Chapter 8:
In the Wake of the Wolf

	A soft hand was stroking his head when he came to again. A little 
blind, he reached for the hand. The hand took his. His sight returned to him 
quickly and he saw Samantha's bright face. "Welcome back," she said. He 
stretched a little.
	"We have to stop meeting like this," he said. "I'm getting used to 
it."
	"Oh? You're getting used to having your head on my lap?"
	He hadn't noticed that. "Yes. I am."
	She leaned over and kissed him. "Can I get you anything?"
	"Something to drink would help. For some reason, I'm incredibly 
thirsty."
	"Well you should be. You've been out for two days now." He sat up so 
she could go get him something to drink. He quickly drank it, refreshing his 
system.
	"I've been out for two days?"
	"Two days, three hours, and fourty-five minutes to be exact. The 
transformation drained you."
	"I figured as much. But for two days?"
	"Professor Krypt said it was a shock to your system. It shouldn't 
happen again unless that tall, dark warrior inside the chip gets exhausted." 
She sat down and pushed him back onto her lap. "Until then, I think you'll 
rest up here."
	"Thank you Samantha. But I don't want to trouble you." He started to 
get up. She pushed him back down.
	"It's no trouble. I've had you on this couch for two days. I think I 
can handle you for a few more."
	He sighed. "If you insist."
	"Actually, no. It's the doctor's orders." She handed him a piece of 
paper. He read it over and chuckled. 
	"Christ. He has me in here for so long! Why don't I just move in!"
	She giggled. "No! This is only a singles quarters. If you wanna move 
in with me, we'll have to get bigger accomidations." She smiled. "Although I 
surely wouldn't mind sharing a room with you." She stroked his head.
	"Anyone home?" Kaitlyn asked from behind the door.
	"Come in Kaitlyn. He's awake now." The door opened and Kaitlyn walked 
in. She went over to Tobias and hugged him.
	"It's about time," she said. "What did I tell you about doing stupid 
things?"
	"It was either this or we all end up dead. Which would you pick?"
	"True. I'm sorry."
	He hugged her. "It's okay. So, what did I miss while I was out?"
	"Nothing really. We've been trying to explain to Sven what happened."
	"Ah..."
	"So you're back together. That's good." She got up and sat down in a 
chair. "Did you enjoy your nap?"
	"No. But I guess I had no Choice." The two girls giggled.
	"I heard the doctor has you here for a long while. Considered moving 
in yet?"
	"No fair!" Samantha whined. "You were listening!"
	"I was not!"
	"Calm down girls. We can solve this in a civilized manner."
	"Aw, forget it. I've got work to do. I'll come back later for dinner, 
okay?"
	"Sure," Samantha said. "We'd love the company." Kaitlyn smiled and 
hugged her friend. "Take care of him. Later." She turned to the door and 
left.

	After a two day nap, there was no way he was going to be able to 
sleep. He remained curled up on the couch as Samantha slept. He watched the 
window, as the stars twinkled outside. He listened to the crickets chirp on 
the window sill and the rustling of the leaves outside. "Boy," he mumbled. 
"These people love nature so much." Samantha stirred a little. He sat up and 
looked. The sheets had fallen off of her, and she was shivering. He got up, 
shuffled over to her, and covered her back up. As a good measure, he also 
gave her a light kiss on her cheek. She smiled and cuddled with her pillow. 
"Love you beautiful," he whispered before going back to the couch.

	The morning came quickly. He layed there, with his eyes closed, 
faking sleep. He heard Samantha get up, stretch, and change into her day 
wear. He struggled with the urge to take a little peek. His morals, however, 
kept him in check. She went over to him and started to stroke his head. He 
faked the stretcheing part and put his hand on hers. He opened his eyes and 
smiled. "Good morning beautiful," he said.
	"Good morning to you too, handsome." She kissed his cheek. "Did ya 
sleep well?"
	Of course he didn't. "I did. How about you?"
	"I did too. Can I have a seat?" He struggled to sit up. She sat down, 
grabbed him, and put his head in her lap again. "Better?"
	"It's a little awkward, but yeah."
	Suddenly, the wall slid open, revealing Sven's face. "Good morning 
Samantha. How's Tobias doing?"
	"I'm doing fine Sven, thanks for asking."
	"I just called to check in on you guys. They re-established the front 
line. We won't have to worry about it for a while."
	"I still say we should be prepared, Sven. I've got an idea for an 
emergency escape plan." He looked at Samantha. "Is there any way I can plug 
my headset into that screen?" She nodded. "Well, do it!" He pulled a small 
wire from the device and handed it to her. She got up and plugged it into the 
wall. Tobias closed his eyes and started to concentrate. The screen lit up 
with some blueprints.
	"Amazing!" Sven exclaimed. "What are they?"
	"These are my plans for a base mover. Should we know that somethings 
coming that we cannot stop, we can always pack the structures onto these 
chassises and drive them to safety. Simple enough, right?"
	"Very true. But I wonder, you've been out for two days. How did you 
come up with these things so quickly?"
	"I'm cheating. Neural pathways are a helpful little thing, no?"
	He chuckled. "You are amazing. We'll start manufacturing these things 
now. Thank you for your assistance."
	"No problem Sven. You know I'm here for you!" The screen clicked off 
and the wall slid back into place. Samantha unplugged him and the cord zipped 
back into his headset.

	He felt a little stronger around the afternoon, so Samantha permitted 
him to take a walk. "You take care of yourself now," she told him. "If you 
start to feel weak, come back here."
	He smirked. "Yes mother!"
	She whacked his arm and chuckled. "Go before I change my mind." He 
smiled and kissed her. "See ya later lovely?"
	"Of course!" She gave him a hug and sent him on his way. If she had 
known where he was going, she would have strapped him to the couch.

	"Damn it!" Hack cried out, throwing his cards onto the table.
	"I got this hand wrapped up," Psycho said, taking the pot. It was 
Saturday, and their weekly poker game was well under way. And, as usual, 
Psycho and Crash were dominating. The only ones left were the small group of 
five. Everyone else had played out. Crash began to deal out a new hand when 
they heard a knock at the barracks door. 
	"Who's there?" Crash called out.
	"It's Tobias." The barracks fell silent. Everyone looked at each 
other. "Can I come in?"
	"Well, don't just stand there!" Crash said. "Open the door!" Tobias 
was let in. He approached the table. 
	"Ah, this week's card game. Can ya deal me in?"
	Crash blinked. "Um....sure. You'll need chips." He handed him a small 
pile from his stash. "Use some of mine." He dealt out the hand. "Does 
Samantha know you're here?"
	"Probably, but I wouldn't put any money on it." He threw in a few 
chips. "I bet 10."
	"So, you're not pissed at us?" Hack asked.
	"Why would I be pissed at you?"
	"I don't need to remind you of what I did Tobias," Psycho said. "I 
don't want to. Call." He threw a few chips onto the pot.
	"I'm not upset guys! You were only defending the pride of your 
people."
	"Yeah, but-"
	"But nothing. I will never get too pissed off at you. Just don't give 
me reason to."
	"All right. We understand." The rest of the hand went in silence.

	As Crash began to deal the next hand, Tobias realized someone was 
missing. "Has anyone seen Swift around lately?"
	"Nah," Crash said. "She went into town."
	"Why'd she go an' do a thing like that?"
	"Well, for one thing, her headaches were getting worse. The field 
doctors could find nothing wrong, so Sven sent her off to the nearst city to 
see a real physician."
	"I hope she's all right."
	"She'll be all right. And I'm sure she'll be back soon. That is, of 
course, if the line holds out."
	"I doubt it will." Everyone drops their cards and looked at him.
	"What?!" Crash said.
	"Consider this. We barely won that last raid they made. If it weren't 
for my fast transformation there, we'd all be dead. If a small group like 
what we experienced can break the line and cause that much trouble, we don't 
stand a snowball's chance in hell against something bigger."
	"Damn it. You've got a point. So what do we do until the enevitable 
happens?"
	"Ah, that's the beauty of it." The building suddenly jerked. "They're 
putting them on now I see."
	"Putting what on?"
	"The base movers. The things that'll get our butts to safety in case 
of a massive assault force."
	"Oh. Okay."
	"You all right Crash?"
	"Of course not. I just hope these base move thingies work."
	"Don't worry about it Crash! Just play cards for now."
	"You're right. We shouldn't worry. We're skilled at this! Now, let's 
play." He collected the cards and dealt out a new hand.

	There was a knock on Samantha's door at one in the morning. Tobias 
told Samantha to stay in bed, got up, and shuffled to the door. A guard 
greeted him. "What now?" he asked.
	"Sven would like to talk to you. He says it's urgent. Code red."
	"Code red?"
	"Unfortunately."
	Samantha had thrown on a bathrobe and walked up to the two. "I'll 
follow along. Okay?"
	Tobias took her by the arms. "No, you should get your sleep. I'll 
tell you everything when I get back."
	"Oh, all right. Promise?"
	"I promise."
	She kissed him. "Go get him tiger." She winked playfully.
	"Okay guard, take me to him."

	"My apologies to you Tobias," were the first things out of Sven's 
mouth. "I had no idea this'd happen now."
	"It's okay Sven," Tobias returned, sitting down. "What's up?"
	"The line broke."
	"WHAT?!"
	"There is no more line. We're in the path of one of the biggest 
groups of Raider troops this side of the old Sana Annas River."
	"What's it composed of?"
	"20 tank regiments, consisting of 20 lightning tanks, 10 medium tanks 
of both makes, 5 heavy tanks, 15 motorcyles, and hordes of Raider 
footsoldiers each."
	He sighed. "No hope?"
	"None."
	"Okay. I think I can get us out of here safe. Are the base movers in 
place?"
	"It'll be finished by four in the morning."
	"Good. What's the nearest city?"
	"That'd be Tak Norath. A good 5,000 miles from here. That's about a 2 
hour 45 minute drive."
	"Okay. When's the attack force due?"
	"Noon tomorrow."
	"Damn. That doesn't give us much time." He did a little figuring. 
"Call your people. Tell them to establish a heavily armed line a safe 
distance from Tak Norath. Also have them build a defensive wall around the 
city. Get the base ready to move." He sat down and started to think. "You 
wouldn't happen to have a massive blockbuster bomb on hand, would you?"
	"We do. Why do you ask?"
	He smiled. "Bury it below the surface. Put a remote detonater on it. 
When the enemy rolls into our deserted base...."
	"....Detonate the bomb and take them all out! That's brilliant!" He 
snapped his fingers. "We're going to be executing 'J' anyway, so we can leave 
him and the prison here."
	"I didn't think of that! Good idea Sven."
	"I like the way you think Tobias. You'd make a great general." He sat 
down at his desk and started to work feverishly. "Oh, by the way, due to our 
last 'encounter' with the Raiders, I had Vu and Shivana moved to Tak Norath."
	"Oh? I was wondering where they went."
	"Why didn't you ask?"
	"I didn't have the balls to."
	He laughed. "Good night Tobias. I'll get to work on this."
	"Good night Sven." He bowed and left the private council chambers.

	11:49. Eleven minutes until the base was destroyed. The guard towers 
were set on auto. The buildings were all protected and ready to roll. Four 
transports held the garrison and the personnel for the base. A fifth, open 
air transport held Kaitlyn, Samantha, Tobias, and his new guard detail 
(Crash, Psycho, Bomber, Hack, and Wrench). Samantha was naturally not for the 
idea of them being in the same transport. But Tobias explained to her that it 
was nescessary, so she accepted it. 
	"How's that satelite uplink coming along Sven?" Tobias asked.
	"Gimme another minute," he responded. "AH! Got it!" He turned a small 
screen to him.
	"Okay." He turned his microphone on. "Start moving now." Everything 
started to move. The buildings, all clad in their armor, rolled along 
smoothly on their chassis. The transports went at full speed to keep up. 
Their transport lagged behind. Since they were armed and ready for battle, 
they'd be the only defense if the Raiders found out the plan. "Get to work on 
the detonater Hack."
	"Aye Tobias," he responded. He started to tinker with a small device.
	Tobias turned back to the base. The assault towers started to fire. 
"They're approaching the base. Get ready people." He pushed a button on his 
headset. "Targeting." The red lens slid into place. He watched the satelite 
uplink. The shell of the base was quickly approached by a group of red 
colored targets - the Raiders. Two gray dots - the attack towers - flashed a 
little before disappearing. "They've taken out the towers. Hack, how long?"
	"I'm finished."
	"Good. How long until we're at a safe distance?"
	"125 clicks," Sven responded.
	Tobias blinked. "In civilian terms?"
	"Um......2 minutes."
	"Thank you." He watched the uplink. Suddenly, six red blips came 
around the side of the base. "Here they come!" He cocked his rail gun and 
looked towards the base. He aimed to the right. "Target." A small 'X' 
appeared on the ground near the corner. He powered up the gun. A motorcycle 
appeared. He fired. It blew up in a spray of colors and left a crater. The 
two cycles behind it crashed into the crater. He looked to the other side
of the base. There were three more cycles coming. "Crash, Psycho, to arms!" 
They joined him at the back of the transport. "By my command," he chuckled, 
aiming the gun. "FIRE!" He fired blindly, striking the ground. The cycles 
drove around the new crater and fired off a few missiles. Their strikes 
missed. Crash and Psycho drew their rifles and supressed fire. One of the 
bikes blew a wheel and spun to a halt. The two remaining bikes fired again,
missing. Tobias carefully aimed his gun and fired. The target exploded, 
sending the other bike flying. "How much longer?" he demanded.
	"30 clicks."
	Tobias looked at the uplink. Everything was starting to move towards 
them. He pushed a button on his headset. "We can't wait any longer. Everyone 
brace for impact. Hack detonate that bomb!" Hack hesitated before flipping a 
switch and ducking for cover. A small light grew from the direction of the 
base. Suddenly, there was an explosion. It sent a blast of wind towards them, 
knocking everyone down. Tobias was the first to recover. He looked at the 
uplink. There weren't enough little red dots for the Raiders to be considered 
a threat to their move. "All enemy down or destroyed. All transports, check 
in and status."
	"Troop one here," a voice responded. "No casualties or injuries."
	"Troop two reporting," a second voice added. "We're all right."
	"Personnel one," yet another voice said. "All systems go."
	Tobias waited patiently for Personnel two to check in. "Personnel 
one," he said when there was no response. "Do you have visual contact of 
Personnel two?"
	"Aye. They seem to be all right."
	"Signal to them. Tell them we're heading to Tak Norath. All building 
transports, check in."

	They crossed the heavily fortified and armed lines by 12:30. They 
didn't stop however. They had to keep moving. Tak Norath was awaiting their 
arrival. "It's a beautiful city," Samantha explained as they had a small, 
crude lunch. "I think that's where they sent Vu and Shivana."
	"Aye," Sven said. "They're at the research facility in the middle of 
town. That's where we'll be setting up camp until further notice." He looked 
at the map that they were eating off of. "We'll reach there by 1700. You'll 
be able to see them before dinner."
	"Nah," Tobias said. "We'll catch them tomorrow. I'm sure the troops 
deserve a few hours of R&R when we get into town, right guys?"
	"Of course!" Crash said. "We just lost the base and survived. We took 
out an entire legion of Raiders. Everyone deserves a break tonight!"
	"Oh, all right! I'll give everyone time in town." Crash and his 
buddies cheered.
	"Hey Crash," Tobias asked. "You got your cards handy?"
	"Why do you ask?"
	"We've got time to kill. Let's play blackjack or something."
	Sven chuckled. "You play cards?"
	"He does sir," Bomber piped up. "He's wiped the floor with our rears 
on a few hands."
	He chuckled again. "And I thought soldiers were the best card players 
out there."
	"You wanna see how good we are, sir?"
	"Sure. Distrubute those chips and deal."

	The card game passed the time real quickly. They arrived at the 
massive concrete wall that surrounded the city by nightfall. The transports 
screeched to a halt. Sven got out and went over to one of the soldiers. 
"What's Sven doing?" Tobias asked.
	"Probably explaining why these massive transports want in," Crash 
said. "With the threat of the Raiders getting into the city, they'll get all 
suspicious if we don't explain ourselves."
	Just then, Sven returned. "Well, they're gonna let us in. You can get 
your R&R in." He handed Tobias a map. "We're staying at the main research 
compound in the middle of town. You'll need this to get in later." He handed 
him a small card. "Curfew is 2300. Be there. I don't wanna have to hunt ya 
down."
	"Yes, of course." The transports rolled into town and dropped them 
off.
	"I don't know if we'll be all set up by the time you come back. You 
might have to sleep in a tent."
	"No...." Samantha groaned.
	Tobias looked at her. "What's wrong?"
	"The rainy season's supposed to start tomorrow."
	"Oh. I can see how that's gonna be a problem. Oh well, we'll cross 
that bridge when we come to it, right?" Samantha nodded. "Now, let's go see 
what this place has to offer."