●　● Akkadia One, Eden Space Territories

Al was still in Vincent’s office, leaning against the wall. His hands were covering his sulked face as he took in a deep breath, slowly allowing them to rub downward, pulling skin down with it. A long, relieved sigh left his chest as he lifted his head up to the window across from him on the opposite wall. “This still doesn’t change anything, Vrey.”

“Of course not,” he returned with an impatient frown, still focused on the displays hovering over his desk. “I expected to get my retrieved data back from Ms. Sur herself, rest her soul, but it pales in comparison to what your daughter brings back.”

“Sam survived in spite of your bullshit planning, not because of it,” he snapped, feeling the desire to smash something through the holographic transmittance casing that covered the desk. “When we retrieve the black box data, we are using that to retire her to an office here. I believe her results show her system testing and development could be utilized at a much higher level-”

“-You mean pilot at a much higher level. I saw what I needed to already,” he scoffed, dragging over a screen to zoom in and move up between the two of them. The screen showed the recently decoded and restored video feed taken from her encounter with Requiem, showing her timed armor release and SMG sweep. He saw Al’s disbelief of what he could see unfolding in front of his eyes. “You knew about Norris’ plans, didn’t you? You wanted to think that was her that downed this thing you call a Cloak, am I wrong?” He could see the confusion and anger growing on his face as he continued, not allowing him a chance to retort when he knew he had him cornered. “And I can show you more. She damaged a second one before she bailed, in a completely different LTAC, at that! Don’t dare tell me we aren’t dealing with a pilot we can’t afford to lose from the playing field!”

Al took in a deep breath, knowing his rage wouldn’t serve him or Sam at all in this moment, taking pause to look for a higher route. “Let her choose.”

“It’s highly likely she is in any psychological state to choose at the moment-”

“-When… she recovers,” he interrupted with eyes closed and on his last nerve. “Let… her… choose.”

“Very well, I can’t say you aren’t being unfair,” Vincent conceded with a wave of his hand, now putting away the close-up video feeds.

Al thought during the next few seconds of silence as he tried to keep his thoughts collected before acting. I swear he is on to something with Sam but I can’t quite put my finger on it. She was a nobody as far as he was concerned before Colombia… now it’s like… And even I know it can’t be her skill alone. Something isn’t adding up and-

“-I believe you are still shocked to see your daughter doing so well, judging by your silence,” he spoke as if reading his mind, standing to reach for his coffee he left on the small counter behind him. “I recorded every activity that took place in each of the four’s cockpits. I saw that the Antares Mk2 system registered several increases in the sensory input amplitude during that last battle… the one inside Navarre’s Ap50 unit. It could only come from someone who knew the limits of Antares.”

Danielle…

“Ms. Norris did the right things, in the end,” he continued as he took his seat back, maintaining a calm, confident demeanor. “It was thanks to her that this operation didn’t buckle like it almost did. From what I can tell, the Underground slipped, and Ms. Norris saved our pilots’ lives. And of course, thanks to Ms. Sur as well.” Al remained silent, afraid to speak too much and jeopardize Danielle’s standings with Vincent. “So, in our next meeting, to put a close to this operation and to let us go home and rest, I propose two things- and I would like to get your opinions on these.”

“You will finally speak on this… Project Excalibur, I presume?”

“Yes, that, and Ms. Norris’ fate. She broke several accords along with our biggest pilot policy on the books, you know.”

There it is… dirty son of a bitch.

“I can arrange for her to have most of what she did… covered up. I will just leash her up here in space at a desk job. She can keep her salary, whatever she wants. She deserves… better… than to be tainted in the public eye. But we will make sure she never steps foot on Earth again as long as our operations are running full scale.”

“Fair enough,” he responded with a breath of concession, albeit with some admitted relief. “You can’t fault her for having heart, dignity, selflessness,” he spoke with increasing strength in tone to point out the stark contrast Danielle’s characteristics possessed in comparison to the image Al held of the man before him.

Vincent read the jab, refusing a reaction as Al digressed.

“We will inform her as such. Now, what is the big idea with rebooting Excalibur? Didn’t this fall apart a decade ago for a good reason?”

“You see how incredibly strong and vicious our enemy has become. Are we to throw more men? Give in and sell our clients short, leaving them to the wolves? What would be your answer, Alexander?” he stiffly posed, pausing to return the cold, judgmental gaze. “What do you expect me to do?”

“Play the game of chess like the damn game of chess it is, that’s what I suggest. Why are you supposing the only next move is to smash the board with a sledgehammer?”

“Time. You realize that the only reason we are having such difficulties is because this Rex character has shown up over the past year and everything has gotten harder to control on an exponential scale. One month to take a different route gives that branch of the Underground an entire year’s head start, and they’ve been an untreatable eyesore with their effectiveness on the ground with anti-LTAC technology and tactics. Fight fire with fire, Alexander. Wasn’t that your mantra last war?”

Now he had lost his cool as he stood up, hands balled up. “This isn’t a war, damn it!”

Vincent returned the energy with a cocked brow and a tilt of his head, matching glares: “Until you prove your men on the field otherwise, it sure as hell is to them. They want to win this. Now, sit down and let me explain what I need your well-thought-out opinion on,” he continued in his maintained demeanor, taking another sip from his coffee thermos. “You saw the technical notes addressed on the first two pages I assume. I want to, if at all possible, avoid using anyone inexperienced, including Samantha. You’d prefer one last go on hiding the use of an ex-pilot, I assume?”

“I saw, and I saw you intend on rebooting not just the project’s three mech designs, but also the installation of a prototype Reign operating system. I can fully assume you plan on tracking down that girl, wherever she is.”

“So, you will help me find her?”

“Find someone who…” Al stopped midsentence with a laugh he had to hold in, both from irony and from disbelief. “I think you really have lost your mind. If you plan on moving forward with this project, you need to let us choose the pilots. I’ve done it many a time, and I can do it again while saving face for both of us. It’ll also be one way to spare Sam, who I can guarantee you will be coming home after all this.”

“At least you are with me on the most important points. We will bring up Ms. Norris’ softened fate and Project Excalibur to the meeting. I will have it start in thirty. Gather what you need, Alexander.”

Maybe this fixation of his is for the better, he pondered as he paid no attention to Vincent’s business he continued with. His eyes then fell upon that one picture of a occasionally referenced young man that read “Lance Vrey, 2140-2163” on the placard, still sitting on the corner of Vincent’s desk as it always had. And we all know where that fixation is coming from… He took his time leaving, hand over the back of his head as he massaged his neck. But I wonder what else has him so hell-bent on reactivating Reign research to the point he’s looking for her of all people. He closed the door behind him, softly this time, tuning out the noise that filled the meeting room as he meandered throughout the maze of staff members crossing by, aiming for his seat at the table. He won’t ever find that girl. I don’t know too much about her, other than she was close to Lance… and no one close to Lance, outside of Marian, of course, has ever surfaced publicly since… He took his seat to find his mobile face-up with a string of missed calls from Amelie. Shit… right. I’d better hurry and fill her in.

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●　● Dhaka City, Bangladesh

Rain continued to pummel rooftops and blot out most of the glimmering night lights cast from the nearest commercial district’s high-rises. The door slammed shut as a drenched, exhausted Isaiah stepped through the narrow hallway to their ramshackle temporary office that still stood amongst old warehouses. He slung his bag to the corner of the room and pulled out his seat at the round table still cluttered with papers, photos, and clipboards. He fell into it with an uncharacteristic thud, allowing his head to hang to the side, taking in several deep breaths.

How much more could possibly go wrong. I swear someone is tampering with my plans and adjustments. But who…?

A splash could be heard along with the approaching hum of a hydrogen combustion engine. Soon after, the hum died with the opening and slamming of a door. Marian burst through, clearly livid, quickly shedding her rain coat and removed her mobile from her pocket as she walked up facing it to him. “A mobile. Do you perhaps have one in this day and age?” she fired with a piercing glare.

Isaiah rolled his head to tilt the other direction, unfazed by her impending accusations. “You left Taneesha Sur unattended. Where were you?”

“It’s because that last pilot that escaped was none other than your sister,” she seethed, and in a manner that hinted she had been waiting for this one. “I can al-ready guess!”

He trained his eyes back on her, meeting hers with a cold, serious stare. “Where were you?” he insisted.

She rolled her eyes as her hands dropped to her sides in disbelief. “I was trying to track every change in plan to pick up any pieces you left behind! You left me no choice! And now Elias is dead as a result, you bloody prick!”

Now you’ve gone too far. “You let Sur slip out and rescue who should have been captured or killed along with all the rest. Now, how do you feel about knowing Norris, her pilots, the Colombian, and my hapless sister are free thanks to your abandoning of your post?” He saw the rage building, and he couldn’t care less. It was already established well in his mind that this was not his undoing. “Sur was your job. Your one actual job and you left her alone the one time it mattered most. Now the rest are back in Kolkata. Don’t dare come at me about someone who didn’t follow their orders as well,” he coldly continued. “He was supposed to retreat after failing to take out Norris. That’s on him.”

“You really are a Knight,” she spoke back in a quieter, saddened voice, shaking her head. “How could you?”

He crossed his arms, taking his stare off to another direction. “When you erase your expectations of an operation like this to follow initial plans one hundred percent and realize how much you let yourself get toyed with, you will then finally realize how misplaced your emotions are.”

“Toyed by you if anyone,” she huffed, turning to grab the rain coat she threw on the floor as if to leave.

“You spoke to Rex without my authority, didn’t you,” he calmly shot back, still looking out the rain trails running down the window.

“And?” she said as she picked the coat up, shaking the rain off of it.

“That was when you left your post. What did he tell you to do?”

Something in that line had her pause in her tracks in thought.

“Marian… what did he tell you to do?”

“He said… he said to bail the op and to stand by for picking you up in case of emergency. In case you…”

Bingo. “Marian, you were toyed with. I won’t fault you with not knowing the ground troops we had been promised for cleanup were mostly diverted to a last-ditch effort by the remaining paramilitaries… the ones still loyal to the BNP… to attack the Junta forces. Not much left for us. Then, Sur picked the best possible timing to run out to save her new employer’s pilots, right as you took your eyes off her. But Rex knew this, and he still asked you to abandon. Now, whose fault is it that Hexa got away in the end? Are you going to blame us three for not piloting better?” He then stood up with a rare fire in his eyes he rarely exposed, approaching her.

“Those pilots had nowhere to go! They were to die in the streets at the hands of locals who had wished nothing more than to execute a greedy corporations’ lackeys for the lives lost and the money wasted! They were the last few remnants of an entire drop convoy we wiped out! All just after we finished a coup that did the job we were hired to do weeks sooner than expected!” He was now in her face, once again eye to eye. “Now, where are they!? Answer me! Who is at fault here in the end and who is toying with who!?”

She found herself looking down, unable to come up with a response like she normally had done under similar circumstances. “There may’ve been some rushing to judgment on my part,” she mumbled after taking in a deep breath to calm down. “But,” she continued as she looked back to him with a shrug, “maybe it’s just best we stop trying to prove who is right and just… focus on getting on to the next thing. Isn’t that what all of us have done best up to this point?”

Isaiah saw a tear hiding behind those eyes still staring back intently. We are hurting. This isn’t the right time or place. He knew that he still hadn’t faced Revenant just yet, deep down fearing the confrontation, knowing he would be eaten by the qualm that would rear its ugly head every time that name was to be mentioned from here forth. “I apologize for my lack of control just now. I realize the best plan moving forward will be once I speak with Revenant. I owe him every explanation possible, and even that won’t be enough.”

“Not yet,” she responded with a pause long enough to get her rain coat back on her properly. She then took a moment to finish gathering her thoughts as she looked out the same window he had earlier. “I know what prize we all were eyeing. You always tell us to take things one step at a time, and, well, if you had your mobile on you would’ve received Rex’s call.”

“Right, and that’s the least of my priorities as you can tell.”

“I didn’t come here just to scold you for not answering,” she chuckled with a defeated smile, now looking back at him. “I came here to tell you Rex is trying to move forward without you. Our next step has to be together, and these next steps will be without Tamaz.” Those words stung Isaiah in a way he hadn’t felt coming from her before, and Marian could tell as she approached him once more. “I really, really need you to understand that we can’t all think and do as you do. I speak with confidence that there aren’t many you can trust. Don’t try your hardest to lose us just to gain another progress point… for what, if it’s to be alone?”

By this point in time, these three had been the only ones I could trust. I do need to focus on losing less before gaining anything else or I won’t last, he pondered as he let out a flat sigh. “What did Rex say?”

“He’s sending Tamaz to Manila, and not just sent, but transferring networks. He’s with Tyrus, now.”

He already felt isolated, now, losing both of his pilots all in one evening. It was already heavy enough on his heart on how Requiem was lost, but to lose one more to a rival pipeline leader was insult to injury. Tyrus of all people. The only one who would ever think to snipe anyone under my watch, and it could only happen if Rex allowed it. “So, Rex is already that prepared to have me done in. Why bother calling him, then? Why tell me? It sounds like I should be figuring out what’s next myself.”

“We,” she corrected. “We should be. And that means calling Rex soon after before he sends you back to Nanning for going AWOL on top of everything else you all pulled.” She finally cracked a smile for the first time in over twenty-four hours. “Just keep your damned mobile on from now on, please. I was also trying to warn you that you forgot to activate the ‘backdoor’ while you were fully distracted.”

The second he realized what she was talking about, it struck him as embarrassing, drawing a thankful gesture from the tip of his hand. I really am out of sorts. He wiped his hand across his forehead, pulling it back down over his eyes, realizing things weren’t all lost. “I’ll let you man that one. Let me reorganize in the meantime,” he suggested with a picked up tone, reaching over for one of the folders and clipboards tossed across the middle of the table.

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●　● Kolkata, India

Night had fallen on the last standing Infinity service and recruitment center in continental Asia, and up on the rooftop stood a figure only visible by the moonlight’s soft reflection off of her hair that rustled through the warm, damp breeze. Danielle was alone just beyond the roof terrace’s entrance door, mostly hidden by the shadow of the nearby display tower. She stood there with her left arm in a sling leaning against the wall, earpiece connected for her call that had her seek the privacy she now had. “No, I can talk now. Go ahead,” she spoke in a hushed tone, keeping her eye on the door across the way.

“Alright then, transferring you now,” Al’s voice came over the in-ear speaker.

“Ms. Norris,” Amelie’s voice then came up after a second’s delay.

“Yes, may I still call you Mrs. Knight? Or have things changed since years back?”

“I had to speak with you personally as I refuse to make a request indirectly but never directly thank you,” she answered straightforward, dodging the formality. “Were you hurt?”

“They already have me scheduled for fracture repair in the morning. I’ll be done with it and back in Space in no time.” Her tone quickly changed the moment she mentioned space, however. She already had her talks with command, and she knew Space would be her last stop for a long time. “Sam is still getting her wound cleaned up, but she’s alive and well,” she continued as her voice also continued to drop off. “Sort of.”

“How is Gabriel?” Danielle was silent for a moment, long enough for Amelie to repeat herself. “How bad is it?”

She swallowed whatever had her choked up enough to answer abruptly: “He’s gone.”

“What do you mean, gone?”

Damn, is their whole family this cold and dense? she thought as she started rubbing her eyes, fighting off tears she was already worn out from battling all evening. “He didn’t make it out. We lost him before… we lost him before I gathered who I could. It’s still thanks to him we had time to make it out alive.”

“I see,” Amelie conceded after hearing the emotional response she dragged out. “I have the rest of my life to thank you for bringing back my daughter. I will speak with her once she’s able, but I had to thank you first. I will make sure you are treated and rewarded generously upon your return.”

Danielle held back a sigh, knowing this was the best she could do and would do no good expecting something more rational or realistic for her response to the situation. “Thank you. I guess… I’ll see you on the other side later this week.” The call disconnected, yet she remained where she stood, looking back up to the moon. I hate it, Sly. I hate this. I didn’t expect to be headed anywhere after today without you. We should’ve both been headed back to Space at worst…I’m sorry.

But in that same frame of thought, the idea of what he would have done wandered across her mind, helping her conjure up a sense of direction.

I can at least do that. When he had a chance to move on, he hung around to keep an eye on us. Let me do the same.