Zell has ever going to get. Cable hadn't looked at him either.

"I assumed," he allowed some distaste to enter his tone, "that the point of this particular little trick was to force me to relive that moment."

That he was wrong didn't seem to be worth stating. There had to be some way out, some alternative to reliving these same hellish moments again and again but Cable couldn't think of what that could be.

In context, at least, there was a little more sense in it, but that didn't mean Rahne liked the situation anymore. With a sharp intake of breath, determined more so than angry, she glanced briefly around at the others, mentally beginning to count down. They had five minutes until everything would start over again, and she didn't intend to waste any time now. They had done too much of that already.

"I think it might be time to reconsider that theory," she said, with a tone of voice making clear that it wasn't just a thought, but something she was entirely sure of. They'd done this too many times already, and however logical it may have been for the position they were in, there had to be another alternative. This had put them back at the start; there had to be something that would break the pattern. "So, let's think. What can we do that won't put us there?"

Still shaken, Zell didn't join the conversation just yet. He decided just to forget what happened. Yeah, he was a bit bitter that he had found out the hard way what that guy Stryfe could do, but, in the end, he was okay now. Just forget it. It was Zell's handy solution for everything.

He leaned up against the wall with his back and crossed his arms. He'd probably just do whatever Cable told him to do. Was that pathetic after what he had just done to him? Maybe.

"There in't another way," Cable said firmly. He wouldn't allow himself to think that there was. If there had been he would have taken it. "Apart from dying."

And then he did turn to look at them, one after the other, a silent question in his gaze.

"Maybe thats it. If I shot you both would you wake up back on Tabula Rasa?"

"No," Rahne said, with a short laugh that was anything but amused, her tone one that brooked no argument. "Not a chance. No way. It's all three of us who were pulled from there, and if brain damage wasn't the solution, killing us sure as hell won't be, either. Not a chance."

Softening a little, almost imperceptibly, she glanced to Zell, though she wasn't expecting backup. He seemed too shaken for that, and rightfully so, given what he'd been put through.

But, Zell did back up Rahne. It was probably a good thing that she had spoken up before him, because Zell wouldn't have stated his opinion as politely as she had. The thought of suffering even more by Cable's hand made him bristle.

"Yeah, no way in hell, Cable."

He cast a warning glare in his direction. If that particular thought was acted upon.... there'd be trouble.

For a moment, Cable toyed with the idea of shooting himself. Now that he had stumbled upon it, the idea that the way to escape was by dying wasn't one he was going to give up easily. It just seemed right if only because it was so counter intuitive to any decent soldier's instincts.

Still, he decided against acting on it, in this loop anyway. They had time to try other options first. All they had was time.

He waited to see what their alternative was.

Rahne was no master planner — conversely, she was more the act first and ask questions later type. Well aware of the time limit, there was no chance for anything drawn out and elaborate, either. They were just going to have to give whatever happened a try. It wasn't like, if it went wrong, it would be permanent; that much, at least, she trusted.

"Is there any way we could surprise them?" she asked somewhat abruptly, gaze pointed as she looked to Cable. "Go in differently than we did before? We know what their moves will be, so we have an advantage. They can't change, but we can."

The plus part of getting worked up over Cable's last idea was that it had dragged Zell into the conversation.

"Right, Rahne. We can win, especially with adding you and me to this group. And, speaking of surprise, aren't they gonna be all over us any moment now?"

The other group had been moving forward, hadn't they?

"It was an ambush," Cable responded, though he had to admit the idea had been troubling him too. "They'll have heard us by now but Stryfe wouldn't want to push forward too fast for fear of running into a trap I set for him. We can't count on him not waiting out the five minutes."

"Still," he turned back to gesture at the men behind him, "Guns up everyone. I want you all ready for anything the Chaos Bringer can throw at us."

"And there's no way for us to attack from the other side of him," he turned back to Rahne, as his men followed his orders. "You can't bodyslide into somewhere you don't know."

A frontal attack seemed the only option and if Cable thought that was doomed, well maybe that wasn't as big a downside as it might have been.

Edited 2010-07-05 13:48 (UTC)

"If we wait until this resets," Rahne said, "we can go right in and not waste any time talking about it. We're the only ones who seem to know that this is happening over and over again, so it gives us a head start. We know what to look for, now, what all their moves are."

Expression softening minutely, she glanced at Zell, eyes full of a sympathy that she wouldn't let herself voice. The look was gone after all of a moment. "And what to avoid. As long as we don't make the same moves we did before, at the very least, we'll have a better shot, and know what else we need to fix."

Rahne seemed to have a bit of sympathy for what he had just gone through. On the one hand, it was annoying because he didn't want to be pitied. But then again, at the same time, he could have used just a bit of pity. So, he didn't react to it.

"I'll hang back and support," he said to allay any worries. He would not be taking down as many enemies, and he wouldn't have the effect of disrupting enemy ranks. But, the 'no brain damage' part was a pretty damn good plus to the new plan. If only that Stryfe guy didn't have that immobilization thing goin' on...

Casting spells wasn't as exciting as fighting. But at least he had the novelty of not having done it in so long.

"Fine," Cable agreed.

"To sum up then, there's three defense platforms just ahead," he ran through their opposition calmly. "Once we engage them, Stryfe will bring his men forward. He has 20 men with him to our 9. They're all armed with Plasma rifles and Stryfe himself is as powerful a telepath and telekinetic as they come. We should aim to disable him first."

He sat down after that, confident that Hope and Tetherblood had him covered should Stryfe prove bolder than he thought.

He glanced up at Rahne as he waited for the loop to reset. It wouldn't be long now.

"I can go on ahead, instead," Rahne said, an addendum to Zell's statement. If she changed forms, she'd be able to get a hell of a lot more done, too, and she was pretty sure they wouldn't be expecting that. "We work past the others, get them out of the way as fast as possible, so we can go right for him. As soon as this starts over, we go."

For someone who'd never technically been a leader before, who wasn't big on planning, it came easily now, in a time of crisis. Cable was the only one who really knew what was going on here, but she had no problem taking the reins.

Zell didn't know exactly why Rahne would get much further than he did, but he wasn't about to second-guess her.

The surroundings shifted, and it all reset once again. Zell deposited the gun alongside the wall this time and got ready.

"I'll do my best to cover you guys with spells, but I don't have much of a range."

He did his best to push all thoughts of the previous battle out of his mind. He couldn't afford to freak out. This one might be for real. In any case, it would feel real.

"Watch out for the autosystems," Cable told Tetherblood before he could say anything. "There should be three armed platforms just ahead. Pump some Plasma, people!"

And he and his men drew their guns and advanced into the oncoming fire of the platforms. He targeted one and then another and waited for Stryfe to show himself. If the noise of returning fire wouldn't force his hand than nothing would.

Rahne fired until she couldn't anymore, until the utter control of it was enough to drive her absolutely @3%$ing insane, and she shifted, then, a hell of a lot more capable as a wolf, as she'd predicted. Part of it was selfish — if she was right and this worked, then she wouldn't get a chance at it again for a long time, possibly ever — but she knew herself, too, and she wasn't a shooter. If they were going to win this, and they had to, she had to give it all she could, and deal with the consequences or the guilt later.

Keeping her word, she pushed ahead, so far unstopped. This wasn't senseless when they had a goal, and when she believed so firmly that they were on the side of the right, whatever the conflict was in the first place.

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