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Tron: Remembrance - Chapter 10

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     Though it had been hard at first to reconcile the sassy renegade girl with this new persona of Rezz the Revolutionary, Tron gained a new respect for her as the rotations passed.  He saw little of her–understandable, since she was in charge of a full-blown rebellion– but there were plenty of programs under her protection and leadership willing enough to sing her praises; Hex the foremost among them.  Eventually, Tron was able to piece together the full story of how the Resistance fell, was ultimately reborn, and how Rezz fit into it all.  He had been in Argon when all those events had occurred and, since Argon was in a remote location, only the propagandized version had reached him.
     ~ ~ ~ ~ ~
     The first Resistance had been led by a program named Cobol, who'd been chosen for his unquestionable integrity and tactical abilities, not necessarily for his leadership skills.  However, Cobol's greatest weakness was his aptness to trust too easily; anyone whose circuit color was not red he considered a potential ally.  To make up for what capabilities he lacked, Cobol had chosen two more programs to be his co-leaders: one to give advice on how to lead, and the other to be in charge of security.  Rezz had been given the position of head of security, on account of her incredible talent at hacking and programming, as well as her infinitely suspicious mind.
     It had been Rezz's idea and task to build the catacombs, and she'd accomplished it in a mere three full rotations.
     The Resistance had made good use of the advantage the catacombs gave them over Clu's forces.  Numerous rescue missions were sent to the Solar Sailers as they carted off prisoners to the Games, and the Clu's guards were continually frustrated by the rebels' ability to seemingly disappear without a trace.  More and more followers had flocked to join the ranks of the Resistance, and hopes had run high.
     It came as a terrible shock when, during a mission to sabotage a fleet of Clu's tankers, a team of rebels was ambushed and brutally slaughtered.  Both Rezz and the other co-leader had warned Cobol that there had to be an information leak somewhere, but Cobol refused to authorize a search on the pretense that it would cause unrest and distrust in the ranks.  Rezz's request to do a discreet disc scan of every Resistance member had also been turned down.
     For a long while, there were no other casualties and even Rezz had begun to believe it had been simply a stroke of good luck on Clu's part.  But then, in quick succession, multiple Resistance raids were foiled and all the programs involved derezzed.  Even Cobol had to admit it couldn't have been an accident this time, and authorized the disc scan.
     They had waited too long.
     While Rezz frantically searched for a traitor, the Resistance cut back severely on their number missions, as well as the number of programs authorized to know about them.  It did no good; more and more rebels were dying, while fear and distrust began to creep into the ranks, further eroding the unity that was so necessary for victory.
     Rezz did eventually find the traitor–a nobody by the name of Unix–but by then, it was too late.  Unix had sold his soul to the devil, and told Clu everything he knew about the Resistance and the secret of the catacombs.  By the time Unix had been identified as the leak, Clu's soldiers were swarming into the tunnels, killing every program they came across.
     Unix, in hopes of gaining a reward when the Resistance was finally crushed, had betrayed his fellow programs.  His only payment was a slow, painful death at the hands of a blindly enraged Rezz.
     She had refused to run and save herself, but instead remained in the tunnels to aid in the escape of as many as she could.  The few who had survived that terrible massacre had believed Rezz was dead.  It had been more than 900 cycles before any of them knew any different.
     No one knew what Rezz had been doing during those long, long cycles, and she'd never told.  But when those few original Resistance members came back to Tron City, they found her looking and acting much the same as she ever had; only her eyes were older.  They also discovered that while they had been hiding and trembling in fear, she had been busy.  Rezz had completely re-programmed the catacombs, changing the tunnel paths, closing off all the old entrances, and adding stronger firewalls to the new openings.
     In the twenty cycles leading up to the present, the new Resistance had very slowly accumulated members, having learned from the brutal lesson of the past that they could never be too cautious.  Even now, it was smaller than it had been, but many liked to believe it was a stronger, more unified force.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~
     "It seemed natural to choose Rezz as the leader of this Resistance," Hex said to Tron, walking beside him down one of the many twisting tunnels.  The white-haired program nodded to other programs who walked past.  "She was the only one of us willing to take the risks and do the work that would keep it alive, for all those hundreds of cycles."
     Tron had to admit that he admired the faith and determination that such firm dedication would require.  It was a quality that, he knew very well, could only be found in a special few.  Beck had been one of those who'd possessed such rare merit.
     "One of the many things she's insisted on doing," Hex continued, "is taking in and caring for any stray programs who chance to find their way down here.  She never talks about what happened to her after the first Resistance was destroyed, but I feel that strays played a part.  I knew her in the first days, and she often said she believed the best solution for programs who had lost their identities and their minds was to put them out of their misery.  Something happened to her that made her change her mind."
     Tron's curiosity was piqued.  He'd once had to deal with a disc-less Beck, and both of them had nearly died as a result.  "What can be done for them?"
     Hex stopped and rubbed the back of his head with his hand.  "Well, I could just tell you, or I could do better, and show you.  Come, follow me."
Ok, here's Chapter 10. I haven't been able to do a whole lot of writing lately, so posting Chapter 11 and beyond will take a while.

This chapter is my OC's backstory. I put a lot of thought into her character, and I will continue to expand on her in later chapters. There's a bit of mystery as to what she was busy doing for nearly a thousand cycles, and how strays tie into her past.
© 2013 - 2024 UshasDragon
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MangaArtFan's avatar
Well... I suppose Rezz is alright. Hex is a cute character. :iconneutralplz: