"Sir, everyone is in place."

Military commander- Reeg looked on with fierce eyes from the control tower. Here is where they would update all the information during the strike.

Blackout. The first move of many- Reeg predicted retaliation afterwards, but that was after. After having secured the strength of all five leaders of the territory- he could finally put into motion what they'd been holding as a last resort.

Peace Sohsa? Ha. You are a fool. As if the ANI would agree to submit to our request for peace. This is the only way to obtain it.

The territories must unite and show themselves a strong front. If not...they would all succumb to what was ANI. Reeg didn't care if he lost face to do so.

The strategy had been Sohsa's own design... three parts and all the pieces were finally in place. Sohsa only wanted to use it as a last resort- as the elected representative of the territories he held out against it until his death.

Reeg respected Sohsa's military mind. He and Sohsa had fended off waves of bandits during the dark age using Sohsa's strategies and his own tactics.

The other five territory officials he one only one stopping this was Sohsa himself and now the only thing to do now was enact the command.

A smile rose along the edge of his face.

"Operation blackout is go."

---

Michael sat alongside many others including Vincent, Jason, Sally inside of the conference room.

The operater pointed to the board. Five strategic locations were placed on the map. Each location was a power plant that fed into the surrounding towers.

"Alpha, Beta, Gamma, Delta, Epsilon and team- your mission will be to ensure the proper advancement of the Virus in these respective locations.

The operator pointed onto the map where they were to go.

Michael was to work alongside Alpha Team- and supposedly the most crucial- it hovered near the New York City... where most of the diplomatic and economic treatise lay. Even though the president lay closer to Virginia- the ANI sectors along the east coast were now an economic factory more than a government.

The groups were divided into their sections and prepared to head out.

---

Mattias looked over the documents as his private jet approached the territory. He liked to play the bystandard... only guiding the steps of others while he helped them along their own paths.

There would be quite a few events taking place here however- and he had to make sure that those others were properly prepared. He sipped from his glass of wine. It would be a busy twenty-four hours.

First he would be meeting with the military commander on the ANI side, followed by the science divison, his sons would relay any information they'd found regarding the moon clan, finally he would get a good view of the start of 'blackout- after which, he coud return to... ahah- so much work.

It was moments like this that he took advantage of what he had- the luxuries in life.

"Wont you be a dear and sit with me," he spoke looking at the stewardess.

---

Michael looked forward inside of the van.

As Jess predicted- he was given guard duty. Michael found it interesting that he'd only just finished training, but they'd already put him on assignment. He wondered if that was because they were short-staffed or he'd been given specialized training over the normal recruit.

After thinking about it- not many of the Underground personnel knew the location of the hidden base- perhaps that had something to do with it.

Despite his lack of experience - this assignment officially made him a member of the Underground– the rest would only be gained from experience. He would definitely fulfill his duty to the utmost- regardless.

As the van moved forward -alongside of him was Vincent who looked relatively unphased to the undertaking they were about to perform.

"Are you confident?" Michael spoke ahead to Vincent. Michael knew of Vincent's own mission. While they guarded the perimeter and broke past the initial army- Vincent was assigned the task of installing the 'decore'. Infiltrating inside of the base as oppposed to the easier tasks.

To speak up for Vincent, another recruit smirked.

"Haven't you heard already?"

"Vincent is the most successful espionage agent we have..."

Michael looked at Vincent again. However- it seemed that Vincent seemed to be lost in thought as he turned his face away.

---

Once he was alone, Reeg called into his private line to his informant.

Despite the seemingly pleasant nature of the informant their relationship was nothing more a working one. He expected his informant to perform a promised act, while he in turn would fulfill his end.

For this reason, he cared little for social tact.

The informant seemed to be quite capable which would have made him wary- except that for now, their goals led in the same direction. His informant wanted one thing that he was aware of. His goal was to fund the independence of the territory under the condition that it would become a nation. After which – when treaties were made, the nation would favor the land agreements and trade agreements that benefited the informant. They’d negotiated the trade rights beforehand- so the only thing left to do now was the completion of the said nation.

Regean’s personal perspective was that the territory wouldn’t survive without strengthening itself with a government. Perhaps it was this, or his ambition to lead the said nation at its head.

So for now, Regean was fulfilling his own part – keeping his liaison informed of the current status of the mission.

Regean, of course, had tried to do his best to get a scope on who his informant might be- But there was little to go on. He had no means to trace all the details back to the source- despite Underground Technology – Regean only had so many resources at his disposal to complete the act.

Voices were easily changeable also – so instead he surmised his informant from the given information.

The events leading up to their meet were as follows,

Regean was one of five commanders amongst the Underground- in charge of military operations in the east – mainly operations involving the secret operations within the city.

It was no secret that he was dissatisfied after the consecutive years that Sosoa refused to form a nation amongst the Underground. With all his sway on the Underground- he could’ve. It was then that Sosoa had been approached once through a message that suddenly appeared on his desk. The message had read something like,

“I have a proposition in the forming of a nation amongst the territory – if there is any care at all in such an act, then you will reach me at this address.”

Regean after trying to surmise who could possibly have reached him, made the call of his pure diligence to protect the territory, but after the discussion, he found that his liaison wasn’t motivated by the same patriotism. Not that he expected it.

The man in contact was an ‘investor’ it seemed. A very tactful one, who funded conflict in return for financial gains. From what he could gather as of now, he figured the man was from ANI sector 1- someone with means, must have political influence, and a military background… While it seemed like a lot to go on, unfortunately, those with military backgrounds usually had political influence and means already… He’d narrowed it down considerably however.

After calling, Reagan got down to business. While he knew he had to keep the liaison informed he kept the details minimal.

“How are you, Bill?” the voice spoke.

“The status is green.”

The other voice didn’t seem the least bit upset by Reeg’s businesslike approach, in fact they welcomed it.

“Very good,” the voice responded with something of a smile.

“I’ll be in the area to protect my interests in the matter…” the voice responded, “Let me know if you need anything… and we’ll arrange it.”

“Sounds good,” Reeg spoke. Even though it wasn’t intentional to be nice, the man hadn’t really left another option to the last statement. Even still Reagan ended the conversation.

“Bill Out.”

“Hansel out.”

—

Vincent was waiting inside of the burn location with the others- a small dugout with basic amendities located forty-five minutes or so away from their objective.

Immediately after gaining the information on Tech contacted Vincent. Vincent had a few others in the vicinity- but picked up the com after seeing who it was. Tech knew this may give them their first lead- even if it meant that Vincent would have to leave the mission.

[Vincent…] Jackson spoke.

“Yes?” Vincent looked around at the others as they seemed somewhat attentive to the conversation. Rather than treat it like something serious he would have to play it off.

[The informant is most likely going to be nearby.]

“Do you have anything else?” (He meant anything else to go on and hoped that Jackson could pick that up).

[I was able to trace the com.] (That actually said a lot in itself. Coms used variable frequency communication – and the encoding was variably encrypted.)

“Oh, very good,” Vincent held down his enthusiasm. “What can you tell me?”

[He was nearby your location when he called…tower seven i think...] After a few more details about the informant- Vincent kept nodding politely as the others turned their attention away disinterested.

“Thank you- that’ll be fine.” Vincent replied and ended com.

Vincent had half the story already. Reeg had worked alongside of this man to cause the assassination of Sosoa- if not directly then indirectly by giving him information. While Vincent had found out the identity of the liaison - most of the information that came up on the ANI database information - it didn't tell much- and most of it was falsified information- if he wanted to disappear he could easily and Vincent wouldn't have any way of getting the story.

Vincent looked at the crew. The caravan was soon to arrive which was good, but from there he’d have to find the informant. This would be the best opportunity to get a grasp of what was actually going on. He thought about the importance of the mission compared to the information. He didn't want to risk the mission.

Against everything in his being he’d have to ask Michael for his help. Even though he didn't like the guy, when he really thought about it- Michael he trusted.

They approached the check point.

The power plant- being such a crucial factor to ANI nation, of course, would have security guards stationed before entering and a gate to watch it.

This is where the disguises came in. The vehicle itself would have to be one of the ones the guards were used to. or modified to look as such.

Which is what they did… It was a modified transport vehicle. From there they required the correct identifications to transport items and if they wanted to check the back for supplies- they had a few crates that would work as transport items- but would have to be requested from the inside, or at least match the description of a transport that was to take place.

Actually- each plant had Nightwing agents stationed from the past five years. Today was the day they would end up burning their identities and start entirely an entirely new life. Nightwing agents however were patriots in this regard.

Under the fake identifications and transport of the items matching the description on the list, the crew entered into the plant assigned. This was only the first step of course. The two drivers and four recruits in the back would have to go into their respective routes. change into specific uniforms to pass security checks and get deeper into the plant. Eventually the would have to get to the core itself – the most heavily guarded part of the plant to begin with.

Thankfully As this was only first strike, ANI defenses would be at their lowest. They would never expect an attack of this magnitude from the start.

It had been all carefully planned- for months this plan had been in the works, from the development of the d-core to the inside OWLS that would help them bring in the D-core to the reactor.

Two of the crew got out now- which left Michael and Vincent. Now was Vincent’s chance.

Everyone was given a synopsis of the plan before the mission began, and had been told to study the layout of the core.

Michael knew there was a big risk involved and that he was responsible to do his utmost to help the team. It wasn’t going to be hard. perhaps his post would even be un-eventful, but he treated it with care.

The vehicle approached the outer perimeter.

they went to the swtich point and entered into the new vehicle.

the food truck entered into the first grid point, after which they entered the loading bay. slowly the delivery began to unload the boxes one at a time. In one of the boxes was Vincent. He got out and broke off with MIchael.

they broke up into respective positions. Michael led Vincent through the initial cooridors while Vincent held onto the device. they would break up and Michael would hold a post mid-way into the sphere…

Until Vincent grabbed him at the shoulder with device in hand.

“you do it.” Vincent told MIchael after he had entered into the sphere.

Michael looked at it for a moment…

“wait… what?”

“you know the layout as well as i do…you’re as capable as i am,” he spoke as Michael looked at him flabbergasted at the sudden change in the plan.

“what are you going to do?”

“I’m leaving, something came up. there’s something else i gotta do.”

that didn’t make much sense. more important than this? “i didn’t hear anything on the coms… is this a joke?”

Vincent handed him the Decorer.

Alright… i guess it isn’t a bad joke. michael looked at Vincent, trying to get a read- but the look from Vincent was almost expressionless, except for the short, “please…” that came after it.

“yeah, ok..” Michael spoke… “you owe me one big time…”

“yeah, ok,” Vincent replied.

What’s so important he’d leave mid-mission on the biggest strike?

Michael took the de-core, metaphoric baton, and watched Vincent run down the halls into another room.

Ok… what is it i need to do. Michael laid out the schematics of a plan, point a to point b.

he looked around, stealth was optimal but he couldn’t avoid everyone.

the core would be in the upper room of the center chamber. He’d have to access it without raising suspicions.

He walked past a relatively empty hallway Until he saw a group of people coming toward him.

A girl and her father it looked, and some of what it appeared to be workers-

He quietly hugged the inside of a doorway – until they turned into the hall that he was in.

oh geez… he couldn’t avoid this…

he stepped away from the door. after a quick glance at the sign. 412, breakroom.

The girl saw him first,

“hello,” he spoke to the group,

the girl looked up to see him.

She smiled at him- she was tanned, dirty blonde, a few freckles on a beautiful face.. he couldn’t help but be a little struck.

the older person gave him a glance, “that’s enough gawking,” he said

“Uh… sorry,” he said and turned downward. He looked back to look past them. the group passed by as he moved back to his direction. a worker looked back,

“did you recognize him?” Michael heard quietly as they continued on from one of the workers…

“He was probably an intern,” another said.

the rest of it was pretty uneventful. He was able to avoid being spotted by the others that were passing by- by keeping his eyes open and avoiding any confrontation.

He walked up the room that would have the extra pair of inner chamber wear, protection and also disguise. He put them on and followed by entering into the inner chamber. supposedly the radiation here was stronger, and while the suit protected him from the increased temperature, he could almost see the waves going up from underneath him.

He broke apart into a hall and entered into a room where the OWL contact would meet him.

After a moment of waiting he saw a mask come up to him.

He gripped tightly onto the d-core.

It was the liaison- the one that had access to inside of the core central control.

He handed it over.

“You’ll need to get out of here quick…” the man spoke, “Jess should be outside with a card ready to help you escape. “i’m putting this in right away… it won’t be too hard to get out, but the security will step up quickly after the shutdown starts.

Michael nodded. he stepped back from the inner chamber and took off the mask from his face after leaving.

It wouldn’t matter if he seemed out of place in a moment as he walked through the halls. The whole shutdown would take the attention from him.

He quickly exited from the premesis gaining a couple glances from others as he exited.

He looked at the time on the walls as he entered into the front entrance.

He nodded at the guards as he entered his info into the exit.

One of them spoke, “wait, where are you coming from?”

“I think he was from the delivery crew…”

“Can i see your i.d.?”

Michael looked at the time, thirty seconds… he wouldn’t have time.

Michael looked up: he gave a non-chalant shrug and kept walking through.

“Hey wait…” he put his hands on michael’s arm, Michael pulled it away, and drop kicked him in the neck.

“Security alert!” he said after a moment after MIchael rushed out.

Michael sped up to the caravan exit.

“Hey…” the person spoke, “Where’s Vincent?”

“I don’t know- but the decore is in. Let’s leave.” he said and got on board. Vincent would make his way back he knew.

The gunned it. The meeting point would be back at base at least six or so hours away.

They rushed towards the woods and through towards the tunnel that had led to the power plant.

Michael looked behind him as he noticed the reactor lines slowly dimming down.

Soon the whole area would be in complete darkness- the mission complete.

—

Upon arriving at the hangar with the group, Michael could tell there was an electricity in the air. Everyone was excited. He himself was somewhat enthralled about the fact that they’d been able to accomplish the mission.

They got off their helmets and gear, and looked around the Underground.

“Hey,” he saw Jaydon wave to him, "We’re supposed to rendezvous at the cafeteria at 1800 hours.

Michael split up an ‘I’ll see you there’ and then went to his room to get ready.

—

?

---

Michael was first of the group to get to the auditorium. It was set-up for a party, however, it was crowded so he just tried to find a place to sit and stay there.

The recap of the shutdown was shown on a screen in front of the audience at the Undeground cafeteria as everyone waited for what Reeg had to say.

He stepped up on a podium and his voice rang across the room as he spoke.

He played a video recording of the details from the news reports as well as their own contacts recording the occurance of 'blackout.'

Over the entire east coast- it showed the plants failing and all the towers getting shutdown and going to backups while attempting to repair the damage done. For them they couldn't strike back until at least a working amount of power functioned inside of the towers- which gave the Underground two days perhaps. The towers themselves wouldn't ever work again- decore was a program that forced the core energy system to collapse in on itself- once it started it couldn't be stopped.

“Tonight was a success,” he said. "The sector has taken a hard hit. While there’s more to come, i’m sure it’s nothing we can’t handle and this is the beginning of a new generation. The five leaders have all agreed to an arrangment. For now- we have all formed a united front as myself as the head. What’s left… ?” he paused, “We’re going to work on preparing the border. The Allies don’t know what they have in store for them, but tonight,let's have a good time!"

Michael looked at the man who had spoken, Reeg Martinez- acting commander of the eastern front since the assassination of the old one- and now the leader of the territory? He wondered what his motives were. It seemed that Reeg had been preparing for the position of leading for a while.

“Uniting the territory huh..?" Michael realized some implications within that statement.

“Yeah…” Vincent said- making an appearance.

With arms crossed where he was leaning against the pillar. “it’s always been part of his own plan to make the territory a nation instead. It seems that his plan is finally happening- Reeg’s now going to lead the territory to its freedom and take control of it as a nation. After the conflict ends, we’ll see what changes are in store.”

"Oh," Michael said, "Hey Vincent- you made it."

"Hey," Vincent spoke and then walked off again.

Michael watched as Vincent walked off- he wondered what Vincent was hiding.

Michael looked around him at everyone. Everyone that had been a part of the mission or come from other areas to be assigned in the Underground base was here- so the room was much more crowded than before. The cafeteria had been turned more into a dancing room as the floor and the chairs and tables were all moved.

It seemed as if the Underground had come to life. Peope were gathering together and conversing. It seemed where the normal food stand was- there was a dj and open bar. After some adjustments he noticed the floor changed into more of a dance floor. Ah... a party then?

He spotted a familiar face, Jess sitting at a table. She'd been pulled off of the assignment. He knew that she was skilled and wondered why they wouldn't want to make use of her abilities.

“Hey you!” he said over the music. He had to yell to get her attention. She looked towards him and waved.

“Hi,” she wasn’t her enthusiastic self… It seemed she was in thought.

"How are you feeling?" He spoke a little closer now so that he wouldn't have to yell- within a couple feet.

"I'm not sure actually..." she spoke, "how was the mission?"

"Fine - it went pretty smoothly.."

She smiled.

After a moment ,He put out his hand, “Wanna go for a dance?”

She looked at him intrigued, “yeah, actually... why not."

He took her by the hand and led her to the dance floor. He didn't really have any skills when it came to dancing- unlike everything else that he'd done. Although he'd learned a few basic steps in ballroom style dancing- this dancing certainly wasn't that.

Instead he just shook his hair randomly. She laughed and followed his lead- acting stupid alongside of him. As the next song came up.

“You do it like this!” she said clapping, and holding up her hands to his when the dance called for it.

After a little while the music got loud and the crowd grew tigher. Halfway into the song- he started to feel a bit uncomfortable.

“It’s a little loud in here huh?” he held out his hand to her and she got up.

“yeah…" she said with a smile, "i agree." It seemed she was back to her old self.

"Well, where to now?"

“I’ll follow you,” she said.

He held her hand for a moment and put it on his hsoulder. She followed behind him. He started heading towards the lounge area.

“So where do they have you posted?” he asked as the energy calmed down in the halls.

“Ah- i'll be working along the northeastern front- keeping an eye on it for the expected counter-offensive... After that... well, it depends."

Strategically speaking. it seemed that the Underground was preparing for some offensive. He wondered what was in store for the future.

“Ah… i see,” he responded. “i think im headed a little more south of you then."

He then made an effort to impress her with the candy-apple he'd grabbed off of a cart before leaving. He put it to his mouth while attempting a handspring and made it almost all the way before tripping and the candy apple falling onto him.

She chuckled as he brushed himself off.

“Well- i guess it's pretty common to get split up in the military huh..."

"yeah," she replied.

Next time we meet- we have to get something to eat.”

“Sure,” she responded.

They reached the lounge he ran ahead, and found it to be moderately empty. At least in comparison. A pool table with some more relaxed music and Tags was there. They met a few others. The three of them and a couple others played a game together- hologram charades.

Eventually when they were all tuckered out, they decided to watch something on the projection screen with a few of the others.

“I had fun,” she said. It seemed she wanted to relax just as much or more than he did. He was glad to see a softer side. It seemed the superspy, multi-lingual, uptight, study was really just a front for an ordinary girl- in a good way of course.

He smiled and gave her his shoulder for her head to lean on and tilted his head on hers.

—

“You’re all set to go- hold onto this- it works specifically with mine- as both can link up to a variable frequency. ” Tech handed Vincent a com.

“Well I’ll be leaving tomorrow morning then,” Vincent said.

“How long do you think you'll be gone?" Tech asked.

"Can't say... Officially i'm leaving however... So it's indefinite."

"Well, we'll miss you."

"No you won't," Vincent replied

"Haha..." Tech replied, "Maybe you're a bit cold- but you've been a part of the underground ever since i've known you...come back soon."

Vincent did have on reason he'd make his way back... but he couldn't pursue that now. He couldn't promise her anything now. There was something else he had to do - to respect her father's last request.. he wanted to make an effort to fulfill it the best that he could.

—

After packing everything- Vincent went into the hall where he’d go to the lounge and try to enjoy the last of his day here before leaving for the mission tomorrow.

As he got inside he spotted Jess and Michael on the couch together while watching something on the projection screen.

It was true then. They had been getting along after all. A part of him had complex emotions.

Michael whispered something into Jess’s ear, after which he slowly moved his lips to hers. Vincent watched for a second as they kissed.

Despite Vincent thinking it was for the best, he couldn't make his way a step further... so instead he turned around and left the room.

---

He left to the ‘balcony’ a holographic projection room of a real life location, and stared over what was the picture of an overlook and a starry sky.

After fifteen or so minutes- another figure approached him and overlook. It wasn't a sealed room after all- usually meant for more than one.

“Hey,” Michael said.

Vincent kept looking forward.

"Hey," Vincent replied.

After a moment of silence.

“You like Jess…don't you."

Vincent just looked ahead. He really didn't want to get into a conversation.

"Why didn't you say anything when i asked?"

Vincent sighed. "I'm not good for her."

Michael didn't say anything in response. Silence drifted off for a couple minutes. They both stared off into the landscape for a while.

“it’s a nice scene,” Michael said looking out of at the landscape.

“Yep - it's a recording it from a while back,” Vincent replied.

"So where are you headed next?”

Vincent replied honestly, "Sector two.”

Michael was shocked.

“What are you going there for?”

Vincent could only reply a certain way, "To protect someone..."

Michael just looked at him with a peripheral for a second while facing the landscape still.

"I'm here if you need me for something," Michael responded.

"Yeah..." Vincent replied.

"Okay."

Silence drifted between them for another minute and then Vincent ended the projection.

—

Vincent opened up his netbook - an grey feeling consumed him- the kind of pain that couldn't be described except emptiness and void.

I’m leaving.There’s something that's pulling me away.

I don’t want you to be hurt. This is the hardest thing for me to do.

I care more about you than you’ll ever know.

—

“First things first, post a cash reward for anyone with information on the ‘Underground’ headquarters,” the General said. “let’s say… 100 million.. we want to show the people that terrorism won’t be tolerated and nip this thing in the butt. Put it all over the bulletins as well broadcasting on major news outlets every two hours or so.”

“Secondly, we want to smoke them out, they’re hiding in the hills- so we’ll place our men to reinforce across the border. We have no idea who our enemy is, so if we can get a few captives to give us info, all the better- initiate project -‘Cell’.”

“For now- we should treat this as an act of terrorism or a small rebel faction, we want the people to know that we’re handling it- the worst thing that we can do is lose the support of the people, and make two enemies out of one.”

Commander Jaymie had been brought to the president’s side as soon as the strike happened.

Who was he up against? the thought didn’t scare him that much- but it did annoy him to think that anyone would dare challenge the sector. Now was the time to dominate the board.

He currently had thirty -three thousand troops at his disposal, and while very few had ever experienced anything related to combat, it was mandatory for the population to join the military for a year and he would be able to call upon up to a million within the next year and a half if necessary.

In terms of numbers it would bea good match against an opposing territory, with perhaps a third of that initial amount. Perhaps it was possible to stall them out protecting the main areas while gathering information on the headquarters.

For now, he couldn’t afford to charge into the fortified hills, that were sanctioned with defense from the territory. They’d have to find the right approach to broach the hillside. while he didn’t know the enemy forces wherabouts, but he was sure to get some info soon enough.

While they could attempt to coerce the villages to work with the sector to oust the Underground, it was a sure thing that most didn’t even know the wearabouts of the main base.

So he’d have to tackle this another way. Because the territory woud fight them if they tried to force their way into the hills. they’d have to find certain routes accessible and martial law the areas that they needed to take control of the area.

Everything was ready.

He’d have another guest arriving shortly as well. The one who’d helped him up the ranks was now coming to see how the situation faired. He couldn’t disappoint him. no matter what.

He walked to his quarters and got changed for the meeting and headed to the office room to meet up with the man.