Lewis Manetti locked the door to the room before sitting at the computer.

It was one of the Grunters’ most secret safehouses, but that didn’t mean much these days. Not with Belessar gunning for them.

The leadership of the Grunters had been proud of the Grunt Mansion, a secret base within easy range of Tanisport. It had been a veritable paradise, a place where they could relax and enjoy themselves, secure in the knowledge that no-one - not the cops, not the heroes - had a clue it existed, or the services it offered. Even regular Grunters had only known of it as a simple country ranch….

And yet, Belessar had penetrated all of their security. Had snuck in without so much as triggering an alarm, and slaughtered all of their finest fighters.

Even Dreamspeaker hadn’t been able to stop him.

Manetti had no idea how the ultrahuman had discovered so many of their secrets. Or how he’d managed to destroy so many of Grumman’s finest suits with barely a scratch on him.

Now, the Grunters were down to a mere seven suits. Eight, if Grumman himself took the field.

Sixteen suits hadn’t been enough to stop Belessar at the mansion.

He took a deep breath, and clicked on the link.

The window that opened led him to the conference call. There were two people already in the call, both with their cameras turned off. Fitting, considering that these two were the remaining leadership of the Grunters.

Gravitic and Grumman.

He took a deep breath, then began. “We investigated the cellphone.”

Gravitic’s harsh voice spoke up. “And?”

“It belongs to a sixty-year-old woman who lives on a farm nearby. She reported it stolen the next morning.”

“Could she be an associate?”

“Unlikely, sir. She’s lived near the mansion for years, and never showed any inclination to even drive that way.”

“I want her punished,” growled Gravitic.

“Punishment,” interrupted Grumman calmly, “should be reserved for when the guilty party knows they have committed a crime.” His voice was smooth, cultured. “It seems doubtful that an ultra as thorough as this Belessar would leave loose ends. Seeing as he even collected his discarded spears…..”

Gravitic was silent. Manetti felt very, very small. The two ultras had clashed before - sometimes violently - and the consequences for any witnesses had been less than pleasant.

Grumman and Gravitic might be allies in the eyes of the world, but the Grunters knew the truth. Both men tolerated each other, but nothing more.

Fortunately, Gravitic chose to let it go. “There must be some other leads to find that bastard.”

“We are trying,” Manetti replied. “Every informant, every favour we have, is being squeezed…”

“Even if we find him, we’ll have to consider the terms of the engagement,” Grumman said. “More suits are, unfortunately, not immediately available.”

“You’ve made them fast before,” rumbled Gravitic.

“Those were the rookie and soldier suits, and ‘fast’ is relative. Three weeks for a Rookie, four for a Soldier, and six for a Lieutenant - if we had access to the reactor and the heavy forges under the Mansion. Which was, after all, the original reason for setting it up. In light of the current revelations, Lagos has proved unreliable as a base of operations. I may need to look at underground labs.”

Gravitic’s voice conveyed every nuance of the scowl that was undoubtedly on his face. “We are the Grunters, not some newbie street gang. A makeshift underground lab isn’t suitable to our status.”

“Status is illusion. We need to face realities, now. Even with all seven remaining suits, I do not foresee a positive outcome to a direct engagement with Belessar.”

“He’s never fought a Commander suit.”

“Since I’ve built that suit, I can quite confidently say that one Commander suit - even backed by four Soldiers - won’t make a difference.”

“What about your suit?”

“Not practical at this time.”

“When would it be practical? When we’re all dead?”

“A more practical approach might be to look at outsourcing some part of the work.”

Gravitic rumbled, “Explain.”

“From what we’ve been able to piece together, Dreamspeaker almost had him. I suspect that, for all his skill against battlesuits, he has little experience fighting ultras - especially those who have a diverse array of skills. One of our greatest weaknesses as an organization is that our suits all essentially do the same thing - take damage and fire lasers. A more varied approach of attacks might yield better results.”

Gravitic was silent. Grumman continued, “We have some resources available to engage the services of another wronged party. Tigerstrike doesn’t appreciate being used as a cat’s paw.”

“You would pay him to do our work?”

“He has incentive of his own, but yes, I would pay him. A drop in the bucket compared to the damage already done. And there is another option.”

“What?”

“Agni.”

Manetti sucked in a breath. Agni was famous for all the wrong reasons - she usually left the cities she visited in flames. He wouldn’t want to be at ground zero if she came in.

“Why would she target Belessar?” asked Gravitic.

“She has a cause she believes in. One that she puts above all else. Play her right, and you set them up as enemies.”