“Just like politics…” she mumbled as she continued in thought: Yeah, lemme work both sides here one last time. She brought her focus back to Devin. “Do you know why I am with Project Excalibur? -Actually, do you even know what it’s for?”

“Told it’s an assassination program.”

“Assassination program?!” she laughed in surprise, not expecting to hear such a claim, but then again there was some doubt behind that display of hers. Lately, there had been plenty going on to convince her nothing she hears is every totally off the mark. “No, it’s a safety network to prevent disasters like in Dhaka!”

“It’s an assassination program, Sam. It only kicks in if this election doesn’t go smoothly, because the higherups at Hexa would love a good scapegoat right about now, and every undeserving pilot Tyrus has is at the other end of the approaching barrel.”

“But your people kept attacking Infinity troops!”

“No, they got attacked first! The network here is only designed to never let them spread beyond the allowed borders.”

This guy is nuts! “So why now do you need me, then!?”

“Damn it, Sam, our boys are afraid of Reaper and Revenant!” he fussed back in frustration, hands hovering near his face.

Oh… it’s that sound of sincerity in him again.

“…the thought of slaughter,” he slowly continued in a much more subdued tone. “…After how hard we’ve coordinated things to end peacefully for once. We’re now afraid of being on the other end of the swords of those two Cloaks.”

Sam tried desperately to mask her reaction upon hearing that combination of names. Holy shit! Her heart started racing, causing her to look aside and act as if she were in deep thought to continue masking her epiphany she was experiencing. If Revenant was the guy chasing me at the Casino, that means Reaper… REAPER! He’s Isaiah! Shit! I gotta do something before everything hits the proverbial fan!

She straightened up, taking in a deep breath to help keep her calm outer appearance. Looking back at him, she managed to carefully speak her next move: “I appreciate you taking me seriously, Devin, and I do see what you are talking about now. Hey, I mean, I take back what I insinuated about you earlier.” Not. “But can I have, like, a night to think this over?”

He shook his head with a wry smirk. “Do you think we have much time?”

“You’re right, we don’t,” she agreed as she turned her head to the door. “I realize there’s something tagged on me that must’ve led them to you. Let me find my own hiding spot for the night to see who it is they’re really after, and if the coast stays clear, I will come back here in the morning. You’ll be here, right?”

“Well, yeah, I will, but that sounds a bit stupid don’t you think?”

“You want me to consider joining you, right? But is it me they’re after or is it you like you say? Let me think about it while I see if I can really trust what you-”

“-Sam,” he started chuckling again. “If I didn’t trust you myself, I wouldn’t have taken you from that room mor leave the door unlocked on purpose. I just don’t trust YOU making it far out there in the dark on your own.”

She rolled her eyes, knowing he was right about that, but by now, hadn’t she seen worse? And she knew she didn’t have to make it far. “Then, I will trust you if you trust me on this one thing. I can make it. I did it before.” Not, but still.

He stood up slowly, heading for the door in defeat. “Alright, Sam, but three things as I let you out. One,” he said with a finger to start counting. “You die? That’s a hundred percent on you. Two? You run off to Hexa to tell on me? You won’t find me AND you will ruin everything Kerry and I have struggled with up til now for each other. That’ll be on you as well. And three?”

Sam was now headed for the door, rolling her eyes again in response. “Devin, I can’t mouth of to Hexa about you, clearly. I get it. You already planned this out.”

He instead reached behind the bookcase over the fridge, removing a small shoulder bag. “No. Third? You keep this on you just in case.” He then winked as he pushed it onto her. “Hexa-issue, stolen and re-chipped.”

She reluctantly took the bag and opened it, slowly removing what she was afraid it would be. She held the pistol gently, reminded of the time Kerry had her hold a different, less refined model.

“It’s your safety net as well as mine. If I ever need to, I control the switchboard that pins the fingerprints tied to it to a host of cold case crimes.” He let loose a guilty smile. “Sorry, Sam, but I can’t be too careful. The only prints on it are now yours. Use it wisely, and stay safe.”

Are you fucking kidding me?! She thought before almost dropping it. But this nut-brain seems to have planned absolutely everything down to the last possible detail. Either he is one incredibly motivated man, or he is clinically insane. Sam couldn’t afford the time, however, to debate the sanity of her situation, facing only one viable option: to go along with it. What else can I even do but trust him? I mean, I REALLY need to get some distance on him here.

“Well, I will. I will be back in the morning.” She put the pistol back in the bag and shouldered it, opening the door. “I’ve used one of these before. I can hope for your case it’s me they’re after.”

“You’ll see how wrong you are, but that means I will see you tomorrow,” he quickly replied with a worried look mixed with the smile from earlier. “I really need some good talent on our side to make things work.”

“Why didn’t you ask Kerry?” Sam finally asked as she started out the hallway, turning to hear his response.

“I can’t involve her like that,” he said looking down before shaking his head, looking back to her. “But then again, it’s you who fell in my lap, not her.”

“-‘Night, thanks for the talk and the drink,” she said with a closing of the door. Oh my God that was so much lying in one sitting- and nothing in all of this has a shred of believability! What have I done?! She cried to herself on the inside, slowly walking away. But passing through one last doorway led her to the outside once more. Things hadn’t changed. It was still terribly dark, and the lighting wasn’t too helpful, nor was the passing sounds of chatter and cars slowly passing by in the distance. She clutched her bag tightly and started off back to the street she last remembered seeing.

Just get to a spot where- She reached and grabbed her watch from her pocket, quickly attaching it back on her wrist and turned back on before once again clutching her bag strap- I can get signal enough to call in my location!

▽　▽　▽

The night was still restless over towards the southern end of Quezon City where that same region near the city-center was still affected by jamming. News revealed that police were yet to identify the location of the jamming equipment and gave the notion they would urge the PM to ask for outside help. In the meantime, seemingly no one was able to sit by idly.

Andre saw all this on his watch’s holographic projection as he sat inside his Ap-50, helmet on his lap with his left arm propped on top of it. He then looked up after hearing a door close nearby. “Finally,” he mumbled to himself, turning off his watch display.

“On my way up,” he heard Kerry’s voice speak up through his earpiece. “Sorry, I… needed a moment.”

“We still haven’t gotten the greenlight from Singapore, but I have been trying to put loose ends together regardless. Why is everyone else so lax about this? Wasn’t this place as hot as the one we just left!?”

“I’d like an explanation, too. Nothing makes any motherfucking sense. Not one thing since we got here.”

Andre put his helmet on, affixing the chinstrap and activating the visor. “I got an idea. About to power up sensors here… maybe we can find something else in this unfortunate downtime.”

Kerry turned to sit herself down in the pilot’s seat of her Ap50, stopping briefly to catch her breath. She reached up and grabber her helmet as an incoming call came up on both of their headset:

“A-P Team this is Singapore CCC, do you copy?” the man’s voice firmly requested.

“Copy, Singapore,” Kerry responded with a surge of anticipation mixed with relief she made it to her cockpit in time, buckling her helmet and harnesses in.

“Copy,” she heard Andre add in soon after. She now had her systems’ main power coming online as well.

The operator continued: “Orders from Akkadia Central HQ. Your priority objective has been altered from recon to extraction.”

Kerry’s heart jumped with even more anticipation. Not sure when we even got the word about recon, but damn! I’ll take it! “Affirmative.”

“Watch signal originating from Pilot Samantha Knight has been upgraded from probable to confirmed, signal moving 2 km/hr north-northwest near Industrial Road, Valenzuela Region.”

“Fuckin’ A,” Andre added in with the same positive intensity.

“Who the hell even says that?!” Kerry laughed back as she saw all systems fully online through her visor, including the new blue target icon on her radar/map. “There she is. Singapore, requesting permission for myself and Pilot Nguyen to launch.”

“Negative,” the operator’s reply came with a deflating effect. “Launch permissions active once we confirm the area is safe. Please await further orders.”

Shit, come on, dudes! She’s right there!! “Can we get an explanation, then, as to why no other active-duty pilots aren’t on standby?”

“Active-duty schedule has been downgraded as of three days ago to no midnight patrol. You are the only two active at this hour.”

That means this whole protecting P4C’s newest branch has had a bigger olive branch effect than I would’ve ever expected. No active midnight duty after how crazy lit this place has been? She then reacted to a new alert showing up just over Sam’s location. She scrolled the zoom in on it, reading:

“Axiom Launch Command Initiated.”

Her eyes then looked just north of her location, seeing a large, empty grassy field. And with that came the roaring back of the confident spark she had. “Look at my little bitch go! Andre, you see that?!” She laughed. “That’s my girl!”

“Command! Permission to prep the Axiom for automated transit!” Andre shouted through his own excitement.

“Affirmative,” the operator responded to their relief. “Prep the Axiom as well as your own LTACs for launch. This will be a simultaneous jump. Await further clearance and orders for procedures post-launch.”

“Yes, sir!” the two replied.

▽　▽　▽

Sam crouched down in a corner between a raggedy fence and an old, abandoned truck on blocks as she caught her breath. She tried to keep it quiet, occasionally peering through the cracks in the fence and the trees nearby at a large, grassy clearing. She couldn’t make out much, but the map she had pulled up revealed plenty of landing room.

Damn, I’d better turn this off, now.

Switching off her watch’s power, it dawned on her how much time she potentially gave her pursuant up until now. She remembered the bag she shouldered, slowly reaching for it every time she thought she heard an approaching vehicle or passing footsteps.

This is the dead-end corner of a backstreet! What’s up with the midnight traffic? She thought as she nervously double checked the distance between herself and the narrow road nearby. There had to have been at least three meters, and her spot had her hidden from the lone street light across the way. All I can do is wait for my Axiom to drop in. Hopefully, and just maybe, Kerry and Andre made it through whatever all happened and can launch with it.

Another minute had passed, and another approaching car this time had her subconsciously gripping her bag. Her heartrate went up, that taste again coming up in her mouth. Something about the slow approach had her fearing the worst all of the sudden as she quietly opened the bag and slowly removed the pistol. It was light, lighter than she remembered, fumbling around a bit for the safety release, leaving her finger resting upon it. To think if I had one of these back at the Casino… but who am I kidding?! She thought in exasperation. I haven’t used one of these under duress before! And this is no PDW! No holo, only nine shots… shit…

She had never aimed a pistol at a moving person before, and it was already hard enough as was even with the PDW she tried and failed to use effectively in her last on-foot escapade.

And there it was, the sound of tires stopping just ten or fifteen meters down the road. She adjusted her crouched position, ready to dart out or lean over if needed. She was too afraid to look, however, training her ears in on anything she could pick up.

A parking brake engaged. Two doors opened. Several feet hit gravel and concrete. The feet were moving softly but with purpose, all headed her direction. All she could think now was why the Axiom hadn’t landed yet, as it would give her all the distraction in the world to do something about the predicament.

“Kailangan mo tulong?” an old man’s voice spoke up, not fitting the predicament at all in her mind. Still, she couldn’t relax just yet.

“Um… We’re lost. Can you help us?” a much younger voice replied timidly.

“Oh, I can help?” the old man now spoke in English, albeit with a thick accent. “Where are you going?”

“Looking for a friend who moved in recently. I thought it was here,” the young man continued, triggering a stronger sense of danger within Sam’s mind.

“Who?” the old man replied.

“She’s new to the country. Black and pink hair. She looks American.”

Hey, those accents don’t match that old man’s accent at all. They’re definitely not local.

“Oh, well… wait, please,” he answered as he turned to shout something indiscernible towards someone inside his home. The ten seconds that lapsed felt like an eternity, unsure whether he would unintentionally make this nightmare get worse or not. “Yes! She moved in and lives in a house maybe fifteen houses the other way! You came the wrong side of the street. My wife saw her there earlier walking to town with friends.”

Wait… is he for real!? The tension finally and joyously eased up, even if just for a moment.

“You sure, old man?” the young man snapped with a sudden change in tone.

“Yes. You are looking for Sam Knight, right? She’s new. She lives on the other side of the block.”

*PSHT!* *PSHT!*

The unnaturally smooth gaseous releases blasting from a caseless round chamber emptied out in succession, sending a harsh jolt down her spine as she tensed right back up, heart beating so loudly she couldn’t hear straight anymore. But she knew the next sounds she could hear were from a body collapsing.

“She’s here,” the man was now whispering as the sound of their feet quietly grew nearer.