“I’m sorry, you know I wouldn’t be staying late unless I absolutely had to....I don’t know what happened to your friend’s husband? I’m not responsible for anyone disappearing, we all know he was never loyal to her. He’s probably down in another caste quarters with his new girlfriend. She’s just trying to start problems between us, I’ll have her dealt with....Listen, I have to go. I’ll be home soon.” Morr pressed a button on his desk to silence the call to his wife before letting out a deep sigh. He knew it would be impossible to keep all the information from her but it was getting more complicated keeping her on his side. He wondered if it was even worth the trouble, after all, using the Bastion to its full potential was his destiny and nothing could get in his way, even the woman he loved.

“Come!” Morr yelled at the door to his office.

Samples stepped in Morr’s office and carefully scanned his new surroundings for a brief moment before moving to sit at Morr’s desk. Morr noticed that he hadn’t done that before and wondered if Samples was worried he was next on the chopping block. He was right to be concerned but Morr assumed he was overthinking the situation as Samples surely trusted him.

“Only one we still can’t find is Greggory, we have his family under surveillance so once he contacts them we’ll have him.” Samples reported as he settled in the aging leather chair at Morr’s desk. While the Bastion was cutting edge hundreds of years ago, some of the more mundane items were showing their age. The Director’s office more than most as there were no replacement desks like the heavy stained oak one he sat behind or the matching bookshelves around the room that held mostly books on history. Morr had flipped through a few pages when he first inherited the office but found them lacking as he was concerned with the future, the past was irrelevant.

“He’s no threat anyway.” Morr replied, leaning back and blinking heavily to moisten his eyes which were dry from staying up late too many nights.

“I wouldn’t write him off yet, he has some pull with the lower castes. I’ve held off on terminating the Venators until we know we won’t need them. If Greggory made it to a satellite outpost he could become a real threat.”

Samples wasn’t aware of Morr’s true intention, how could he? No one knew the truth except Morr and the lab personnel for the Gray. Everyone who knew the truth was acutely aware of how dangerous that knowledge was to the unwashed masses of the Bastion. Greggory would never be a threat but the Venators were a different story. Samples underestimated them since he didn’t know the truth behind the first purge.

“Fine, we can keep them in the Kennels. What of Pale Horse though.”

“Our satellites weren’t able to see through the storms during the attack on Burbank so tracking them was impossible. We do have an idea of the mountain range they’re in though. I’ve already had drones doing flyovers but we’re getting interference.” Samples shook his head at the last part, visibly confused.

“From electrical storms?” Morr questioned.

“No, well, similar but different. The readings are the same for every drone so if it’s a storm, it’s one that’s oddly consistent.”

“You think it’s a jammer?” Samples furrowed his brow and scoffed at the idea that they could have such technology.

“I doubt it but I’d like to investigate further. Something is off and that’s the area I’d be if I were them.”

“As you see fit, we can’t afford Pale Horse trying something on an outpost. They’d tear through your BDF if given the chance.”

“All nearby outposts have doubled garrisons and the number of drones out should spot anything before they get close.”

“Take no chances. Once they’re dealt with we can rest easy in our future.” Samples nodded in agreement with Morr.

The Peak was slow to start moving the morning after the party as most of the occupants were hungover. The morale boost was apparent though, as least as far the Venator Militia relationship was concerned and not just with Rachel and Rook. Moses ended up drinking and getting in a fight with Rose that drew the entire party in to watch the two superhumans dish it out in a very barbaric and unprofessional fight. Moses ended up besting his larger opponent through sheer skill which made more than a few Militia soldiers lose a bet to Mouse who already knew how Moses fought. That and he’d seen the two spar thousands of times so it wasn’t hard to predict who would win, again.

Baron was a different story, he left the party shortly after it began and followed Rook and Rachel. The two were more serious than he expected but yet not as far along as Moses had insinuated. Baron wasn’t sure what to do with this information and he still needed to sit down with Rachel and talk to her about the past. He just didn’t know what to say or how to start it, this whole situation was so foreign to him. Relationships and negotiating weren’t traditional Ventor problems.

“Baron!” the sound of his name broke him from his trance-like state as he stared blankly at the path going down the Peak. Baron had already walked the path twice this morning, making mental notes of weak points that would need reinforcing. His sleeping habits were getting worse and the only thing that comforted him was preparing for the inevitable.

“What were you doing?” Rachel made short gasps as she trodded through the snow towards Baron who greeted her with a nod before turning back to look down the path.

“Thinking.” He replied.

“About”

“The attack.”

“Care to elaborate or should I go talk to that tree over there instead?” Rachel smiled up at the suit that towered over her. She had been meaning to talk to him about everything but things were moving so fast.

“You know our chances are limited.” Baron soberingly gave as a reply.

Rachel looked down at her ragged second-hand boots and shrugged.

“As if anything was new, you guys aren’t the only ones who have had a rough time.” Rachel was tired of talking about how bad the situation was. She grew up here at the Peak where peace was a foreign concept and while she didn’t go on many expeditions, she understood the risk everyone was in. From Gray attacks to Bandits and the Bastion, today was the same mass panic as every other day. She wanted to talk about the past, she needed to know what happened between Baron and her Mother. Freeman had told her Baron was most likely her father but she wanted to know from Baron himself. Too many rumors and stories were going around the Peak about her and Baron. Last night while she was helping get things organized for the party a Sergeant asked if she had special abilities like the Venators since one of them was her father. She laughed at him and played it off like none of that was true but part of her wondered.

“What happened between my mom and you?” Rachel questioned as she looked back at Baron who was caught off guard. Baron shifted visibly uncomfortable, the heavy suit groaned with his movement as if speaking for him.

“She was one of the scientists that worked on us, the Venators.” Baron sighed as he expected to get another headache from the cybernetics in his skull trying to interfere with memories.

“She was the only one who looked at us like we were human rather than machines. I can’t say how we meet, just that I did everything I could to see her.”

“Why didn’t you leave the Bastion with her and come here?” Rachel sounded curious but Baron noted a bit of aggression in her voice, likely she blamed him for her mother’s death.

“It wasn’t that simple. We got separated and I don’t remember what happened to her or why I didn’t make it.” Baron turned to Rachel and put a hand on her shoulder. She jumped as the unexpected gesture startled her, she wasn’t afraid of Baron, at least not anymore but was still uncomfortable around the intimidating figure. While Rook had been quick to warm up around her and was the kindest most naive person she’d ever met, Baron was different.

“I would have given anything to come with her, to see you.” Baron’s voice was hoarse and raspy, she could tell this wasn’t easy for him.

“I know, Freeman told me that you were probably my father.” Rachel tried to keep her voice clear but to no avail, she was having just as hard of a time as Baron.

“I’m sorry for everything I’ve done.” Baron forced the words out through his throat that was thick with emotion and pulled his hand back from Rachels’s shoulder. As he did, Rachel turned and wrapped her arms around his torso, her small body not able to reach completely around the armored chest. Baron didn’t know what to do, he wanted to turn the helmet speaker off and be alone in his suit but didn’t want to leave her...not again. He carefully wrapped his arms around her and took a deep breath, trying to stifle his emotions.

Several moments passed as they both lost track of time. Unspoken words were exchanged as they both shared each other’s grief for a woman they barely knew but cared for immensely. After the knot in Baron’s throat started to subside he looked down at Rachel and smiled. It was hard to believe that after taking so much life, he was able to create it.

“What happe*” Rachel looked up at Baron as her words were cut off by a thunderous roar down the mountain that shattered the emotional peace they had found. They darted for the edge of a nearby cliff and peered over to see a fireball engulfing an outcropping of trees. Baron spotted something far in the distance that was moving fast and zoomed in with his visor.

“Drones...”