“They killed him, you son of a bitch!” Isaiah heard a choked-up Revenant over the channel as he hurried for the walls of Tejgaon, back under the mask of his active cloaking. He was still vastly into rarely charted waters, being in such a rush in the way that he was, dodging past cars littering the wider streets rather than taking the emptier paths they had been accustomed to doing.

“Your perfect data didn’t account for a third fucking Harbinger! Maybe Rex does know what he’s doing after all!” he continued in his heart--wrenched rage.

“Tamaz, I get where you are going and I don’t blame you! But you need to keep your cool!” Marian came up over the channel unexpectedly, further flustering Isaiah’s already at-tipping point emotional and mental state.

What are you thinking, Marian! Stay out of this!

“Tamaz! Listen!” she continued, adamant in her almost mother-like response. “We have to close this out without losing any more of us! Whoever bloody fucked this up it’s already too far gone! Don’t do anything you will regret, please!”

But there was no third Harbinger, damn it! His carelessness was the only reason he was done in by my hapless, helpless sister! But they’d never listen at a time like this. Requiem… Elias… what the hell happened to you before all of this?!

“I’m killing that son of a bitch whoever it was!” Revenant continued without any hint of slowing down. “And as soon as-”

“-Negative! Stand down and get his body out of here!” they all heard Rex’s distorted yet easily-recognized voice roar over theirs. “Pay him those respects and pass on the cleanup responsibilities to Reaper! He caused this mess and now he will atone for his mistakes on his own!”

Isaiah could have felt insulted, but this was more along what he had preferred to do to begin with.

“Y… yes, sir,” Revenant replied with a sudden drop in energy. “Revenant requesting retrieval from the engagement zone, carrying Requiem with me. Marking pickup location at the southwest wall.”

Just stay calm. Everything will be back on track after I finish this up. Don’t feed into his games. He had now reached the far northwest wall as he jumped at an angle set to clear the barrier’s height. I don’t know who the hell helped you up to this point, but it all ends here, Samantha. He then reached the apex of his climb, backing off the thrusters and gliding towards the airfield-paralleled street.

“Reaper,” Marian’s voice continued, this time with a tone hinting she felt betrayed. “I will talk to you all when you get back. Be careful out there, and don’t go beyond the call of duty any more than you already have.”

Don’t tell me Rex has gotten to her as well. Everyone is too adjusted to being in over their heads and reaping the benefits of what I accomplish regardless of their shortsightedness. He continued his radio silence, keeping all focus on the checkpoint markers labeled ahead. These operations will all need revisiting after this is over. There is about to be a hell of a lot less democracy moving forward.

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▽　▽　▽

.

.

Sam and Sebastian had finally reached the floor where light poured in from the missing sections of the ceilings and the roof, illuminating the Ap50 that seemed to be resting on its laurels, nestled between large chunks of concrete that fell underneath it. Although Sebastian didn’t seem to be as bothered, Sam was at the end of her physical reserves, trying to keep her breath up. Aches and pains kicked in that weren’t there earlier, likely numbed by all of the harshly unsettled nerves that had just regained consciousness of the damage taken. It felt like someone kicked her square in the lower back and her right shoulder felt like it took a baseball bat to it, both throbbing in pain as it drew winces with each involuntary attempt to massage them.

“Well, damn, that’s not even that bad…” Sam huffed as she wiped the sweat from her brow. “Did you run a diagnostic on it before you got out?” she continued as she noted the two cockpit doors still open, lights running.

“What do you mean?” he responded with a scratch of his head, looking to her then back to the peacefully seated Ap50. “I just got out because I didn’t know who would come for me. That’s what always happens after crashes, right?”

“Well,” she answered with a lack of confidence as she put her hands at her hips. “I don’t know about that protocol, but you run diagnostics after you crash as well. You have to know how much damage you took and if you can still move, you know?”

“It can maybe move, but more of those ceilings will move, too, right?” he continued, pointing to the hole above them.

I swear. Just let me do my damn job here. She waved off the comeback as she approached the cockpit access ladder, painfully but slowly lifting herself up and slowly taking a seat. She paused in thought while continuing to catch her breath. It’s been a while since I did this from a real module… let’s at least do this remotely, she pondered as she caught sight of the sweaty helmet mounted above her. Yeah… remotely is good. She held her watch up and entered a series of passcodes and clearance information, bringing up a diagnostics screen that allowed her to view the Ap50’s various conditions. “Hey,” she spoke up as she scrolled through several more screens. “You only had one disconnect at the right knee, plus three nicked but automatically resealed hydraulic lines. I will get a reconnect process running and those only take a minute if you can help me clear that debris sandwiching that knee over there,” she said as she gestured towards the joint in question.

“So, you can fix it?”

“No,” she shrugged as she began initiating the wire prep sequences. “I just said these things can fix themselves just enough, but only if it’s nothing serious.” And in this case, I’m damn glad it’s minor. And with no live transmitting to the outside, having this to get us back to the rally point would be nothing short of miraculous. She then peered back outside to assess the situation with each leg unit, taking note the condition of the floor beneath each. “Yeah, I think it’s best to work slow so that I can keep this thing right where it is. The next movement we make needs to be with both of us inside, ready to fly.”

He nodded in approval after seeing the unevenness of the flooring underneath it, sagging under the Ap50’s weight. “How long will this take?”

“About ten minutes. Give or take five, and don’t forget none of these fixes are permanent,” she replied as she started punching in commands from her watch. “It’s just to get us from one point to another, which beats the hell out of nothing.”

▽　▽　▽

Kerry backed away from Danielle as she inspected her handiwork she had just completed. She crossed her bare arms, displeased at the sight of her uniform having been the only wrap-able material she had to make a make-shift cast from, and it left her with only her undershirt and under-uniform leggings. “Not quite the right angle, hold on,” she said as she inched back in closer, gently taking a hold of Danielle’s right arm that was bound across her body, pulling back some of the binding tape used to hold it in place. “Let me know if it hurts,” she continued as she made the minor angle adjustments to her shoulder, snugly refitting the taping. “Try moving a bit.”

“It’s plenty good enough,” she replied with a weak smile after a quick movement check. The pain she experienced from rotating her torso still caused painful kickback from her right side, but the locked arm movement helped with the worst of it. “And thanks for lending me your suit. You really didn’t have to.”

“Psh. You really didn’t want to go back to base smelling like Andre’s stinking ass the whole way back, did you?”

Andre held his retort, having already found enough comfort in that their spirits were holding steady as they sat waiting in mostly silence, holed up in a building where they awaited discovery by friend or foe. Which would arrive first was their only remaining concern. “Here,” he said as he held up her survival pouch and PDW. “Put these back on. No telling what’s coming for us.”

“Thanks,” she said as she slung the two items before taking pause. “Wait, what’s that supposed to mean?” she realized. “Do you hear something?”

“I feel something,” he said as he put his body back against the wall that he had been against since earlier. “It’s not big like a carrier, but it’s aerial. You think its medevac?” That does remind me, she should know best. I would think something this small would be the last thing the Underground sends us after all the hell that broke out. He then turned to Danielle to confirm. “Do you remember what our medevac shuttles sounded like?”

“Help me up,” she said to the two as Andre rushed over behind her, helping pull her up gently while Kerry assisted from the other side. “Let me get by the exit and I can tell you. How close is it?”

“Close enough to hear real soon. It’s flying real low.”

About thirty seconds passed in absolute silence before a low-pitched hum could faintly be heard, drawing a worried expression from Danielle as she turned to face them. “That’s not anything Hexa. Hide.”

Without word, the two quickly posted up behind both sides of the exit, just out of view from the outside as they disengaged their safeties on their PDWs, allowing Danielle to move back and away, retreating further inside. “It’s getting real close,” Andre whispered as he crouched down, edging his weapon just past the corner enough to get it poking outside, providing him with some vision through the top-mounted optic. He switched the metrics from IR scanning to echo-directive, a mode that would help predict from which direction approaching persons and the approximate number or size. After the humming ceased to grow in amplitude, less than a minute into the tense wait brought about a sensor reaction, indicating one on foot around the corner. Only one? His grip around the handle tightened as his trigger finger found itself in position to pull.

“Ms. Melon-kahn? Mr. En-goo-yen?” a familiar female voice rang out as the footsteps grew closer, startling both he and Kerry. “I found you on tracker from Mr. Vrey’s information he gave to me. Can you please come out? We need to get you out of here!”

Who the fuck?! Andre silently spoke to Kerry through his eyes, making a nervous hint at his unwillingness to trust what they heard.

That’s that bitch from before! Kerry shot back with her own tensed expression.

Is she here to try and off us?! Andre sent back in a similar manner.

Ooh I wish the motherfucker would!

“This is Taneesha Sur! We have your ride out of here! You need to come with me before they send more troops!”

Huh? O-oh! Andre casted from his gaped mouth and a look of realization. “Four-one-one!” he called out without hesitation.

“Nine-one-nine!” Taneesha’s voice called back, triggering a sigh of relief from the both of them as they lowered their weapons, emerging from the exit doorway.

“Who is that?!” Danielle spoke quietly but firmly through clenched teeth, flabbergasted at the sudden and unexpected drop of their guard.

The two turned to see Taneesha, surprisingly dressed down compared to the last time they saw her, alone and unarmed. A small passenger craft could be seen parked on the street not too far from her, seemingly expensive and most likely funded by the city. Andre couldn’t help but feel ashamed all of the sudden, however. “You really were with us this whole time?!”

“Andre!” Kerry fussed as she knocked his arm with the stock of her PDW.

“Right, no time to talk.” He then looked back once more to the exit they just left before turning back to Taneesha once more. “Do you have room for one more?”

.

.

Sam was watching the progress bars for the multiple repair sequences from her watch screen, seeing most of them reaching 90% or more. Sebastian was standing by the opposite end of the hallway, seemingly on watch.

“Hey y’all!” Kerry’s voice rang out over Sebastian’s earpiece and the Ap50’s speaker as the two of them jumped in fright.

“Don’t do that! Shit!” Sam spat back over the channel, heart having skipped a beat. “What happened?”

“I got all three of us on a ride back with that Sur chick we ran into yesterday. Turns out she was Hexa-hired after all. Only thing is, ain’t no space for everyone, and we have to get Ms. Norris back ASAP since she’s injured pretty bad.”

“Well, look, we are about to get Sebastian’s Ap50 mobile again. How long will a round trip take?” she asked as she quickly settled down, comforted in the thought that the long day might end on a better note already.

“Shouldn’t be long. Glad to hear you will have some gun power to hold down the fort with. So, yeah, hang tight. She will radio you back sometime soon on this channel, a’ight?”

“Perfect,” she replied with a relieved smile. “Looking at only about two minutes left on this end before we test this thing. We may not need a ride after all if this gets up and moving properly.”

.

.

Kerry closed the channel as she leaned back in her seat, looking out at what she could see from her view of the front cockpit window, watching the craft clear the Tejgaon wall they had been trapped inside for so long. A series of notification beeps went off, quickly resetting the mood back to nervous. “What’s that?!” she shot over at Taneesha across the cabin from her.

“Ms. Sur!” the pilot shouted from his front seat in a thick local accent.

“Are we being followed?!” she asked back, adding to the quickly reverting tension.

“Something is moving towards the old Raja Bazar Central Plaza! Wall sensor picked up large IR movement!”

“What was it?!”

“Don’t know! Just, IR reading!”

Shit! That’s the last Cloak! The one that… that killed Sly! Danielle thought as her distressed aura quickly permeated through to Kerry and Andre sitting just in front of her.

Kerry and Andre made eye contact amidst the continuing exchange between Taneesha and the pilot, nodding to each other as Kerry started readying her hands and Andre slowly reached for his bag.

“We have to turn around!” Danielle shouted her plea, walking up to stand between her and the pilot.

“You must stay in your seat, Director Norris!” Taneesha pleaded in return as she turned her focus away from the conversation and to Danielle instead. “We cannot carry any more passengers as it is, and you are injured!”

“They’re about to be dead if you don’t turn this around!” she roared back.

“I cannot do that!” Taneesha fussed back with greater conviction but soon realized her attention was brought to the front for a purpose. She found herself quickly pulled back against her seat by both of her arms being yanked behind.

Danielle pulled a PDW from her survival pouch as she swung it around to aim it at the pilot while Andre darted from his seat and landed next to Taneehsa, putting his PDW to her head.

“Would you all stop!? Why do we have to do this again!” she seethed in anger this time, no longer with the fear of death unlike the last encounter. “I am serious! We cannot turn around or we all die!”

“You said that last time,” Kerry snarled, keeping her pinned in place. “And this time, we got no reason to spare your sorry ass if you don’t turn this bitch around!”

“What is going on back there!?” the pilot shouted in fright, knowing best to not attempt to turn around, hinting he perhaps had such experiences before.

“Shut it and turn this ship around!” Danielle strongly spurned, keeping her aim at the pilot. But I can’t shoot the man. These rounds would go right through the firewall and even the outer hull…

“I only follow commands from my leaders! You cannot just take over!” the pilot fussed back, seemingly confident in the same notion he couldn’t be shot so easily.

Taneesha, still racing to come up with a solution to the stalemate she felt would end in absolute, unmitigated disaster, caught Andre out of the corner of her eye reaching into his pouch. From within it he removed a heavy, black piece of polymer-encased steel, hearing the subsequent racking of the slide before the chambering of a cased round. Damnit, I slipped there. I should’ve remembered they had those. Unable to counter the new threat that was a round unable to pierce the cabin’s firewall, much less put not much more than a crack in the windshield, she gave in and cried out: “We will turn around! Stop and put that away!”

“How smart,” Andre said with a grin, not having even gotten as far as the next row up. He left the safety engaged, lowering his pistol.

“You genius, I should’ve known you would bring that heavy ass thing with you,” Kerry quipped, easing up a bit on the grip she had on Taneesha’s arms. She then turned back to speak to her: “You underestimate our methods of business.”

[Turn around, back for Tejgaon,] she reluctantly spoke to the pilot in Bengali as he shrugged, following orders hesitantly.

As Kerry felt the craft veer to their right, she then remembered the situation about to unfold. “Ms. Norris! What do we do with the Cloak out there?”

Danielle had calmed down, lowering her PDW as she too watched the scenery change back to a view of the walls of Tejgaon they had distanced themselves from more than she had hoped. That’s right, I forget Sam has no radio. Got to think of something else. She slung the PDW over her right shoulder, now reaching for her watch carefully. “Navarre, sit-rep!”

“This is Sam!” she was surprised to hear respond back. “I borrowed Sebastian’s earpiece and we JUST got this thing up and running!”

“NO!!” she blurted out in an urgent tone. “Cloak is in-bound on your location! Do NOT emerge!”

“The what?! There’s another?!” Sam’s voice continued in alarm.