Sarge glanced down at the bottom of the trench, sensing Baines stepping up to him on his left.  He waited for the touch of the muzzle of Baines' gun against his left temple.
------------------
Jeff shivered at the look on the girl's face as she pointed her gun with her right hand, holding up a box in the left.

She flipped the switch on the box with her thumb.
------------------
The ditch digger blew up, sending the rider flying, along with huge billows of smoke and fire.  The gasoline caught fire and exploded also.  The natives hit the ground, as did Porter.

There was a loud gunshot and a clatter.  Sarge turned around to see Travis slumping off the balcony railing, the top of his head blown away.  The Haskins gun had fallen out of his hands and was on the ground.

The two remaining armed soldiers, Connors, and Baines were wheeling around, looking wildly for the attacker.

At the sound of another loud gunshot, seemingly from a different direction, Sarge prudently dove into the trench, Ramas joining him.  He poked his head up, noted that one of 'his' men was on the ground, and caught sight of the other fly backwards as a gaping red hole appeared on his chest.  Connors and Baines began firing wildly.

"Missed!" a girl's voice taunted from the distance.  The men fired at the voice.

"Missed again!" This time from a slightly different direction.  They fired more shots.

"Missed again!"

The two got off three more shots between them when their Berettas began to click.

"DROP THEM, SIRS!"

Porter!  He had snuck over to the Haskins gun, retrieved it, and was pointing it at Connors and Baines, "Let's get them!" Sarge told Ramas.  The man looked scared, but followed Sarge out of the trench to take the empty guns from Baines and Connors.  The other natives got up and secured the two, while Sarge threw the Berettas into the trench, "Porter!  Put the Haskins down!"

"The pilots, Sergeant Grove!" The girl shouted.

The two pilots came out of their choppers, hands up, for the Haskins' incendiary rounds would have pierced the hulls easily.  The natives took their weapons and secured them too.  Sarge took the Haskins, held it over his head briefly, then tossed it into the trench, "We surrender!" he shouted.

There was silence for a moment, then a native shouted, "There!"

Baines groaned as the girl covered 120 meters in three bounds, carrying a prisoner over her shoulder.  She landed on their side of the trench and put Jeff down on the ground, "Smart move, Sergeant." she said, "I regret having to take out five of your men."

"What?" Connors gasped.

"Yes.  Two here," She indicated the bodies of the two soldiers lying on the ground, "The two at the armory when I activated the self-destruct, and one who was violating my sister's dead body."

"B-but there was supposed to only be one!" Baines gasped, shooting a glance at Porter.

"Yes.  Me."

"But the body-" he glanced at the body bag.

"My batchmate, 356, already dead, but posed to make you think you got me."  She said, turning and going to the bag.  She knelt down, straightened the hair of her sister, bent down, kissed her cheek, then zipped the bag up.

"And you are-" Sarge asked.

"Cybersix." She said, standing up and returning to the group.  She held her hand out to Sarge, "I'd like to shake the hand of a brave and conscientious soldier, sir."

Sarge blinked, "But-"

"Please?"

Suddenly, it struck Sarge, "It's true," he breathed, taking her hand in his, "The army of peace and the Geneva Convention.  All of it?"

She nodded, "Yes.  Since we came out of our tanks, we were trained to-"

Elio groaned.  Cybersix whirled around and ran to his side, "Elio!  Are you okay?"  She began to feel at his abdomen, "Can you breathe?"

"Not-well." Elio moaned, "Getting dizzy."

She bit her lip, "Internal bleeding, I think.  I'm sorry.  Everyone is gone, and I don't know what to do!"

"It's okay.  Saw everything.  Your parents-and instructors-would have-been proud."  He grabbed at Cybersix's arm, "Six.  I-must-"

"No!  Take it easy!"

"Must tell-you.  Those-men were-in your father's-office.  Must-be looking-for something."

"I figured that out.  That's why I didn't shoot them.  I'll make them talk!"

"No.  Don't.  Be like them."

"But I must find out why they killed my family!"

"Tape-Recorder."

"What?"

"Tape recorder-in office-to catch-pranks."

Comprehension dawned on her face.  Despite the seriousness of the situation, she almost laughed, "Thanks Elio!  I'll listen to it." She glanced up at Baines, "It may have some-STOP HIM!"

Baines had been reaching into his pocket and had pulled out a small box.  Caught, he hastily flipped a switch hood up and flicked a switch on it as the natives next to him grabbed at it.

An explosion ripped through the engine compartment of the Pavehawk.  The rotors tilted until the blades touched the ground, ripping deep gouges in the ground.

"Let's see that!" Sarge grabbed the box.

"THE OTHER SWITCH, SARGE!  THAT'S AN ORDER!" Baines shouted.

"DON'T!" Cybersix yelled.

Sarge looked at Baines, then at Cybersix, then shook his head, "I'll listen to the REAL soldier, no thank you." he told Baines.

Baines swore and cursed him, not stopping until a native conscientiously recycled the duct tape he had removed from Jeff by applying it to his mouth.

Sarge carefully inspected the box as Cybersix walked up to him, eyes bright, "What is it?" she asked.

"Radio control trigger switch.  Same thing I think you used to create the diversion with the ditch digger."

She nodded, "Actually, I was going to blow up the digger if they tried to excavate the family grave.  Do you think the other switch is for the Chinook?"

Sarge glanced at her, noting that she had correctly identified the chopper, "No.  One switch has a graphic for a chopper.  The other has a mushroom inscribed on it."

"Why would a bomb be put on the Pavehawk?" she wondered aloud.

Sarge Suddenly scowled, whirled around, and faced Connors, "YOU BASTARDS!  After you got all you wanted out of this place, you were going to kill us on the way back!"

Connors was stunned, "National security-" he started, only to have his sentence punctuated by Sarge's fist flying into his face.  The man dropped.

Meanwhile, Cybersix had turned and went to the collection of crates that had been unloaded from the chopper.

"Wait!" Ported yelled, "Let me get a crow-"

He stopped when he saw her tear the top of the first crate off with her bare hands, multiple one inch nails screaming in protest.  She glanced inside, then went to another.

"-bar." Porter finished, impressed.  He ran over to the crate and glanced inside.  It contained communications equipment activated remotely.  The other crates held cartons of rations.

"Here." She said, looking into one longish crate.

Porter looked into it, "What is it?" he wondered.  It looked like a partially disassembled tank shell, with wires coming out of the tip and going to some electronics gear.

Cybersix pointed at a magenta star printed onto the side of the casing, "This is a battlefield tactical nuclear munition, soldier.  I was never taught the designation, because my superiors would wonder how an average joe would happen to know a classified acronym if I had an accidental slip of the tounge."

Porter glanced at her appreciatively, "You were going to be a soldier, like me?"

She smiled, "Yes.  Like you."

Sarge had trotted up and had looked into the crate.  He recognized it immediately and cursed, "If they had encountered resistance, they were going to set down for 10 minutes.  Probably to set this thing up and blow you to atoms after we got far enough away."

Cybersix thought for a long moment, "Something is strange here.  A nuclear weapon outside of the chain of control of the President of the United States?"  She glanced down at the little cousin of the most fearsome weapon on earth, "Here.  To destroy my home.  Why?  What is so important here?  Its obvious that man was willing to die to keep a secret.  What is it?"

"Miss, if he was willing to die to keep it, you won't get anything out of him." Porter said as they returned to the group.

"You're right.  I'll have to listen to the tape." she said, "In the meantime, I want these two tied to separate poles!  Use duct tape.  Lots of it."  the natives nodded, grinning, "I want all the visitors and half of the servants to break into the mess hall and load up the Chinook with all the food it can carry.  Leave room for the entire village and ourselves.  I want two of you watching Elio!  Put him in the master bedroom.  Two of you go to the Techno dorms and gather as many vials as you can.  The rest of you-" she looked at the bodies lying on the ground, "Bury these in that trench.  I'll be in my father's office."

"Ahh, Miss Cybersix?" Sarge asked.

"Yes, Sergeant Grove?"

"Requesting permission to take my men back with me.  I can't leave any behind."

"I'm sorry, Sergeant Grove, I wasn't thinking.  We-" she smiled, "-never expected to come back here to be buried.  Permission granted."

"Thank you.  I think you should keep this," he said, handing her the box.

She took it, flipped the main hood down over it, and put it in her pocket, "Anything else, Sergeant?"

"Yes.  Can I ask you a question?"

"Sure. I may not answer it, though," she said, smiling.

"Why such a large mess hall?"

She started and looked at him with a puzzled expression on her face, as if the question was totally unexpected, "We were a family," she said in a small, bewildered voice, "We WANTED to eat together."
-------------------------
"Miss?" Sarge poked his head into the large office.

"Yes?" she lifted her head, and Sarge realized that she looked as if she had been crying.  A clipboard with an e-mail printout was in her lap, and there were water stains on the paper.

"We're done loading the Chinook and buried Travis.  Ready to go at your orders."

"Thank you, Sergeant Grove."

"Any clues?"

"Yes.  A name.  Greta Von Groven." she looked troubled, "And a Nazi science experiment.  Oaken Fist.  Conducted by my father."

"It appears, then that they were here looking for something about that experiment, and gassed everyone so they wouldn't be disturbed," Sarge said.

"The-Nazi experiments were gruesome violations of human rights." she murmured, "I need to know what my father did.  Really did.  He told his side of the story.  Even made jokes about it.  And my mother always said he told the truth.  If there is another side, and Ms. Von Groven knows it, then I must hear it, for he never mentioned the words 'Oaken Fist'.  I must know if my father was lying to us and to my mother, or whether he was telling the truth."

"What do you think?" Sarge asked her.

She thought for a long moment, "I think he told the truth.  Just not all of it.  I want to know what he did.  EVERYTHING."

"I hope you find what you are looking for, Miss."

"Thank you, Sarge.  I'm almost done he-"

There was a pounding of feet outside the office, and a native burst into the room, "Cybersix!"

"What?" she asked, standing up.

"Elio!"

She beat both of them to the master bedroom, "ELIO!" she cried, "You'll be fine!  Just hold on!  We'll be taking you to-"

"No-" Elio gasped, "I'm not-making it.  Bury me-here.  In the-family grave.  With your-parents, max, -and Maria.  She-" he smiled, "was a saint.  I will-ride to heaven-on her-coattails."

"Just hang on!  Please!"

But he sighed and was gone.
--------------------------
"Here it is, Miss." Jeff said, standing up, "We put the bomb outside of this building, like you wanted."

"Thanks soldier." she said, looking up at the concrete walls of the place where she was born, "Go on back.  I'll be with you in a few minutes."

Jeff and Porter climbed into the truck and drove back to the parade ground.  Cybersix sighed, opened the door to Tank Building One, and went inside.

The lights were not on in the building, even though the emergency generators had kicked in and were still running.  They would run for weeks, considering how precious the Von Richters regarded the tiny bodies growing in the 500 glass tanks that stood in rows at various levels of the building.  There was no need for lights at the moment, for the green glow from the tanks illuminated everything.

She walked up to tank 6, put her hand on it, and gazed through the green liquid at Cyber 3506, barely grown to the size of a two year old, floating serene and unaware of his sister standing outside.  His hands twitched, grasping at nothing.

"Oh God.." she moaned, leaning her head against the glass and crying, "oh God forgive me..."

The gas attack had not touched the young ones growing in the tanks, who were fed from bottled oxygen.  However, the attack had destroyed the hands that would have lovingly taken care of them.  With all her heart, Cybersix wanted to take care of them.  All of them.  But she had only two hands, while the Von Richters had taken years to build up the support staff that were now just vials clinking in large bags sitting in the Chinook.  Besides, 500 Cybers were a lot of mouths to feed, and the report that Cybersix heard Connors relay to Baines told her that the necessary support network was quickly vanishing too.

Her tears ran down the side of the glass tube.

"I am sorry...  I am so sorry..."

Soon, she would be the last Cyber.  And soon, the last Von Richter.

She felt so alone.  Even now.

"Goodbye.  Forgive me..."

She turned and walked out, sobbing.
-----------------------------
"Let's go!" The pilot of the Chinook yelled.

Cybersix climbed in, looked for a spot, then saw Baines and Connors, still trussed up, lying against a bulkhead.

Scowling, she made her way through to them, grabbed Baines, and tossed him out the door.  Connors followed.

"Miss?" The pilot said.

"Wait just a minute." She said.

"Miss Cybersix!  The Geneva Convention-" Sarge started.

"Covers the murder of civilians." she said, holding her hand out.

Sarge shut up and handed her his Beretta, knowing she was right.

She hopped out, walked over to Connors, bent down, and jerked the duct tape off his mouth, "YOU CAN'T DO THIS!" he yelled, "THE GENEVA CONVENTION-"

"-Is enforced by the winners." Cybersix said sourly, "In contravention of the articles of war regarding civilians, you are guilty of murder.  The sentence is death."

His scream was silenced by the bullet she put into his forehead.

She walked over to Baines and jerked the duct tape off his mouth too, "BITCH!  You can't win!  We'll hunt you down!" he yelled, "We'll get you!  We'll dissect you, figure out what makes you tick, and then you'll die screaming as we figure out how much you can take!"

"So that's why!" she murmured, nodding, "Thanks."

Baines's eyes bugged, realizing he had said too much.

"In contravention of the articles of war regarding civilians, you are guilty of murder.  The sentence is death."

She pointed the Beretta at him, and he started screaming too.

The muzzle shook a bit.

"Ahh, you don't deserve this." she said, finally, lowering it.

Baines stopped screaming, looking hopefully at her.

"You know too much.  You probably planned it, didn't you?" she asked.

"Some of it." he admitted, "You kill me, you won't know the whole story!"

"So, in addition to killing Elio, you helped kill my parents."

"You kill me, you won't know the whole story." Baines repeated.

"True, I won't." she said, tossing the Beretta aside.

She then pulled out her Magnum from behind her back, "But I know enough." she said, checking the chambers, "Go to hell, you bastard."

She walked around him, blowing off his extremities.  She calmly reloaded to the sound of his howls of pain, then continued, finishing by blowing his skull off his neck.  His head skittered on the ground before her last bullet made it expode like an overripe watermelon.

She reloaded her gun, scraped her boots on the dirt to get the bits of blood and flesh off, then climbed into the Chinook.
-----------------------
"How far are we now?" Cybersix yelled at the pilot.

"About 60 kilometers, Miss!"

"Go high!"

He applied the gas and the Chinook rose.  Cybersix looked out the window and finally thought she saw the bluff from where she had witnessed the death of her family, "This should be enough." she said, pulling out the box.

"Think the signal will reach?" Sarge asked.

Cybersix smiled, "I dunno.  Let's find out, shall we?"

"The flash shouldn't be bad at all from here." the pilot said, "Especially from a munition designed for the battlefield.  We could be a lot closer and still be okay."

"The nuclear warhead isn't what I'm worried about." She said, lifting the switch hood.

"So what ARE you worried about?" Sarge asked.

"The green stuff in those two gunny sacks." she replied, flipping the switch.

There was a tiny pinprick of light on the ground that flared briefly, only to be swallowed up by a bright yellow flash and a  hot looking fireball that was easily 10 times bigger.  They watched as trees flew up before the shockwave that raced toward them.  The Chinook pilot turned the chopper and gunned the engines, trying to ride along with the wave to lessen the impact.  It still shook the chopper up badly, but no damage was done other than a few skinned shins from some unprepared children.  Jeff broke out the medical kit and passed bandages out.

Cybersix leaned back in the copilot's padded seat and closed her eyes, trying to compose herself and get some rest before the trial before her.

"Hold on, 53!" she thought, "Just hold on a little longer.  I'm coming!"

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