Before Project Metaverse had been established, System Vector had once been a bustling port way out on the edge of the Net.  It handled traffic along the Rim Systems, periodically getting information and new software from the Supercomputer.  It escaped the Daemon War with little damage, simply because of its out-of-the-way location.

But when humans began to colonize, systems closer to the central nodes of the Metaverse became far more important.  Vector remained important enough to expand substantially.  After a while, however, as human bureaucracy was introduced to the Government, far-away systems, like Vector began to fall through the cracks.  Apathy set in within Vector.  Problems arose, as bugs and glitches appeared in its old code.

To correct the problem, Vector appealed to the chairman of the System Upkeep Committee, Senator Albert Brosky.  Brosky, a bit miffed at having to download a patch to an insignificant system like Vector outside of his standard jurisdiction, complied with their requests and arranged for a system-patch to download.

And, as the system's acting command.com has said, that's when things went wrong.  Viral coding in the patch allowed viruses to infiltrate the system, quartering it.  Hackers within Vector cut off standard Net-access to prevent the infections from spreading, but that also had the effect of cutting off communication with the Government.

Until now.

Justice stood with arms folded, staring out to the west.  Two major clefts in the system's ground had been torn in, serving as boundaries between two viral territories.  Both were relatively small, comprising perhaps less than a sixth of Vector each, but they were not without defenses.

Justice's lip started to curl in a smirk, but he quickly returned to his standard frown.  He turned to regard the huge artillery cannons aimed to the west.  A human officer approached.  Col. Jimmy Kimball saluted.  "Everything is ready, Mr. Justice.  Just waiting for your signal."

"Don't wait for my signal," Justice said.  "Just do what I told you to do."  He looked at his chronometer.  "If your men remembered that, they should fire at Ytter's territory at 1143 hours, which is -- five, four, three, two, one -- now."

Apparently, Col. Kimball's men had remembered the briefing, because the cannons thundered.  The sound rocked the two men standing on the deck, but Justice merely raised a finger to his ear and picked some wax out of it.  He flicked it away, then looked to Col. Kimball.  "In 30 minutes, my team and I will move into Ytter's territory and knock out his command post.  Be sure Marcus is ready and keep Cowboy awake.  I'm relying on him to keep me up to speed on viral movements."

The artillery commander nodded.  "Of course, Mr. Justice.  Is there anything else you require?"

"Nah," Justice said, looking back to the west.  "Just maybe a few pulse grenades."

"I'll have them brought to you immediately."

When Col. Kimball's artillery bombarded Ytter's zone, several buildings were knocked down.  Fifteen minutes after the bombardment ceased, the sprites and Anthros moved toward the affected area to begin repairs.  Only the drones remained at the perimeter.

Fifteen minutes later, two humans, a F'Val, an Irish wolfhound, and an ex-security mech moved into Ytter's zone.

Sil gauged the distance between herself and the drones coolly.  Sentry watched her, waiting for a command.  She raised a finger, as if to say Quiet, and the dog understood her perfectly.  She reached around to the back of her armor.  A three-pronged star came loose in her hand.  She flicked a control.  Three sharp blades emerged from the points.  Sil stood, still where the three drones couldn't see her, judged the proper angle, then whisked the star into the air.

The throwing star made a sharp hissing sound as it curved around through the air.  The drones' auditory scanners registered the noise and turned toward it.  The visual scanners had a fraction of a second to notice the star before it sliced through all three in one smooth motion.  The aerodynamic shape of the star caused it to continue around in a wide circle to return to Sil.

But there was debris in the way.  The star impacted in a piece of permacrete, where it stuck fast.  Sil held back a curse, then crouched and turned to Sentry.  "Okay, Sentry, I want you to do something."  Sentry woofed in understanding.  Sil pointed into Ytter's zone.  "You see that old office building there?  Go there, and clear the way for me, that's a good boy."  Sentry barked again, louder, then loped off.

Sil crawled out of her hiding place, reaching to her belt.  She withdrew a foot-long cylindrical object.  She activated a control.  A collapsible blade folded out, then locked itself.  Sil held the sword low and ready as she crept toward the throwing star.  Her part of the plan depended on that star, and she needed it back.

Two drones approached from the sides, seeking the three that Sil had cut in two.  Sil snarled in frustration and ducked into a crevasse.  The drones scanned the wreckage, then proceeded to scan the area for unauthorized life-signs.  The first they saw was a canine life-form heading into the zone.  They moved off in fast pursuit.  Sil sat up in her crevasse and put two fingers to her mouth.  She let out a sharp, piercing whistle.

Sentry turned his head to look back at her, then spotted the drones.  He growled at them, then dashed into the office building that Sil had pointed him to.  Sil flipped over the pile of debris between her and the drones, then ducked low, her sword up as she ran for her star.

One of the drones had turned back to her when she whistled.  It armed its weaponry and fired several green pulses at her as she snatched her star free.  She deactivated it and put it away, then backflipped out of the drone's targeting ring.  She jumped up to a high pile of debris, then pivoted and flung herself at the drone, sword back and ready to strike.

The drone's low-level AI considered its options.  It took too long.

Sil landed in a crouch, the drone's pieces falling behind her, then dashed toward Sentry's position.  Gunfire could be heard in the building.  She rolled through the door, sword in a defensive stance, then saw something rather amusing.  Sentry stood with one massive paw on the drone's main body, growling, swatting at its swiveling head with the other paw.  The drone was pinned front side-down, so it was unable to flex its arms backward to aim its weaponry at the dog holding it down.

Sil stood, paced over to the drone, then put her sword through the drone's optical receptor.  Sentry looked up at her, then panted happily.  Sil scratched his head, then peered out the windows.  "Okay, Sentry, see that big tower over there with the viral symbol on it?"  Sentry woofed.  "That's the virus command center.  Guess what we have to do to it, boy?"  Sentry growled, dropping back into a ready crouch.  Sil grinned.  "That's right, boy.  Let's plow the road!"

Sentry barked and charged out the door, Sil quickly following.  She gripped her sword tightly as she withdrew her disc with her other hand and held it curled against her wrsit as she ran.

Dirk whistled "Alouette" to himself as he strode right up to the boundary.  Three drones dropped before him.  They consisted of a main body with four arms that bent inward, like a claw.  Each of those arms possessed either a gun or a very sharp blade.  The fifth extension of the drone was the head, which had auditory and visual sensors as well as the standard package of scanners.  The drones aimed their weaponry toward the mechanic and mech.

/Halt!  Friend or foe?/ the drones demanded.  The guns on the tips of their arms glittered.

Dirk smiled.  He bent and set the submachine gun down.  He held up his hands.  "Hey, I'm not lookin' for trouble."  He raised his glove to his right forelock and brushed it aside.  DT-Three flitted up beside him and fired its sole gun straight at the central drone's head.  With a bright spark, the drone's head exploded and it fell limply to the ground.  Dirk ducked back and scooped up his submachine gun.  The drones fired wildly at him, but DT-Three aimed precision shots at their weaponry, disabling many of their arms.

Dirk spun back around, his weapon rattling as he unloaded several small but powerful pulses into the remaining drones' bodies.  As the last piece fell to the debris-littered ground, Dirk smiled again.  "I came to cause trouble, nulls-for-brains."  There was a buzzing sound from somewhere to his right.  Dirk turned his head to see another drone coming toward him.  The mechanic stooped to pick up the central drone by one of its arms, then stood up, swinging it over his head before lobbing it at the approaching drone.

The drone crashed into its destroyed counterpart, then both exploded.  Dirk shook his head.  "You'd think Ytter would've put more intelligence into their heads."

"Not all mechs are as intelligent as I am, sir," DT-Three said.

"True, DT, true," Dirk said.  He turned back to the boundary.  "Shall we?" he asked, gesturing.'

DT-Three bobbed in midair.  "Let's shall, Dirk, let's shall."

Calvin "Cowboy" West's voice emitted from an earpiece.  "Okay, you should be approaching the blockade that Ytter put in."

Justice stopped and looked at the tunnel-high barrier of rubble in his way.  He looked up and down its length, then drew his pistol.  He cocked back the hammer and fired a blast into the center of the barrier.  The debris was charred, but didn't disintegrate.  Justice spoke into his receiver.  "Looks like my pistol won't work on it, Cowboy."

"That's expected," Cowboy said.  "Ytter made it tough enough to withstand the heaviest caliber handweapon.  The pulse grenades that Col. Kimball gave you should work against it."

Justice hmphed and deactivated the comm.  He swung the carry-all off his back and withdrew a single pulse grenade.  He put the carry-all back on and backed up a bit.  He examined the controls a moment, then tapped the trigger.  He reared back and chucked the grenade straight at the center of the barrier.

-=BOOM!=-

The dust cleared, showing a clear path.  Justice smirked and thumbed his comm.  "Cleared."

"I'll tell Marcus," Cowboy said.  "We can get our service mechs in as soon as you clear the way.  They'll secure the path for our soldiers."

"Sure," Justice said, switching it off.  He moved on, his hand back on the pistol.

The movement was uneventful.  Justice frowned darkly.  "Ytter got sloppy," he informed Cowboy.  "There's no defenses down here."

"I guess he relied on us to move above ground," the hacker said. "He's only a Class Three.  He's not as sharp as some of the higher levels."

"Or even Megabyte, if some of the stories are right," Justice said.  "Where am I now?"

There was a pause as Cowboy checked his maps.  "You should be right under the central portion of Ytter's zone.  The command center is about half a klick from your position.  But there's no sewer access.  Ytter may be dull, but he's not stupid.  You'll have to go up."

"What's waitin' for me up there?" Justice asked as he espied a ladder leading to the surface.

Cowboy said, "Looks like a squadron of Infected sprites.  About six strong."

Justice paused for a moment, absorbing that.  "Okay.  Clear this channel.  I'm going up."  He put the comm away and climbed up the ladder, pausing under the sewer lid.  He listened carefully.  He could hear the sprites' footsteps.  The mercenary braced his feet and placed his hands on the underside of the sewer lid.  He pushed it up slowly and even more slowly pushed it aside.  It made little noise.

Justice raised his head out of the sewer carefully, then spotted the squad of sprites, about six feet to his left.  They weren't looking at him.  They seemed to be awaiting commands from Ytter before aiding in repairs to the area bombarded by the artillery.  Justice shook his head in disbelief.  Ytter was really dull.  The sprites' skin was a discolored yellow -- evidently Ytter's trademark.  Justice eased himself up out of the sewer and stood up.  He slowly started to walk toward them, but then he stepped on a brittle piece of permacrete.  It crunched loudly under his boot.

The sprites turned quickly, then launched themselves at this intruder.  Three of the sprites possessed short, electrified blades, but the other three held rifles.  Justice knew he had to disarm them quickly, but the knifemen required his immediate attention.  He had a height advantage on the knifemen of about three inches.  He snapped his arm up, breaking the first sprite's arm and causing him to drop his knife in pain.  Justice jabbed his other fist in, breaking several ribs and knocking that sprite away.

As the second stabbed his knife downward, Justice kicked his rear leg up and blocked the stab with his boot.  Justice braced his hand against the ground, pivoting around that point like an expert gymnast.  As his feet touched the ground again, he snap-kicked the legs out from underneath the sprite whose stab he'd just blocked.  His feet touched the ground again, and Justice spun up.  The third sprite approached from the side, intending to get him in the gut.

Justice was too quick.  He was well out of the sprite's path and brought his elbow into the back of the sprite's neck hard.  There was a hard snap.  Justice breathed out his exertion as he made a come on gesture with his hands at the riflemen.  Without hesitation, they shouldered their rifles and drew a bead on him.

But Justice wasn't standing there anymore.  He did a back handspring, drawing his pistol with his right hand and holding it straight out at the riflemen.  Three sharp gunshots rang out, and three riflemen fell backwards with holes in their throats.  Justice caught himself as he descended with a hand, then continued backward, landing back on his feet.  He reholstered his pistol.

Justice turned to look at the command center -- the large tower with the arrowhead-shaped viral symbol.  He took out his comm.  "I'm up, and the squad's down.  Heading to Ytter's tower.  Commencing radio blackout upon your copy."

There was a pause, and then Cowboy acknowledged.  "I copy.  Careful, Mr. Justice."

But Justice had switched off his comm upon hearing 'copy.'

As the last one fell, Dirk lowered his wrist.  The shield disappeared.  He looked at the gauntlet.  "Well, now we know that works.  Think Nat'll use something like this?"

"Probably not," DT-Three said, hovering back down to Dirk's level.  Dirk shrugged, inserting a fresh clip into his submachine gun.  He looked down the block.

"We're almost to Ytter's tower," Dirk said.  "Scout on ahead.  If you see Sil or Nat, tell 'em I'm on the way."  He began to move at a decent clip, but not running.  Running would attract the attention of Ytter's defensive measures on the tower.

"Acknowledged," DT-Three chirped, then flitted down the street.

There was a whine of energy as a gun charged behind her.  She spun to face it, seeing a Khatran raise to her feet, aiming straight at her head.  Sil grimaced, then laughed as Sentry tackled the Khatran from the side, growling angrily.  The Khatran screamed a moment before Sentry closed his jaws on the Khatran's throat, crushing bones.  The Irish wolfhound raised his head, then bounded over to Sil.

"Good boy, Sentry," Sil said.  "Let's go."

"Sil!"  DT-Three's gunmetal form flitted into view. "There you are!  Dirk's on his way.  Have you seen Nat?"

"No, DT, I haven't," Sil said.  "He was going underground.  He might not be here yet.  We don't know what Ytter had underground."

"Well, Dirk should be here momentarily.  Shall we?" the mech asked, gesturing with one grasping hand at the tower.

Sil smirked.  "Let's shall, DT, let's shall."

The door hissed open.  Justice fired one shot down the corridor, then jerked out of the way as multiple volleys came back.  Justice nodded in understanding.  Ytter might not have external defenses, but he certainly did have internal defenses.

"A minor setback," Justice said to himself.  He drew a pulse grenade from his carry-all.  "Easily corrected."  He activated the pulse grenade and hurled it down the corridor.  A hot hammer of fire punched out of the door.  Justice stepped back into the doorway and fired another pulse down.  No response.

Justice nodded once and moved in.

"This is Nat's handiwork," Dirk said.  "Looks like he beat us here."

"So let's join him," Sil said, drawing her sword and charging for the elevator.  She pounded the up button, but the car had already gone up.

"We must've disintegrated him," the first guard said.

"Or blown him to little, tiny pieces," the second said.

"Wrong on both counts," a voice said from above them.

The two guards turned and looked up to see Justice standing on top of the elevator car, pistol aimed down.  He fired twice, nailing them both in the head.  He dropped into the car, then stepped outside.  He hit the button to return the car to ground level.  He shook his head in disbelief again.  "Sloppy."

Justice kicked at the controls to the door.  Nothing happened.  He looked at the panel with puzzlement, then fired his gun into them.  Still nothing happened.  Gritting his teeth, Justice thumbed the secondary mode, and fired the piercing scarlet beam through the door, cutting it along the sides, then down the middle.  That done, he gave it a swift kick.

With a loud crash, the door fell inward.  Justice dove through the doorway, then came up in a crouch, pistol raised to fire at the bodyguards -- of which there were none.  Justice stood up, looking around warily.  The command center was bare.  There was a situation map and a small computer system, a picture window looking out on the viral zone, and a throne.  Justice still couldn't believe it.  This virus was really stupid.

The throne turned around, revealing Ytter, sitting scared.  The virus had a receding forehead and a thick jaw.  He had sallow metallic skin and four-fingered hands with claws on the end.  The arrowhead-shape that was his viral symbol adorned his chest, but his chest quivered in fear.  Justice's eyes narrowed.  "This is a virus that conquered part of Vector?" he said incredulously.

"Who are you?" Ytter asked in a terrified voice.

Justice kept his pistol trained on Ytter's head as he stepped forward.  "Nathan Justice, gun for hire."

"Nobody could've hired you to kill me!" Ytter quailed.  "I'm a nobody!  And besides, there's the Mousetrap!"

"Don't remind me," Justice grated.  "And `sides, I wasn't hired to kill you."

Ytter's shaking stopped momentarily.  "You weren't?" he asked hopefully.

"Nope," Justice said, cocking the hammer.  "I was just told to get a sit-rep.  But, see, my ship's broke.  So I'm killing anything in my way to fixing it."  He tightened his squeeze on the trigger.  "Bye."

The gunshot echoed in the empty command center.  Justice holstered his pistol just as the rest of the Grizzly's crew ran from the elevator.  Sil stopped.  "Nat!"

"Sil," the mercenary said.  "Ytter's dead.  Cut his head off.  We'll take it back with us."  He strode out of the command center as Sil and Dirk stared at the virus' corpse.

"Well," the acting command.com said, "all of the storehouses in Ytter's territory are empty."

Justice blinked exactly once.  Sil and Dirk saw this and immediately backed up.  They'd seen him do that once before, and the offending person had had the snot summarily beaten out of them.  Justice said slowly, "And how is that possible?  Ytter wasn't that smart.  How could he have used up all those supplies so quickly?"

"I think I can answer that," Col. Kimball said.  "As we told you when we briefed you on our situation, the viruses periodically ally with each other.  Currently, Seize and Vice have done so.  We aren't entirely certain of anything that goes on between the viruses, except what happens in the open, thanks to Cal's spy protocols."  Here the artillery commander nodded at the hacker.  "So, it's entirely possible that Ytter aligned himself with another one of the viruses and traded supplies for land."

Justice folded his arms.  "All right, Cowboy," he said, addressing the hacker, "bring up the system map, updated."

Cowboy obediently did so.  The white portion of the map that denoted the territory controlled by the Principal Office now extended out from the center to include the portion of the system that had once been colored yellow -- Ytter's zone.  Pieces of the purple territory -- Soovas' zone -- were absorbed into the Principal Office and so was some of the blue, controlled by Seize.  Cowboy tapped another control, and small boxes appeared on the map.  Most of the boxes were concentrated in the green zone -- Vice's territory -- and the red, controlled by the Class Twelve Ünres.

Marcus said, "We've transferred power into Ytter's old zone, bringing it back under our direct control.  Some of the artillery there is now operational.  Using some of our medical supplies, we're working on removing the Mysadt probes that Ytter implanted in the Anthros.  Most of the sprites are free now that Ytter's dead, except for the ones he Infected early.  They'll just need time."

Dirk spoke up, "So, what's our plan now?  Hit Vice and get his supplies?"

Justice shook his head.  "No.  We finish taking out Soovas, then regroup.  The viruses, no matter what's going on between them, will be in disorder.  The balance of power will shift in our favor.  We wait only long enough to bring more of our artillery and weaponry to bear against Seize.  We knock him out to weaken Vice's position, then move in and take Vice."

Col. Kimball nodded.  "Good plan.  And with the rest of the system back under our control, we stand a better chance against Ünres."

"Plus," Sil said, "with the supplies we commandeer from Vice, we can repair the Grizzly, then use its weapons against Ünres."

Justice nodded.  "Right.  But we have to move fast.  We only have so much time before the viruses get their act together and team up against us.  When that happens, it won't matter what we have.  They have more, and we'll lose."

Marcus turned to Col. Kimball.  "Colonel, tell the men to continue to move on Soovas' zone.  Don't stop until his control tower is toppled."

The artillery commander saluted and left.  Justice nodded.  "Cowboy, what do we know from Ytter's database?"

"Nothing," Cowboy said.  "Ytter's d-base is an absolute mess.  It'd take me months to decipher the nonsense he put in here."  He rubbed his eyes sleepily, then continued, "My spy protocols are busy gathering info on Seize's borders.  Then I'll put my algorithms to work coming up with an attack plan."

"In the meantime," Justice said, "my crew and I will go rest up.  You're going to need us against Seize.  He's not as dumb as Ytter was."  He turned to the others and snapped his fingers.  They immediately headed off to the guest quarters that Marcus had provided.

Marcus and Kimball watched them go, and then Marcus shook his head.  "That man," the acting command.com said, "is easily the most brash, rude, and hardheaded son-of-a-bitch I've ever laid eyes on."

Kimball echoed, "I'll second that."

Cowboy snapped, "Oh, shut up!  At least Justice had the guts to actually go in and take down Ytter -- and it's thanks to him that we've got control of nearly a third of the system back.  So quit complaining."

"Oh, you shut up, Cal," Kimball said.  "He's a bastard, and you know it!"

"I wasn't disagreeing with you, Jimmy," the hacker replied, "but, bastard he may be, but a he's a bastard who wins."

"Seize, you're only annoyed because now Marcus and Kimball are taking away some of your territory," came the deep voice of the virus looking at his sometime-cohorts.

"Yes!" Seize snapped.  "And if you don't start doing something, Ünres, you're apt to be next!"

"Ridiculous," the deep-voiced virus scoffed.  "I'm far too powerful for them to conceive attacking."

"I'm beginning to think that these raids are being led by the inhabitants of that ship that crashed a few days ago," the green virus -- Vice -- said.

There was a low rumble from Ünres as he considered this.  "It is possible," he conceded.  "Unfortunately, my drones were destroyed by Kimball's artillery, so I know nothing about the ship's inhabitants.  And West's hacking is preventing me from infiltrating their databases."

"We have to do something," Vice said, nodding at Seize, "I agree with you there.  Ytter was never much of a problem -- frankly, I'm surprised he survived this long.  But Soovas was skilled -- and knowing that Marcus and Kimball now have his arsenal makes the Principal Office a very large threat. I vote that we destroy the place now.  We have the advantage of superior firepower."

"Yes," Ünres said, "but they also have considerable firepower.  A direct attack would surely fail.  And besides, I see no reason to alter my own plans."

"What do you mean, 'your plans'?" Seize asked.  "What are you up to, Ünres?"

"That," the virus said, "is none of your business, Seize.  If I were you, I'd be more worried about what's going to happen to you when you're deleted."

"If I'm deleted!" Seize said.

"When you're deleted," Ünres said with an unpleasant smile.  He shrugged.  "I have my own business to attend to.  Don't contact me again."  With that, he snapped the vidwindows shut with a blink and sat back in his throne, contemplating this turn of events.

The Class Twelve's viral spies were unable to penetrate the Principal Office's perimeter, so he was uncertain of what the Government forces were planning.  But he had long ago penetrated the security of the other viral zones, so he was aware of what each of the other four viruses were planning.  Ytter had been stupid in squandering his resources trying to rebuild his zone, and then trading what was left to Ünres, thinking he'd get more territory.  Instead, Ünres had destroyed more of Ytter's zone, just to spite him.

Soovas was more clever, and instead hoarded his resources, building a considerable arsenal, which he doled out as necessary to aid the other viruses in their war against the Principal Office.  Unfortunately, Soovas' border with Ytter had never been very well-guarded, and with the collapse of Ytter's zone, the PO forces swarmed into his zone and quickly reached his control tower.  Before the hapless virus had been able to mount a secure defense, he'd been deleted.  And now the PO was advancing on Seize.

Seize and Vice were foolish enough to believe that Marcus and Kimball were acting without assistance, but Ünres' spies had spotted the new arrivals in the system when they'd attacked Ytter.  Two humans, a F'Val woman, a mech, and a large hound.  These five entities had single-handedly destroyed Ytter and brought about Soovas' destruction.

Ünres called up a still image of the bearded human gunman.  The Class Twelve rumbled in thought as he considered this man.  He was highly skilled and strong...for a User.  As a rule, Ünres hated humans, which was why he'd bullied the other viruses into executing every human they laid their hands on.  Now, however, Ünres was wondering whether he should change his policy.

Yes, the virus thought.  Given the right set-up, I'm sure I could turn this man into a useful soldier.  And then, as cliché as it sounds, the virus began to laugh evilly.

"Impossible," Seize muttered.  "How can they be doing this?"  He tapped a control, zooming in on the people leading the charge.  Then his triangular jaw twitched as he studied the shapely F'Val woman who ran behind a large dog.  She sliced down his virals with a slender sword as her dog tackled others and mauled them with a swipe of a paw and flash of teeth.  Seize raised a pale eyebrow.  "Now how did I miss a fine-looking one like that?"  Then he smiled.  "Well, I'll just correct the problem."

Seize tapped into his mental connections with his Infected sprites and controlled-Anthros.  "Capture the F'Val woman, or divert her to me.  I want her alive."  He smiled again as the affirmative response flooded his neural net, then pulled out of the connection.  This would be wonderful...fresh flesh.  "Eh-heh-heh," he snickered.

Dirk ducked behind his shield, then leaned out to fire a salvo of pulses at a piece of armored cavalry.  The mechanic dashed out of the way as an explosive charge blew a hole through the wall he'd been backed up against.  Higher up in the air, DT-Three was raining lasers on the tank, to little effect.  "Could use a little help, Nat!" he said, raising his shield as machine gun fire pounded him.

Justice turned to fire, but Sil's throwing star whisked through the air and sliced the barrels off the machine guns, then looped back.  The F'Val smiled, then turned to cut down a drone.  Dirk grinned.  "Thanks, Sil!"  He pumped rounds at the tank again, then backed up as it rolled forward.

Sil saw it, then pulled out her disc.  She wound up and let fly, the disc carving an electric blue streak through the air, then smashing into the tank's cannon, bending it to the side.  It ricocheted, returning to her, and she caught it expertly, putting it away in one smooth motion.

The tank lined up on Dirk again, and then its commander gave the order to fire the cannon.  The tank commander died unaware that firing a charge down a bent cannon tends to make it blow up in your face.  Dirk whooped with triumph and fired his gun in the air, taking down two flying drones in the process.

"No time for celebration!" Justice called.  "Keep moving!"  He jumped over a barrier, his pistol showering death upon the viral forces.

Sil moved to follow when three large Perovanians lunged out of a crevasse and attacked her.  The lithe F'Val swung her sword, but the bear-like Anthros scarcely noticed.  The first knocked her sword out of her hand, and the second snared her in a vise-like grip.  She kicked and struggled, but she wasn't strong enough to break its grip.  With a vicious snarl, Sil whistled sharply.

Like a guided missile, Sentry tore into the Perovanian holding his mistress.  Almost as soon as he hit the ground, the Anthro was dead, and then Sentry moved on the third as Sil reclaimed her sword and cut down the first.  She flipped her sword shut and clipped it to her belt, then dodged aside as a viral fired toward her.  Sentry zeroed in on the attacker and lunged.

In that moment, a drone hovered down in front of Sil and flicked out a sparking stunwand.  Sil shied back, blocking with her disc, but the stunning energy swept over it and shocked her into unconsciousness.  The drone chirped a command to its fellows and eight drones grasped Sil's body and bore it ahead to the command tower.

Justice turned from the squadron he was fighting to see the sight.  His mouth twisted in a snarl.  "NO!"  Justice dashed away from his current prey to fire two shots at the drones.  Two drones fell apart, but two more skittered out of the shadows to replace them.  The mercenary swore and charged after them, but the viral squadron behind him opened fire.  Justice stopped on a dime, ducking down and pulling a pulse grenade from his pack.  He tapped its controls then hurled it into the midst of the virals.

He didn't look back at the explosion, instead concentrating on the entry hatch to the tower that sealed shut as the drones disappeared through it.

But just as the virus was about to make his move, Sil's eyes snapped open.  She was disoriented, but she saw the virus hovering over her with a nasty-looking implement and reacted instinctively.  Her arm flashed up and whip-punched Seize in the arm, causing him to drop the Mysadt probe on the floor.  Seize screamed in pain as Sil sat up, then dove off the table, coming up in a defense crouch.

"You...you bitch!" Seize snapped.  "That hurt!"  He flicked his fingers, long claws emerging from his nails as he moved forward.  He grunted in pain as Sil snap-kicked him in the jaw, then yelped in surprise as she swept his legs out from underneath him.  The virus gagged as his head smacked on the floor.

"That was the point," Sil growled.  "Seize, I presume?"

"You presume correctly," the virus said, getting back to his feet.  He glanced at his console as it flashed a red warning at him: TOWER PERIMETER BREACH.  "It seemed your friends have arrived," Seize observed.

"I'll enjoy introducing him to you," Sil smirked.  "I have a feeling he'll make a distinct impression."

Seize smiled.  "I doubt I'll have the pleasure."  He slammed a fist on a control, and the console flashed: ULTRA SECURITY MEASURES ACTIVATED.  "That will keep your friends occupied for some time."  Then his smile turned very cruel.  "Time enough for me to finish what I was starting!"

"You were misnamed," Sil said, still in her defensive crouch.  "You should've been named Vice."

Seize shrugged.  "Name's aren't important."  And with that, he lunged, claws ready to gouge out pieces of her face.  Sil ducked low and brought a fist up into Seize's jaw, then pivoted and slammed an elbow into his groin and stomach.  Seize's eyes nearly popped out of their sockets from the blow, and then Sil shoved her arm into his torso, throwing the virus back into his console.

Seize groaned with pain, but he came around long enough to see Sil pull her disc out and send it flying at his face.  There was an unpleasant snapping sound before the disc returned.

The door to the command center blew open forcefully, and Justice stalked in, pistol up.  Moments later he saw the dead body of Seize and looked up.  "He dead?" the mercenary asked.

"Yeah," Sil said.  "Nice to know you care about me."

"You're my pilot," Justice said.  "Other than that, I could care less."  He holstered his pistol.  "Cut off his head and bring it back with you.  Dirk!"  The mechanic appeared in the doorway, DT-Three hovering over one shoulder.  "Get the systems down so Cowboy can hack in."  He stepped aside as Sentry bounded into the room, seeking out his mistress.  "Rendezvous back at the PO."  Then he left.

Sil scratched Sentry's head enthusiastically, then looked up at Justice's departing form.  She looked at Dirk, who shrugged.  "He's a hardass," Dirk said.  "We knew that when we signed on."

"I figured he'd've softened a bit by now," Sil said, taking out her sword.  "But I guess he's too bitter for that."

"One of these days," Dirk said, "we'll find out why he's so bitter."  There was a pause as the two looked at each other, then out the door after Justice.  Then Dirk amended, "But not any day soon."

"That's why we're gonna soften him up first," Justice said.  He pointed at a set of coordinates.  "There's a large power converter station there.  Colonel Kimball, you'll bombard that area, thus knocking out a large portion of his zone's power.  In the meantime, we'll infiltrate here -- "  Here was a communications junction tower that sat near the border with the PO.  " -- where Vice has a comm junction.  When we take it, Cowboy can patch into the external comm nets and maybe break through to the Guardians.  Furthermore, if we disable certain frequencies, Vice's drones can't operate."

Cowboy nodded.  "But you'll have to do some of that without me.  I'll fill you in on what you'll need to do so I can patch into the comm junction."  He lifted his Stetson to scratch an itch, then nodded.  "I'll have the specifics before you make your attack."

"Good," Justice said.  "Marcus, you brought Seize's zone back under PO power?"

The acting command.com nodded.  "Seize's zone is now fully under Government control.  I have men out there now salvaging what we can, and bringing anything of military value to Col. Kimball's storehouses."

Justice nodded.  "How's the Grizzly look?"

Marcus shrugged.  "Still need parts that we don't have.  Either Vice or Ünres has them.  So I guess you have no choice if you want to get out of Vector."

Dirk grumbled.  "I still don't like the idea of going up against a Class Twelve."

"Relax," Justice said.  "We're building ourselves up.  We'll get the parts we need, and then we'll come back with Guardians and blast Ünres and his buddies back to the Stone Age."

Col. Kimball looked over at the situation map as part of the PO perimeter flashed red.  He shouted, "Viral attack!  Battle stations!"

Justice was over at the map in an instant.  "Where?  Which virus?"

"It's Vice," Kimball said.  "I think he's trying to get us before we get him.  I think you'd better get out there, Mr. Just -- " The artillery commander looked up to see that the mercenaries were already on their way out.

Zero.

Rather, instead, there was a single combatant waiting for them.  Granted, it was ten feet tall and had mechanical muscles the size of Buicks, but it was just one combatant.  Justice and Sil looked up, up, up the body to the cockpit.  A vidwindow opened, showing the pilot and the cockpit.  A green-skinned virus with cold yellow eyes glared out at them.

"You must be the ones that killed Seize," Vice said.  "I'm Vice, and this is what I've been busy working on while the others have been preoccupied with their petty territorial squabbles."  The mech-armor raised an arm and revealed a rather large laser cannon.

Justice's expression didn't change, but he said to Sil, "Duck."  And then he followed his own advice.

The laser that lanced out of Vice's cannon had the diameter of a medicine ball.  It took a rather nice chunk out of the side of the Principal Office.  The virus broadcast, "I'm not going to let you insignificant Users destroy my zone.  I'll stomp you flat!"

Justice stood up from his landing spot and raised his pistol.  His shots skimmed off the armor on the mech, and Vice laughed.  "Nice try.  But it'll take more than that to knock me down.  Try this on for size!"  And Vice raised his cannon again.

Justice dashed away as the laser obliterated the barrier he'd been hiding behind.  He pushed off the wall and somersaulted out of the PO perimeter to land in the rubble-strewn ground.  Vice turned toward him, his mech's other arm opening to reveal a large pincer, lightning crackling up and down the claws.  He stalked forward, his gun-arm firing several less-powerful bolts at him to keep him from retreating and the pincer lowering to snare him.

Sil whipped out her disc and flung it at the back of the armor-mech.  It put a slight dent in the side, causing Vice to turn back toward Sil. "Honestly, what was that supposed to accomplish?"  He turned and aimed his cannon at her.

Sil's pupils shrank, and she turned away to run, thinking, Oh, this is gonna hurt...

It did.  The blast sent Sil sprawling.  Sentry, who had been barking and growling at the huge intruder, bounded off a large piece of debris at Vice's cockpit.  The virus swept the pincer-arm, energy sparking and causing the big Irish wolfhound to yelp in pain.

Vice turned back to Justice, who had been firing ineffective blasts at the mech-armor.  "Now, where were we?"  The virus stopped as he saw Justice smirk -- not smile, but smirk.  "What're you looking at, User?"

Justice pointed up at the Principal Office.  "That."

Vice turned, then saw the twin chaingun cannons -- designed to destroy tanks -- aimed at him.  Dirk scowled behind the targeting screen.  Vice moved to block the attack, but Dirk was faster.  The cannons sounded like a stampede, the barrage knocking Vice off-balance.  He staggered, trying to raise his cannon, but Justice thumbed his cutting beam and swung the scarlet beam down, severing the arm off.

Vice spun in a circle, completely off-balance now from the barrage and the loss of a limb to his mech, then tried to snatch Justice with the pincer.  The mercenary, however, was no longer standing in front of him, but behind him.  Justice reached into his pack and pulled out a pulse grenade.  He chucked it straight up at the back of Vice's mech.

-=BOOM=-

The mech collapsed face-first.  Justice wasted no time charging toward the cockpit to kill the virus.  He paused just behind the cockpit, pistol aimed.  "It's over, Vice."  He stepped forward, then stopped as he saw that the cockpit was empty.

"User!" Vice screeched, attacking from the side, fearsome claws extended.

There was the sound of a stampede, and a fusillade of energy pulses neatly blew Vice to pixels.  Dirk sat up straighter in his chair at the twin chaingun cannons and smirked.  "Did I get him?"

"Ya got him," Justice confirmed.  "Too bad we couldn't save the head."

Not that Ünres was afraid.  He'd stood up to worse, but he did not wish to be challenged.  He was a Class Twelve virus, and he was more powerful than them.  Come to my zone, Mr. Justice, and I'll give you a battle you'll never forget.

An insistent beeping attracted his attention, however.  Ünres tapped a control and opened a vidwindow.  Computer-generated swirls of chaotic reds surrounded the masked face on the screen.  The mask was silk, black and red, done up like a harlequinn face.  When the person spoke, their voice was filtered through a scrambler, coming out somewhat high-ranged, though his original voice could have been the deepest bass in existence for all it mattered.

"How goes things in Vector, Ünres?" the man asked.

"Not well, Chaotis," the virus replied.  "A man named Justice has arrived in Vector and has destroyed all the viruses except for myself."

The masked man, Chaotis, paused for a moment.  "Really?  That's not good."

"I know," Ünres said.  "I'm next."

"Well, then, my boy," Chaotis said, "you'll just have to destroy Mr. Justice.  It won't do to have Vector continue to take up memory in the Metaverse, not when there are things to do.  Finish off Mr. Justice, and then finish taking over Vector."

"Of course, Chaotis," Ünres said.

"Oh, do lighten up," Chaotis said cheerfully.  "Once you've finished, I can hack into Vector's Core and take what I need for my own plans."

"Of course."  The virus smiled cruelly.  "I know just how to make Mr. Justice die."

"That's my boy!" Chaotis said with pride.  "Go on out there and show 'em what you're made of!  Chaotis out."

The vidwindow shut, leaving Ünres to smile into his folded hands with evil glee.