Nebuchadnezzar Crew

"I dreamed a dream...but now that dream is gone from me."

- Morpheus "This is my ship...the Nebuchadnezzar, it's a hovercraft."

- Morpheus The Crew of the Nebuchadnezzar was a group of resistance fighters attempting to free humanity from the tyrannical control of the Matrix, a sentient computer program. Their leader, Morpheus, believes that the crews newest member, Neo, is the One, a person supposedly destined to end the war between the Matrix and Humanity. However, on a mission inside the Matrix, the Team is betrayed by a member of the group, Cypher, who pulls most of the groups life support and allows Morpheus to be captured by Agents, the enforcers of the Matrix, before being killed by the Crew's operator, Link. Neo and Trinity, the only survivors, launch a rescue mission to save Morpheus and nearly succeed in escaping if not for the intervention of Smith, the head agent, who seemingly kills Neo, only for him to resurrect himself and kill Smith for good, proving that he is the One.

Battle vs. The Fraternity (by BeastMan14)
Another day, another cruddy meal on the Nebuchadnezzar. Mouse chuckles,"Y'know what I think? I think being in the Matrix messed with our taste buds. I mean, this sludge tastes like sludge, but what if it tastes like chicken in reality?" He looks at Neo, who simply shrugs ambiguously. Apoc rolls his eyes,"Mouse, its wheat bran. Quit philosophizing and eat. And stop bugging the new guy. Last thing he wants today is you hassling him." Switch simply looks at Mouse and shakes her head. Trinity pokes her head out through the doorframe, "Morpheus needs you in the training room. Time to cut this meal short." and is met with the the collective groans of everyone except Neo. Meanwhile, in the shadows, Cypher walks behind the group, his gaze shifty as he plans his trap.

Meanwhile at The Fraternity base...

The Butcher wipes his hands on his cooking robes as he walks into the meeting room. Wesley and Fox were close behind him as Frost stood their patiently, holding what must be another message from the Loom. "Frost, is it Cross?" Wesley asks, a look of hope in his eyes. "Unfortunately Wesley, it is not." Frost says calmly, crushing the poor boys hopes. "It is a group of people who are known as "The Underground". They believe themselves capable of freeing humanity from its bounds under its overlords." He walked into the center of the room as the last of the groups members arrived. "They terrorists, to say it bluntly." Fox replies,"But in a way, so are we." Frost chuckles,"True, Fox. But we operate for the greater good, while they seek anarchy. It is a service to put them down." Frost clears his throat,"However, the Loom has told me that it will require...all of you." Silence clears the room as the Assassins begin to wonder just how powerful their target was.

On the Nebuchadnezzar....

The team enters the room to find Morpheus standing by the computers, arms crossed, with Link typing away at the keyboard. "I suppose you are wondering why you have been called here." He says. "It is because we have been put on a hit list by a Fraternity of Assassins in the Matrix." The crew sits and stares in stunned silence, before Neo asks,"How? We don't really exist there anymore, and the odds that the assassins find us are slim." Morpheus nods,"I figured you might be concerned by that, and thus, I feel the need to warn you that these assassins were sent by something called the Loom of Fate, an loom that is deciphered to give them their orders. What they don't know is that its just the Matrix eliminating possible threats." Mouse chuckles,"So much for fate." followed by Switch smacking him across the back of the head. "S what do we do?" Neo asks. "You will draw these assassins away from their base as a distraction, while I move in and destroy this "Loom of Fate"." As the crew members begin to plug themselves in, Link begins the process and says,"Take care of yourselves team. Hate to get blood on my floor." "Will do, Link. Will do." Apoc responds before fading into the Matrix.

Abandoned Car Manufacturer, Chicago....

The Fraternity, armed to the teeth with their best weapons, moves up to the fence guarding the building. It's locked. "It's okay, guys. I've got this." Wesley said right before he drove his foot into the lock attempting to break it and letting out a ringing crack as searing pain went up his foot. "Gah! Son of a b*tch!" Wesley yells. The Butcher shakes his head, pulls out a knife, and then slams it into the lock, breaking it. "I could have done that." Wesley said. Earl chuckles.

The Crew appears inside the Warehouse. As Morpheus leaves command with Trinity and leaves to begin his mission, Neo staggers for a second, but gets a hold of himself just as Apoc tosses him a Zastafa. "Think fast." Apoc says the gun fumbles in Neo's hands for a second. "Alright, we split up into twos. Mouse, Switch, you guard the door. Apoc, Cypher, you make sure the east hallway is secure. Me and Neo are going to secure the west hallway." Trinity says as the group splits up.

Fraternity: x7

Nebuchadnezzar Crew: x7

Mouse and Switch run up to the entrance to the warehouse. Switch holding a Zastafa, while Mouse has a Cobray in one hand and a large suitcase in the other. "Mouse," Switch says in an almost bored tone, "Whats in the case?" Mouse grins, "Lets just say I got a little surprise in store for these guys." He chuckles and sets the case near two large crates that have been tipped over of use of cover.

Meanwhile, outside of the building...

The Fraternity has split up into groups of 2, with Wesley and Fox going through the west entrance, Earl and The Repairman going through the east entrance, while The Butcher and The Exterminator stand in the front entrance, the Exterminator holding two cages worth of squeaking bombs. "Lets do this." The Exterminator says as the now free rats scurry through a small crack in the door. The Exterminator nods and pulls out two of his knives.

"What the hell?" Mouse says as two dozen rats scurry through the door and under Switch's feet. "Are those...bombs?" Switch asks just as the rats begin to beep, answering her question. "Oh shi..." Mouse says just as the rats detonate, blowing Switch to bits and sending him flying.

Fraternity: x7

Nebuchadnezzar Crew: x6

"What the hell was that?" Neo asks. "Didn't sound good." Trinity says as the two rush back to the entrance. Meanwhile, The Exterminator and The Butcher calmly walk through the ruins of the door, stepping over what's left of Switch and dismissing Mouse's body. "This is gonna be easier than I thought." The Exterminator jokes as he draws his S&W. "Surprise, Mofos!" Mouse yells as he flips over and reveals two massive shotguns. He opens fire, riddling the two with bullets. Pulling himself up while trying not to further injure his broken leg, Mouse spits on the Exterminator and Butcher's corpses.

Neo and Trinty arrive to a scene of carnage. Bodies, wreckage and mice corpses everywhere. "What happened?" Trinity asks. "Motherf*ckers used rat bombs, blew up Switch. I took care of them." Mouse chuckles, then holds his side. "We should get back to the west hallway, they might try and get through there." Trinty walks away as Neo follows and Mouse limps behind.

The East Hallway...

Earl kicks a window open and hoists the Repairman through. "You see anything?" Earl asks. "No, nothing." The Repairman replies, "They probably ran and hid when they heard the bombs go off." "Yeah, probably." However, Apoc and Cypher hid just behind a corner a few feet away. "Ready?" Apoc asks as he cocks a Spas-12. "Damn right." Cypher says as he holds an M16. They leap out of cover, their combined fire riddling the Repairman with bullets just as Earl pulls himself through. "Damnit!" Earl shouts as he scrambles for cover behind another corner. He draws a Sawed-Off shotgun and opens fire, hitting Apoc in the leg and sending him crashing to the floor. Cypher opens fire randomly, scoring a lucky shot to the chest and slamming Earl into the wall. "Good shot Cypher. Now help me up." Apoc says as he struggles to pull himself up. "Sorry, Apoc. But I got a deal worked out with Smith." Cypher says as he throws his M16 aside and puts a Beretta to Apoc's head. "You double crossing son of a..." Apoc says before Cypher blows his brains out. As he walks away confident in his plan, Earl manages to keep himself breathing long enough to shoot him in the back.

Fraternity: x3

Nebuchadnezzar Crew: x4

Fox and Wesley move down the corridors of the building, somewhat unnerved by the lack of gunfire. Suddenly, Fox runs right into Mouse, who got lost looking for Trinity and Neo. Mouse yelps, then raises up his shotguns, but Fox and Wesley riddle him with bullets, the roar of gunfire echoing down the hall. Neo stops, and looks at Trinity. "You heard it too?" She says. He nods and they run down the hall to the sounds of the struggle. Their footsteps echo down the hallway and Fox and Wesley scramble for cover. "Wesley, calm yourself, breathe. Then pull the trigger." Fox says as Wesley fires his pistol, the bullet curving down the hallway and hitting Trinity in the stomach. She hits the ground, seemingly limp, and Neo cries out,"NO!". He crouches at her body for a second before opening fire randomly, hitting Wesley in the arm and Fox in the temple. Enraged at Fox's death, Wesley draws his knife and charges at Neo.

Fraternity: x2

Nebuchadnezzar Crew: x2

Wesley swipes furiously with the knive, its blade cutting through the cloth of Neo's coat. Neo responds with a series of kicks to the chest, head, and face, sending Wesley staggering backwards. Neo raises his hand and does a taunting wave, sending Wesley into a rage as he runs forward, a single kick by Neo removing the knife from his hand. Neo uppercuts Wesley, sending him to the floor. Wesley staggers a moment before Neo fires the last bullet from his pistol, sending it through his chest and putting him back on the floor.

As he lays there, Wesley begins to tear up. Fox, the Fraternity, all dead. He was dying and the man who killed his father was still out there somewhere with no one to bring justice to him. He had failed. Wesley closes his eyes for a final time. Neo stands over Wesley's body when he hears a woman cough. "Trinity." He says before dashing over to her and picking her up. Her phone rings, and Neo answers, "Hello?" "Neo. Was the mission a success?" Morpheus says. "Yes. But only me and Trinity are alive." Morpheus pauses. "Unfortunate. But now is not the time to mourn." Morpheus looked into the window of The Fraternity base, making sure the coast was clear before hanging up. His mission could begin now. He kicks the window open and crawls through.

Fraternity x1

Nebuchadnezzar Crew x2

Frost stood at his desk, with many an offer for his assassins on it. However, he was waiting for them to return from their mission. It almost worried him that they were taking this long. Suddenly, he heard the sound of crashing glass and he grabbed his Matchmaker and got up to investigate. He walked down the hall slowly, hoping not to be heard as a figure in a black coat with sunglasses climbed inside. Probably just a homeless man. "Excuse me." Frost said. The man whipped around and opened fire with a sub-machine gun of some sort, with Frost just barely getting out of the way.

Morpheus opened fire, with the apparent leader of the Fraternity scrambling out of the way. He returns fire, with Morpheus ducking out of the way and running from where a map of the building said the Loom was. Frost gave chase, realizing now that he was a member of the Underground. Frost burst into the room and opened fire, hitting the man twice in his black jacket. However, the man just stands there, unmoving. Frost slowly walks over to him and turns him around, revealing a coat rack. "What?" Frost says just as Morpheus bursts from the shadows and kicks Frost back. Frost tries to shoot him, but Morpheus side-steps, grabs Frost's arm and brings the gun down so that he shoots himself in the foot. Frost cried out in pain before Morpheus threw a C-4 charge onto Frost's chest and tossed him into the Loom of Fate, detonating the C-4. With an earthshaking bang, Frost and The Loom were blown to bits.

Fraternity x0

Nebuchadnezzar Crew x2

Winner: The Nebuchadnezzar Crew

Morpheus returns to the warehouse to find absolute chaos. The iron door is blown open, there are bodies everywhere, and spent shells litter the floor. He sees Neo and Trinity slouched against the wall, waiting. "Morpheus!" Neo says. "It is done." He replies as he helps Neo lift Trinity up to her feet. As they partially carry her out, Neo says,"I'm sorry about everyone. They were tougher than we expect..." Morpheus cuts him off,"It's alright. They would have died for this cause, and they did, unfortunately." They duck under the wreckage, seeing a ringing phone booth waiting for them nearby. "Trinity, you first." Trinity grabs the phone, and with a push of a button on Link's keyboard, she vanishes. "Morpheus, now you." Morpheus nods to Neo, picks up the phone, and vanishes. Before he can answer, he hears a familiar voice say,"Hello, Mr. Anderson." Neo freezes in his tracks and sees Agent Smith standing there. "I see you had yourself quite a show." Smith gestures to the wreckage. "Well, it's unfortunate I have to eliminate you as a threat after you survived those assasins." Smith says as he draws a pistol. Neo is scared for a moment, but then he grins, poses a fighting stance, and does a taunting wave.

Expert's Opinion
While the Fraternity had some impressive and unique skills, the Nebuchadnezzar Crew were far better at working as a team and had experience fighting dangerous enemies.

To see the original battle, weapons, and votes, click here.