●　● Hexa Central HQ, Akkadia One, Eden Space Territories

Lucian stepped into his private office, brow in a full sweat and bags under his eyes. It was evident when he picked up Al earlier he was running low on energy, making it clear he hadn’t slept a wink the whole night before. Closing the door, he pulled out his personal mobile and connected it to his earpiece, answering the incoming call.

“You couldn’t have called at a better time, Knight,” he wearily answered. “I need your contacts- I won’t ask you to do work for us but at least give me ways to find your daughter.”

“What do you mean, ‘find my daughter’?” Al firmly questioned.

“She ran out before our comms went full blank. Jammers went up not long after the storm blew through, complete cloud blockage- Al, we’re fucked. We lost all LACOM capabilities, ground network is fuzzed, and on top of all that, and I mean right before our connections went dead, the older Navarre’s informant got some warning and he along with Samantha and the little brother took off. We can only assume they’re being chased.”

“So, she went missing, and you called me first even though you didn’t even try to contact any of the contacts I did give you earlier…”

“No, Al, no I didn’t. How the hell can I right here and right now?” Lucian huffed in surrender. “We just lost a whole damned freighter full of new Ap50’s on its way to the capital there, all suspected to be Underground terrorists again… and you want me to suggest we-”

“-Right, right. Fuck it all, I’ll do it myself,” Al scorned. “You can’t put yourself in that position, I get it. You’ll end up like me.”

“No,” Lucian put his foot back down after gathering some energy. “You were right earlier, and I need to utilize our resources with your contacts. Just give me a local name that isn’t Tyrus. I can’t waste time on hoping he might have some magical hand to offer.”

Al paused, hesitating to use names over any line. “You know what, I’ll send it to you. It was the only name I got from the remnants of the Galiano family the other day. Get it to Vrey, and I bet you’ll get everyone back. In the meantime, I’ll pull some strings myself.”

“I have most of the board behind me. I’ll get it done.”

“Thank you, Lucian. I’ll be available the rest of the day- just finished… tying a few newer loose ends. Call the second you know something, and same for myself.”

And as Lucian hung up and put his mobile away, he turned for the door and grabbed a document folder on his way out. It’s not that I care that much about him nor have I ever. I just hate the thought of seeing someone who doesn’t deserve it to go through a loss like I have.

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Entering the board meeting room, he returned to a tense atmosphere as all board members seated at the table remained locked in a communication hearing as other staff scurried about with matching intensity. Vincent stood at his spot, speaking over the line.

“These,” Lucian spoke quietly as not to disturb too much, placing the folder on the table. “That’s the correspondence.”

“Mr. Lucian,” Vincent started up as he put a hand over his headset, looking toward him. “You might not need those files after all, listen in.”

Confused, he quickly took his seat and reset his earpiece to the table’s secure channel.

“Now, Mrs. Rodgers,” Vincent continued back where he left off. “It’s not that we don’t trust your intentions, but we won’t just hand over our most valued pilots to Enrai. We need more information so that we can at least align our movements.”

What?! Enrai? Kaylen Rodgers?! She’s connected with the Underground cell in southeastern SAU?! What did I just miss?!

“This IS about the safety of your precious pilots, you imbecile! Listen to yourself!” He heard Kaylen bark back. “I won’t out myself for the hell of it! This is the only way to get them safe passage since they’ve been compromised, damn it!”

How in the ever-living… He shuffled his focus around to find where he last jotted notes, seeing the previous conversation was supposed to focus on Renzo Navarre’s informant. Holy… Kaylen Rodgers was the informant!? It now dawned on him why his colleagues seemed as dead as he was earlier now looked like they had new life breathed into them.

Kaylen continued in that same breath: “Jamming didn’t go up until right after I told Navarre to run! No telling if they’re even still alive!”

“We understand that situation!” Vincent roared back, unwilling to accept such insubordination. “We’ll deal with you later since you are in quite the violation with our contracted agreements, but we do NOT deal openly and directly with the Underground!”

“Tell that to Samantha Knight herself! Tyrus is why she’s still alive!” Kaylen continued, unfazed. “Listen, damn it! I don’t give a shit right now about your authority or my contract agreement!”

Reading the air, Lucian got a bad feeling growing rapidly in his gut. No, no, I have to do something about this. He switched on his mic and interrupted: “Mrs. Rodgers, this is Rafael Lucian speaking.” He paid no attention to the ire he drew from Vincent as he continued. “What can you guarantee if we agree to pass her on to Enrai?”

Kaylen quickly changed her tone back to a more serious one. “I know of a Colombia-side agent in the vicinity who can extract them- just give us your word you won’t intercept or retaliate!”

Lucian’s eyes narrowed. This isn’t a damn negotiation this a plea for permission to save Knight’s daughter! He then cleared his throat, knowing there was no turning back after saying what his mind prepared that instant. I had been noticing how much each operation turns sour without anyone having the damned guts to make tough decisions ever since Knight left. Let me pull a page from his book for once since no one else will!

“All we need, then,” Lucian replied with staunch resolution, “is a guarantee Samantha Knight and her team can make daily communications with us through their encrypted channels and we will guarantee no interference from Hexa as whole!”

His peers’ reactions were that of shock, but yet mixed with enthusiasm. These were the words they appeared to want to say but not with the pressure they were under to stick to corporate policy.

Vincent was of course mightily offended. “Did something else happen on your little trip to your office that I need to know about, Mr. Lucian?”

“With all due respect, sir!” He quickly and unwaveringly rebutted. “Infinity’s presence is undeniably thin between the valleys! Inner city forces there don’t have many boots to put on the ground, jamming runs from there to Medellin, and the next to nearest bases are either overseas or on the Atlantic Coast!” He felt similar energy emanating from behind him as he continued: “Our whole operation is toast if we don’t have our most apt and flight-ready pilots all in on this, AND if we lose them to terrorists, the corporation’s reputation will be largely at stake!”

“And who the bloody hell wants Knight against us this time around?!” His colleague Mugen added. “We can’t afford to just HOPE something works this time!”

Thank God someone else is speaking up on this! Lucian looked back at the screen without exchanging glances with Vincent. “Any more convincing evidence for proof we can trust Enrai? We must act quickly but we can’t be careless, if you understand!”

“Does the name Reaper ring a bell?!” Kaylen added as the collective attention snapped towards her, including Vincent’s. “He’s in Argentina somewhere as we speak! There is no other entity who would be this hell-bent on wiping her off the map before she can continue to be a threat! Do you get the urgency now?!”

“Understood.” Vincent strongly hesitated but ultimately bowed in defeat. “But don’t take these coming concessions as our future willingness to open more doors for cooperation. We have no choice in the matter here with so many key operatives at risk-”

“-We don’t have time for that, now, do we?!” Kaylen cut him off bluntly with grave concern. “If this means we are clear to send a nearby field unit to them we will do just that!”

Vincent took in a breath, holding back for lack of a better approach. “Do what you can, Mrs. Rodgers. Have your superior open contact with us as soon as they can so we can better set up negotiations.”

“And just for the record, Mr. Vrey,” Kaylen added with a sharp accent on his uttered name, “Enrai just so happens to be at war’s door with Bishop over their recent moves and their picking up of Reaper. We don’t know what’s about to happen, but don’t get any wrong ideas.”

The communications closed, prompting each member to pursue the next items of urgency. “You heard her,” Lucian spoke up to the table. “That’s Reaper we can start tracking much more quickly as we also knock out securing little Knight’s group’s safety.” He then turned to see Vincent strangely headed off to his room without a word.

It’s rare to see him bow out of his stance, but is this Reaper character really the bane of his existence or what? I was sure he wouldn’t budge. I’d better talk to Knight again if I can break free. He’s the only one up here who knows Vrey well enough.

And as he got back to focusing on his own tasks at hand, he didn’t let the thought of any threat of losing his position get the best of him after seeing it’d likely be the whole board to be cut if any single member did catch heat.

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●　● Bogota Outskirts, Colombia

[Pull over at the nearest hospital,] Dani called to Renzo from the backseat as she tended to Sebastian’s gunshot wound. [This isn’t good. He’s going to keep bleeding.]

[Still no signal, no way to contact Infinity,] Renzo grumbled, driving slowly but steadily back into town. His eyes constantly checked his mirror, still spooked from the earlier attack.

Sam looked down at the floorboard, reeling from the effects once again of the energy crash that followed an immense and prolonged surge of adrenaline. She couldn’t pick much out of the request other than the word “hospital,” assuming what she meant. She remembered tying his arm but knew it couldn’t do much beyond slow the inevitable. She turned to him once more, seeing how much more blood-soaked the cloth had become, drawing deeper concern from her.

“Hang in there.”

Dani, noticing now with the passing street lights illuminating the cabin despite the rain and the cracks on the windshield, how reddened Sam’s right shoulder was from the blood that ran down earlier. “You look bad, too,” she returned with her own concern.

Renzo knew he had to follow along but nothing sat well with him regardless. [But what do we do with no way to communicate with anyone? We are sitting ducks no matter where we go!] He then saw Sam spacing out again, knowing it wasn’t her intention but still he knew they had to have all their heads together for this. [Bas! Come on, brother! Speak for the girl!]

Sebastian was feeling woozy himself, shaking together some energy to speak. “Sam, we have to go to the hospital, but we don’t know if we are safe even at the hospital. How can we talk to Infinity with no radio?”

Sam knew it wasn’t good news they spoke of since getting back in the truck. “Right, no radio… shit, I don’t think we can do anything.” Her mind wandered for a few moments as was the same for the others, but then a realization hit her. “Wait, Sebastian, ask Renzo how Kaylen got a hold of him, er, how she warned him.”

[Renzo, how did Kaylen contact you?]

Renzo shrugged. [The line got jammed right after. She called me like anyone else would. Why?]

“Stop the car,” Sam suddenly insisted as she started grabbing for her bag. “Stop for one minute.”

Renzo got the message enough, confused yet willing to see what she had in mind with no one having much to lose. [What happened?]

She fished out her communicator, much against her initial desires as she would have to explain a lot to Sebastian, but this she thought how this was literally a life-or-death situation. “She never gave you this.” The three looked on in further confusion as Sam then reached out to Renzo. “Tu celular, por favor.”

[Alright, I guess?] He passed her his mobile once he put the truck in park just behind a dumpster near an empty parking lot. [Here.]

She then remembered one more detail, as she pointed to her ears in a motion that signaled ear pieces, translating well enough to get him to do as such. She put one in and clicked her communicator, feeling her heart start to speed up and felt more tense but more energized by the hope she may have struck gold. “Please work,” she muttered to herself while the other three looked on in continued confusion.

A click and a pop sound came over her borrowed earpiece a few times, getting her hopes up before a lengthy silence had her shoulders slumped. “Shit… come on…”

Then, the truck speakers softly clicked and popped a few times, startling everyone. A soft hum soon followed as eyes darted back and forth.

“I wasn’t expecting to get a call from you this soon, especially all the way from Colombia, Samantha,” spoke the distorted yet soothing voice Sam hadn’t heard in quite some time. And as surprised as the other three were, they were even more surprised by Sam’s appearing to be completely fine with the situation.

“I assume you need assistance. Do you need to reach someone?”