●　● Akkadia One, Eden Space Territories

Al’s new office space at Hexa’s main office building was far removed from his at-home office concerning the level of organization. There were no decorations or photos hung on the walls left barren, and the desk surface was mostly open, save for a few cleanly stacked folders as evidence he had never departed from his traditional ways of using physical media. As he placed a clipboard in his lap, he scooted his chair up to the multiple monitor setup nearest to him, pen in hand.

From the main monitor display, several feeds were showing various surveillance points across Earth. One was from an orbital drop/reception station, one was from Singapore, and one was from Cuba, and every region had one of their directing officers representing and showing in a small window in the corner of the screen. Vincent Vrey was on the final screen at the bottom. “Very well,” Al started, “please confirm the scheduled ammunition drop over RZ-3B,” he requested in a stern tone.

“We just dropped the last L-Tracker set and will follow up with rifle and launcher round cases twice, once at 15 hours local time for the boys on the ground, and one more set twelve hours from then,” the officer on the orbital drop/reception station answered.

“And the enlistment report?” Al added.

“Four twelve-twelve packages are signed up and will be sent out five AM Sunday morning. Expecting our boys to hold the fort until then, and they should be able to, based on all data provided over the past few days,” the Singapore officer responded. “That puts the Usme District receiving the first two and the Teusaquillo District for the other half. Each and every applicant has already been thoroughly debriefed and will be awaiting final prep sequences.”

The Cuba officer then added in: “We are done gathering pilots and mechanics for our next of two six-eighteen packages but will take some time getting our materials together. We are scheduled for shipping out Tuesday four AM local time and will be dropping behind La Candelaria for the Santa Fe delivery.”

Vincent could be seen with a relieved look on his face. “I think our recovery will go quite well. I see the grand error on my part having ever sent the forces unprepared and without necessary numbers.”

“It’s not OK to say so just yet,” Al replied with no change in his sternness. “We need to see how that ‘Colombian Dozen’ does. As you know, they were the ones who stopped that full-on A-7 assault with no proper training.” He then looked back to the top of the screen. “Reception, make sure you keep updates on the communication with pickup team Alpha from Sao Paolo. I see their dispatch notification so they will be waiting at the border for changing hands.”

“Will do, sir,” the officer replied.

“Mr. Knight, are you still not planning to speak with your daughter?”

“She has a name,” Al replied, now with an irritated voice. “And no, she said she intends to come home and that’s exactly what I am making sure goes through and I have zero intentions of not seeing this all the way to the end. We will use the Axiom live test results for someone else afterwards; do as you please with it.”

“But you saw how smoothly she guided the local LTAC pilots via L-Tracker and she never even had any prior experience with direct hands-on sensor interpretations.”

Yep, there it is. There you go with wanting to make Sam your next Lance, Al reacted internally as his impatience grew, pausing for a moment to collect a response. “Don’t even start, Vrey. You almost got her killed. She is coming home, and that’s it. And now, if you don’t mind, I need to finish getting these updates together.” He then reset his mood, looked back up at the monitor and continued. “Encryption changes and security reports… Get these all reset after every communication sent. With each breach, notify not only me and the Galeano rep, but the Axiom comm link as well. I need her to have an eye on everything just as much. Any slightest clue where the constant breaches and hacking attempts are coming from you let me know that instant.”

“On that, sir,” the Singapore officer spoke up. “We have confirmed the largest frequency of breaches originating from a certain location I will send you. This update came as of a minute ago. Check these coordinates.”

Al then looked up to another display where he opened the satellite imagery of the Bogota area, seeing red dots appear over clusters in the mountains surrounding La Candelaria and on the opposite side near Bosa. “They don’t even operate in the city. That means it’s not the opposing mobster family the Galeano’s keep mentioning. Definitely foreign activity, which they hinted at. This means they’ve long responded to our incoming numbers.” He then looked back to the main monitor and continued: “Send update orders 1B to the lead Ap50 pilot and a backup to the Axiom. We will let them prepare as they see best fit.”

“Should we re-emphasize putting the pilot Renzo Navarre in charge of maneuvers, sir?”

“Correct. Keep the adjustments in the hands of the most knowledgeable.”

Vincent let out a troubled sigh amidst the conversation as he kept his mic on mute. “I trust your judgment, Knight, yet at the same time I hope you realize you are ending us as a corporation if this falls through, trusting the locals too much all just to get your daughter home, who I still think we really need to continue utilizing if our drops are to remain successful.”

●　● Bogota, Colombia

Sam seated herself into the Axiom’s cramped cockpit which had even less room to move compared to her Ai20 from the other day. The padding was thicker and unlike the Ai20, the arm and leg cutouts had individual restraints for each limb and moved independently from the seat itself, allowing more impact absorption and control-range freedom. The helmet dropped down from above as she strapped it on, lowering the thin visor as her camera and diagnostics loaded up across her field of vision. She could now see the open door to the pod as she stood her unit upright, taking easy steps down and off of the unloading ramp. She could hear the impact of moving LTAC feet behind her as she continued her pace towards the rally point indicated in front of her. “Renzo Navarre. Don’t forget your appointed position as squad lead. For now, I am only doing what I got assigned to do as we run our adjustment trials.”

[I got you!] he responded over her in-cabin communicator. [All we need to do is make it to the lake like last time. But unlike your boys I am not letting us walk behind no damn cops.]

Dani saw the last remaining Ap50 move out before she followed suit, unaware of the growing grin on her face. [Feels good to be back! What say you guys!?]

Sebastian let out a sigh before cutting into the loud ruckus that ensued. [Cut the bullshit! This is what caused the last disaster!] He then looked behind him, seeing the crowd of a dozen LTACs gathered up at the rally point alongside the three anti-air equipped armored carriers. [This will be a quicker shot to La Vaca than it was to Timiza. Let’s not blow it!]

[Chill, Bas,] Renzo scoffed, looking at the map that was updated with the most recent security breach attempts. Many were happening just to their east, which was the opposite side from their westbound vector. [That abandoned abasto warehouse complex at La Vaca was cleaned and will remain clean. Making a direct jump once we get our final go call.] He then switched the map screen to show the explosives detection notifications. [Sweepers, give us the signal.] He then panned his camera upward, looking at the sky as if searching for something.

Sam heard a chiming sound notifying her the confirmed connection with “Eye in the Sky”. Orbital sweepers… to think what we could have avoided the other day if we had such clearance like we do now. She accepted the connection and then linked it with the Galeano command compound. “Sweeper connected to my main link, all satellite systems running. Looks like we are good to go! All catalyzers warmed up? Boosters pre-charged?” she spoke as the armored carriers left the stadium well ahead of the group.

[Let’s go, then!] Renzo shouted as the dozen plus one rocketed out of the stadium, headed for the other end of Kennedy, leaving not a trace of visible gas behind as their burners emitted clean, properly catalyzed exhaust.

Ah, now I remember what my brother used to say, Sam thought as she dug for useful things to say as somewhat of a leader. “Keep close to each other, and stay sharp for wanderers,” Sam added, watching her radiator temperature and boost capacity monitors.

Wait, I’ve heard that line before recently… who was it from? Renzo reacted to her the remark with a raise of his brow as he too watched the view below, starting his controlled descent towards a large, multiple building complex near a lake. Getting some serious de ja vu here.

Each of the thirteen Hexa-marked LTACs touched down on empty pavement, each turning towards the outside of their perimeter, weapons still inactive. Renzo checked his map once more before shouting out: [Area still clear, load up simulation set A.] He then thumbed over to a load data folder and continued speaking: [I would say let’s thank Vera for lending us a few early perimeter checks, but in the end, they will thank us for the data we are about to provide. They are supposed to be next in line to get these same frame outfits.] He finished the load sequence and saw the Axiom walk up front.

Sam took in a deep breath, feeling less and less grappled with tension and more at ease as if she was back at her training days on Jazira Station. Memories of what were many times told to her were flooding in with each breath she continued to take. “Alright! Review!” she barked as she looked back at the dozen. “Biggest difference between these and the Bernaud-based Gamma frames you ran… heavier armor, longer boost recharge times. But that doesn’t mean slower. Use short but full-strength boosts when engaging directly with any enemy LTACs. Always focus on getting in the first shot. Your armor will absorb whatever they pull off at a bad angle, and if they were using heavies, they didn’t nor couldn’t have time to shoot first. Drill that in your head. You have to shoot first. All or nothing with how these frames are built and the power of these hybridized rifle rounds. This is what this simulation set A is for.”

[What about B? I see it here, is that next?] Renzo asked.

“B is for when you can’t. That’s for cover fire and retreat. Will get to that after this.” She then looked back at the rows of abandoned warehouses and rolled up to one before signaling their start. “Spread out two each row as marked. Triggers are set to fire simulated digital rounds. Single fire only; exercise your trigger pull. In real life, these hybridized rounds will tear through concrete like nothing. Must learn to keep collateral to a minimum.”

[That’s a bold expectation to set,] Sebastian commented flatly as he rolled off down his set path. “These guys, they hold our people and the buildings as… hostages. What do we do with these guns that would tear up things so easily?”

Sam wasn’t fazed by the rebuttal. “You hit the damned target when you pull the trigger. That’s what we are practicing right now. First shot accuracy, aiming for the lower frame. Nothing else!” She stepped back and watched the simulation overhead from her switched out map view while changing her comms to keep open the line with the Eye in the Sky channel. “Sweeper, what’s the hit count on security breaches over the past minute?”

A female tech’s voice came through with some interference: “You have increased activity to your immediate north by about point five kay em. Thirty seconds and counting to a possible source. Stand by.”

Sam continued to watch the turning-in and firing practice, seeing some engagements going fairly well, and in some cases, going flawlessly.

From a building-top in the bordering district of Fontibón, Revenant held up his viewfinder, using the balcony from where he stood to keep a steady hold. The wind was blowing steadily but was deafened out by distant noise behind them. Smoke was rising from near a government office building where crowds were clashing, allowing the two to keep a minimal profile. He continued holding zoom, keeping the magnification up enough to get a clearer view of the warehouse complex where Sam’s group was training. A yellow label kept fading in and out from is superimposed position on the Axiom. “Req', cut it. No good at this rate… their encryption has been changing wildly since they brought in a Sweeper satellite.”

“Damn, no juicy news this time?” Requiem, who was sitting behind him by communications equipment, asked as he flipped three switches. “Jammers up full. If we can’t hear them, no one will.”

“We will just have to catch up with Reap the hard way, eh?” The two then started packing their equipment. “I hate to leave all that jamming equipment behind in the mountains, but oh well. Let’s roll while the noise is still turned up over there. Should’ve stuck to these back-end towns sooner.”

“Hey,” Revenant said as he shouldered one of the bags. “Not like we are admitting any defeat here. We are just letting that Galeano bunch do their own damn thing. Seems like they’re not worried about their Fontibón compadres over behind us getting their asses handed to ‘em…?”

“Yeah, you know, I still don’t get the politics here. Forget it,” he said as he grabbed one end of the larger case.” “Let’s go catch back up with Reap’ and Cable.”

“Vamos… a Medellín!” Requiem spoke in his best but yet awkward attempt at Spanish.

“You’ve been in this country too damn long.”

“Nah, man, everyone in the NAU has to take eight years of it.”

Revenant rolled his eyes as they walked their cargo up to the heli pad where they could now hear the approaching helicopter. “Yeah yeah. I’d rather hear that lame old Boston accent of yours than that.”

Sam flicked the channel switch button back and forth several times but drew blanks on the updated data logging from Eye in the Sky. “Damn it, jammers must be up somewhere. I lost everything.” She shrugged it off, attempting to stay calm. “No time to worry. Keep up the practice!” She then looked back at her main map. “Alright! Rotate next set! Spare your recharge coils!”

[Hey, Cruella,] Renzo called out from his backed-off position as he had rotated out. [What happened to that satellite station they brought over us? Did they drop us?]

[Old-school jamming, bro,] another male voice spoke back. [This is that shit they used all last war, remember? Nothing in, nothing out, unless its military grade.]

“Enough! Let them work around it!” Sam barked back. “Until then, rest your recharge coils. Get ready for simulation set B in five!” She then found an empty alley and pre-warmed her boosters. “Renzo, up front! You call this next one!”

[Wait,] he responded with a following of a few seconds of silence. He sensed something wrong after realizing the jammers being up meant more than their loss of communication. [This isn’t good. If they are jamming us with old Confederate equipment, that means not even our people are getting any kind of reception!] He then opened up a channel with the main compound. [HQ, any connection?] he shouted to no avail.

Sam wasn’t able to comprehend their level of concern. “Can you explain the hold up? I mean… how did you all survive the previous war with those up!?”

“Samantha, you don’t know much about history, huh,” Sebastian intervened. “When the Confederacy was taken down, every country went back to the old technology they had before the war since we don’t need local jamming cancel technology. That jam cancel tech, it’s gone. Without it, no one even gets TV anymore. No mobile calls. Nothing. This is about to be hell.”

It finally hit Sam what had everyone froze up. “You got to be shitting me. They are going to these lengths… for real!?” She then flipped her map back to flip through each data stream to find every channel except her squad’s local data stream was empty. “We’ve been cut off from everyone outside of LOS (line of sight by laser transmission) comms.”

[Calling for a retreat back to our compound! We are nothing but dead meat attracting vultures just sitting here!] Renzo shouted, shaking his head. [Weapons live! We will sort this out once we ensure our own safety first.]

“But wait! We can’t just move out like-”

“-Samantha, quiet!” Sebastian spoke up as he armed his live munitions. “He knows more than you will ever know about how to move in this city. We move back now!”

“Then hold on one second, dammit!” she angrily shouted back. “You can’t just move out like that! I remember protocol in these cases that you wouldn’t! Everyone, you can find the switch from-” she was cut off by the sudden departure of all but one LTAC, all following Renzo on their leap out of the complex back towards Eastern Kennedy. “What the actual fuck is wrong with everyone here?!” she continued in frustration, refusing to follow. She then noticed the lone remaining Ap50 looking back at her. “…What?!”

“Are you not coming? We are much bigger targets, now, and I won’t have room for you in this cabin like last time, you know,” Sebastian asked in a much calmer voice in comparison.

“Dammit, Sebastian, I was trying to say our frames are all LACOM data and LADAR tracking equipped… I mean, it’s all laser technology. We never thought we would need it with the war long gone, but one of our biggest donors insisted on it. If we use it, we can resume connection with Sweeper. Look,” she said, looking to the sky. “It’s a clear sunny day. LACOM data has great streaming conditions.” She switched her system transmission and reception settings from all-band to LACOM and stood by quietly for a moment, leaving Sebastian in uneasy silence. Sam then jumped at the sound of various update notifications, all beeping in at once. “There! See?!” she said with a hint of excitement before her eyes were widened by a sight that swept panic across her face. “Oh, shit!”

“What?!” he screamed back, joining her in panic.

“Sweeper was trying to show us we got multiple incoming NOx trails surrounding the compound! As many as twenty!”

“We must go! Now!” he persisted.

“Activate all your LACOM systems! Use voice activation if you have to!” She then turned to the East along side him, activating her live rounds before jump-boosting off. “Sebastian, we need to get the rest of the team to get their LACOM up, too!”

“Well?! What do we say to turn it on!?” he fussed back. “You know we don’t have this technology normally!”

“…’LACOM system on’.”