●　● Singapore SRC/CCC

[Two Days Later]

Amongst other manmade islands scattered amongst the Singapore Strait was one that had been vacated by the former International Confederate Military. A large part of the complex had been utilized for pilot training, and Hexa found it prime real estate for its pilot training and recruiting while also having room to operate a command center. It was expensive, but the national military elected to receive a premium for renting it out rather than spend to keep it maintained and never used.

Walking down one of its main corridors just past main security check-in was Danielle, wearing a different director’s jacket from before. A violet color accented design stood out from the whites, grays, and blacks of everyone else around her. On her tag was “D. Norris” with “LRD Director” underneath. She had a relaxed pace to her walk as she approached a waiting room to her right, seeing an officer standing by the doorway. “I take it they’ve been waiting patiently?”

“Yes, ma’am, although they are still confused. As am I, to be honest, but go ahead.”

“Actually,” she said with a pause in her tracks as she checked her watch. “I need to make sure my other kids aren’t getting held up.”

▽　▽　▽

Sam leaned back in her chair, uneasy and uncomfortable. The room was on the sterile side, only six chairs to a round table and nothing else but bare walls and a projection device. Sebastian was busy digging through Southeast Asia news sites, not paying much attention to Sam.

“Hey,” he said as he kept swiping through the holographic card viewers, “I found a site that is making a hero of someone. This could be the guy.”

“How?” Sam said without looking over. “We just got here, guy, you need to lay off the news. We can’t even figure out what we are doing- we’ve been stuck in this room for more than an hour now!”

“But look!” he said insistently, rotating his mobile on the table towards her. “This is a Bangladesh local journal. Says some hidden hero stuff. Saving the city from Infinity invaders.” He then swiped over to the next, seeing he had her attention. “This? Says Infinity lost an entire base a few days ago.”

“Shit,” she said with a look of shock, taking a closer look. “I heard before that Dhaka and Manila were having a rough time, but… wow. They even kept this hush-hush from us as well”

The two of them jumped at the sound of the door suddenly opening to see Danielle walk in. “Rough time doesn’t even start to explain it,” she continued for them as she approached the now standing couple. “Sorry for startling you. Danielle Norris, LTAC Response Division Director.” She then looked to Sam as she extended her hand. “I could tell you would share some similarities with your father, but those must be your mother’s eyes, Samantha.”

Sam was turned off by how casually Danielle seemed to be approaching the meeting, but firmly shook hands anyway. “Yes, ma’am. I take it you were the one we were told to wait for?”

“Exactly,” she said as she now extended her hand to Sebastian. “And the brother in-tact. Nice to meet you, too, Sebastian.”

“Why do you know us so well?” Sebastian asked as he too shook hands.

“My job, of course.” Danielle then motioned them to sit as she found herself a seat at the opposite end of the table. “We have had absolutely zero time to do things by the book getting you two processed, and I mean zero.” She then pulled up pictures of a destroyed Hexa holding center, the one she had to escape from in Dhaka. “This is why I am in such a hurry to get things back on track. We had many pilots and their armor shelled up here in Dhaka. All gone. Pre-emptive strike from their underground.” She then looked to Sebastian. “The one you just found in their news. That’s what has us so busy and no time to be nice with our preparations.”

“So, how does this involve us? I read we have two weeks for training,” Sam asked as she studied the aftermath.

“You do. This is what we are training to do. To prevent this from ever happening again.”

Something didn’t sit well with Sebastian, even though he withheld from comments about what he thought might be connections to the cloaked LTACs. “But why us two? You must have more men.”

Danielle held a response as she continued to slide over to a separate photo showing surveillance camera frames during the attack. She zoomed in on one of the older Av-25 LTAC units that was the first one to make a run for a better shooting angle. She put up the next frame, showing its legs sliced out from under it but with no directly engaging LTAC nearby. The next frames showed it being struck by a grenade round before the pilot could escape. She noted the level of attention spiking from the two, pausing the frame showing there. “I take it you know not only the kind of weapon used just now, but you also know those specific grenade rounds being used. Nothing like Hexa-made ones, right?”

“That’s the cape… that’s the cape doing that,” Sebastian couldn’t help but think aloud.

As Danielle was notified, she confirmed his prior knowledge. “Cape? You mean the Cloak? So you do know of it.”

“You see it only in real life, only with your own human eyes,” Sebastian continued as he looked back to her. “How did you see the cape if you were not looking at it the same?”

“My survivor did,” she curtly replied. “Others got their word in, too, but they all said the same. A cape wearing LTAC, or as we call it, ‘Cloak’.” She then looked to Sam who was still trying to make sense of everything. “Samantha, don’t you also have some info on this already as well?”

But Sam had already gotten what she needed to see as her hopes were that their trip wouldn’t ultimately be in vain, brining both relief and anxiousness at the same time. “I only saw what he saw. It was his brother, Renzo, who was the source of confirmed visuals. But after looking at his black box feed, we did see as a bullet struck the cloak, the stealth effect faded for an instant.” She then looked back at Danielle as well, sitting back in her chair. “Actually, this is all 100% why we both decided not to ditch. I assume my Dad must be… expediting things? All of this timing seems a bit too convenient.”

Danielle laughed under her breath as she stepped away from the projector screens. “He of course would tell me he’s too busy to call you; he was just with me the other day in Kolkata. He didn’t mention at first that he’d be dragging his own daughter into the worst of the fray, but something says it wasn’t his decision. He’s out to set a path to make sure you get the best prep, though.” She then cleared her throat, tapping her watch. “They’re almost here. Anyway,” she continued, swiping towards a new set of screens. One showed the Axiom’s technical layout. “This is a different but equally important reason as to why we think you’re called in. You are only one of four left with fully functioning Axiom units. Field testing gets another go before Vrey’s dogs go running wild… and that’s nothing I want anyone to see.”

“So then that means the rest of the Axiom pilots are really going to get put together into one mission? That makes no sense.”

“You need experience enough to tell you when to keep your mouth closed and listen, kid,” she retorted as she watched Sam’s expression sour. “Don’t look at me like that. Focus your energy on listening to understand, not listening to respond. Don’t you remember that from school? We are both from the same Naval Prep, believe it or not.” She then pointed to a roster of four spread over four groups. “We are the only ones with experience in some form or fashion, limited as it may be.”

Sam held her tongue this time, not wanting to hear another reprimand. Her eyes instead looked back at the roster sets Danielle pulled up, showing two names next to hers and Sebastian’s, most notably above their names. She tried mentally pronouncing the names as well, stumbling a moment before hearing the door click.

The door was carefully opened just then as her two pilots walked in, trying to move while causing as little noise as possible. Sam herself automatically noted the pilot designated jackets they wore, but was quick to take note of the female pilot’s very short, slim stature in comparison to the much taller and muscularly built but baby-faced male pilot behind her.

Danielle motioned them to take their seats next to her as the two awkwardly sat down, placing their bags at their sides. “Well, what timing. These are the two you see on the roster.” She then looked to Sam and Sebastian and pointed with her open hand: “Samantha Knight of Akkadia, and… Sebastian Navarre of Colombia.”

The other two took hint.

“Kerry Melancon. Louisiana.”

“And… I’m Andre Nguyen. Hargrove A.”

Sam was somewhat glad to hear of another space-born pilot, but was subconsciously reaffixed on Kerry’s accent and the country she had never heard of. She didn’t even catch Sebastian returning the formalities during that moment. She then noticed Kerry’s uncomfortable frown.

“So,” Danielle continued as she zoomed in on their roster, “now that we all are in the same room, we need to get to business right away.”

“You notice this girl’s been steady mugging me?” Kerry spoke discretely, side-faced to Andre.

“Uh, maybe ask her what’s up?” he quietly returned before catching Danielle’s glare.

“Ice breakers and all that warm fuzzy bullshit takes a back seat,” Danielle shot back, fully catching everyone’s attention. “We have two weeks which is two whole months too quick to teach what I have never had the task of teaching before this day. I don’t like any of this more than you.” She took a breath, shaking her head disappointedly. “I was adamant about you four not even hitting the same hallway until you get this shit in your heads even just once.” She then pulled around a separate video file that showed old Mugen Sumere MBI units the Eden Navy used to use from the past war, something Sam hadn’t seen in person since museum visits years ago. “Alright, history lesson,” she continued as she put her hands on the table, allowing the video to loop. “This formation here. Old information to me, unheard of to the regulars, never seen in video games, and definitely never even thought of for urban combat under the full influence of gravity. But this was what got us the term ‘Harbinger’ earned all those years ago. It’s so easy to just… pull triggers and try to light ‘em up… or at least that’s what most people do when bullets start flying. Everything they teach you goes out the window. But some of us changed that game. I didn’t personally come up with any of that, but my old mentor was one of them.” She then pointed to the video. “That there brings us to today. You four, unlike the other three groups, are going to not only test the Axiom package but also this formation in specific: the Flex Four, Earth edition.” She saw the lost looks but kept on going. “My mentor coined that name, but I tell you most Harbingers swore by this one formation when shit hit the fan. Saved many of our lives, helping us save theirs. So, I will give you a crash course real quick on this, start you off on what I expect for beginner trial runs, and then we will just see how fast we can progress from there. It’ll just be one huge trial and error process to see how to best adapt it to urban settings within the constraints of this bothersome gravity.”

Holy shit, Sam thought to herself, both overwhelmed and annoyed at the monologue delivered just then. Was my dad this way, too?

“Sorry, miss,” Sebastian said as he put up a hand politely. “I… I understand the main things you said, but, English isn’t my first language. And… I don’t know anything what you say about… forms- er… formations. I think this is going to be difficult.”

Andre and Kerry had minimal reactions to his admission, but Sam felt the need to get defensive yet again. “Oh, I assume you already know all about them, then?”

Sebastian cringed before Danielle thumped her fist on the table. “Damn it, Knight, hold the commentary for after!”

Sam clenched a fist and bit down, having to try harder to get a grip. She knew she was never like this before, overwhelmed and only capable of listening and absorbing what she could in any briefings that came her way. She figured that instant maybe Danielle was right that her very limited experience could not be used as an excuse to get confident.

“I understand, Navarre,” Danielle continued in a calmer voice. “You know, I actually served with a couple Casares guys first war. You speak Spanish, right? So did they. You don’t learn with English, kid, you learn with practice. You learn with diagrams. You learn with experience.”

“Thank you, Director” Sebastian humbly replied. “I will give my best effort. I want to stop that cape, err, the Cloak… maybe more than anyone in this room.”

Sam was only slightly relieved to see a more accepting reaction from the rest in the room. I’d better not see one more reaction or hear one more damned peep about Sebastian. I have no clue who these people really are but there’s no way they’ve seen what he’s seen and experienced.

Wait…

Since when did I get this defensive over someone?

▽　▽　▽

Not too far from base was the space port once owned by the same military outfit during the Confederacy. On the passenger shuttle that was waiting in line for launch, Al was seemingly comfortably seated for a man who was strapped down tighter than a stunt-car driver. He sat amongst a smaller security outfit, earpiece still in as he looked to the seat-back in front of him where the screen showed a voice call in session.

“All I am asking is for you to look and give a simple second opinion, nothing more… No, but almost. We are up after this next launch and I need to know if I need to make changes in plans for my next stop once I am back in Akkadia,” he spoke to the other side.

.

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●　● Akkadia One, Eden Territories

A man in his forties and spiked-back blonde hair mixed with streaks of gray leaned back in his living room chair. His mobile had a projection running off to his left from the coffee table with the voice session labeled “Asshole”. “Look, I know you want some kind of answer, but this shit isn’t easy to say yes or no to at a moment’s notice. Besides, I still think you’re out of your mind for involving yourself like this. Really. ‘The fuck would you expect?”

“Da-ad!?” his pre-teen daughter behind him scorned his language as he put a hand up in apology.

“You know I can’t ask Saff these things anymore,” Al spoke over the speaker. “And I get it. It’s been too long. It was a long shot asking. I originally planned on asking Gabe since that’s his forte, but… you know... not exactly easy to suddenly show up in the man’s life first time in-”

“Al, come on man,” the man said with a shake of his head. “This isn’t 2150. You’ve now got me reliving nightmares already like it was just yesterday that- no, forget it. I’ve decided you are asking the wrong guy and got me really wanting to say screw it all, OK? I don’t think I want to help anymore.”

“Strife, Please.”

“Damn it, how many times I gotta say it, Al? Don’t call me that anymore,” he spat back with a sudden darkening in his mood.

“Alright, Michel, I give. Thought I’d try for the sake of the young pilots here.”

“You’ve already used that guilt trip on me before the last war!” He was about to continue but heard a door open and close across the house. “Welp, wife’s home. That means my exit,” he said as he stood up with a stretch.

Al sighed in defeat. “Fine, at least I still give a damn.”

“Is that Al?!” Saffire’s voice rang out from behind Michel.

“No! Don’t even worry about-”

“Wait!” she shouted as she ran to the living room. “Wait, Al, don’t hang up!”

“Sorry, Saff, didn’t mean to ruin your return home from work,” Al’s voice continued despite Michel’s disgust. “I know you weren’t looking for another psychoanalysis job.”

“Is this about Sam?!” she continued with some exasperation to her voice.

“How’d you know?” Al asked as Michel too seemed surprised.

“Al, what the fuck, man?! Really, your own daughter?!” Michel blurted out, receiving glares from both Saff and their daughter.

“Yes, she’s facing off against an LTAC killer. I need more minds on things just to take a look at formation adjustments. I got Danielle with them on the ground. I just… just simply need a few more working minds to look over the flex four modifications she is working on.”

Saffire sat in Michel’s chair as she leaned forward. “Danielle... You mean Danielle Salim!?”

“Yes, Saff,” Michel answered for him. “This little son of a-… this A-hole hired her and looks like he’s trying to get one big happy Harbinger reunion going on or some… stuff.”

Al rubbed his face in frustration, knowing his time was running out. “I didn’t hire her. She volunteered for the job, damn it. She reached out and asked me for help. Like any human would want to when people’s lives are at risk and can’t do it themselves.”

“Al, is there a reason you are making this call now and not having this talk here in person?!” Saff went on, still much to Michel’s dismay. “You’re just wanting Michel or me to call up Gabe for you since you don’t have the guts and wanted to use our better relationship status to get the ball rolling and nothing more, right?”

“Well, damn, if you put things that way. You know, I swear you read minds a bit too well,” Al said with a laugh. “How’d you guess?”

“Are you really asking me that?” She said with a returned smile. “Stop by here before you have to report back to Hexa! I will call Gabe and find out if he has the time to join in.”

.

.

▽　▽　▽

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●　● Singapore SRC/CCC

Sam, Sebastian, Kerry, and Andre were walking down a hallway on the dormitory level, none of them making a sound. The air was tense as they had already gotten off on less-than-ideal footing with each other. Sam eyed her room card key for the hundredth time, seeing the number 250 match the door she was now in front of. As she pressed it to the sensor pad by the door handle, she pushed it open and gave Sebastian a sad face, watching he and Andre walk through their door across the hall as if to say “ugh, wish me luck”.

-----------------------------

“Now,” Danielle strongly spoke out to the four with a sudden turning off of the projection. “Anything beyond this would be moot point without you four being on the same page both mentally and emotionally. Therefore, your next target objective is to unpack in your new assigned dorms, go out on the town, do something together as pair and pair, then as all four together, then return to me with ten things about each other- including their quirks and non-verbal habits.”

“But…” Kerry spoke up before cutting herself off as to avoid admonishing.

“You kiddos have until 16 hundred hours to report back to me or I will change the approach in a way you will definitely live to regret. Be back by then. Now, go!”

-----------------------------

Sam’s bag hit the floor with a careless thud beside her bed as she let out a long, tired sigh. She felt the bags under her eyes, not having slept properly since her flight across the globe. They felt almost as heavy as her mood, knowing she would have to turn around and initiate the conversation she had no choice but to pursue.

“I can tell y’all don’t like Director Norris,” Kerry spoke up first to her surprise. Sam turned to see she was already sitting, bag neatly at the foot of her bed. Kerry seemed awfully casual for such a strange way of forcing their interactions.

“It’s not that I don’t… like or not like anything going on. It’s more like…”

“I know,” she replied with a continued nonchalant approach. “She can do too much sometimes, but that’s always been her. We’ve been with her since forever. No one I trust more, though.”

Something told Sam she couldn’t blow this one, feeling like she had to get along or else. “Sorry about earlier, I think I wasn’t being the politest guest. Allow me to start over properly,” she said as she approached her with her hand extended. “Samantha Knight. You can call me Sam.”

Kerry gingerly shook hands as her expression lightened up. “Kerry Melancon. Nice to meet you, I guess, Sam.”

Sam found herself chuckling at the sudden understanding of why she had stared at her earlier in the first place. “Let me explain earlier. I can’t say I’ve ever heard that kind of accent before. You said you were from Casares?”

“No, that’s Andre- he’s from Casares. I said I was from Louisiana. You sound like you’re from California.”

Odd. This follows me everywhere I go. “Maybe that’s why people I met last month kept asking if I was from the NAU. Didn’t realize anyone in Akkadia had the same thing going on. So where is Luz…”

“Louisiana. NAU. Southeast part. By the Gulf of Mexico. We’re known for having half our province permanently lost, underwater.”

“Sorry, I never took geography class seriously. Space nations and territories are all I know.”

“So, what do you do? You look like you’d be the type to do… like… UTV streaming or Waves vlogging or something."

“Me? How’d you guess?” Sam asked as she knew she had long dyed out her white accents from her hair and hadn’t worn makeup or any accessories at all since before that.

“I can tell you had Sadee Jay accents in your hair. Whoever dyed your hair did a bad job hiding it.”

Sam’s eyes lit up. “You know the style!? Holy shit- you are the first one to recognize that since I got to Earth! You follow her Waves page as well?!”

“What? Of course! Where the hell you been where they didn’t?”

“Colombia, if you’ve heard of it.”

“Ah, yeah. Northern SAU over between Ecuador and Venezuela. Surprised they don’t watch her. What’d they think of it- is that why you dyed it out?”

The memories drew a grimace. “They kept calling me Cruella.”

“Pfft!” Kerry sputtered, covering her mouth to hold a laugh in. “That’s how they took it?! What’d you say when they first said that?”

Her brow continued to crumple as strongly as the first time she heard a similar reaction from Sebastian’s crew that first day she arrived. “OK, OK, new subject! We’ve got to figure out something to do. Time’s ticking.”

Kerry settled down enough to go with the flow of the conversation. “Alright, OK. Unpacking and stuff can be later. Let’s go get your hair redone. Easy enough of a task without wasting time, am I right?”

“Sounds good to me,” Sam said with a nod, “but let me change, first. Not going in a full sweat with how hot it’s been.”