Sam stood up in utter shock, unable to contribute nor refute the brief but relieved collection of shouts and verbal updates over several lines. No way… she thought, still stuck in her stupor, jaw slightly agape. It couldn’t have been that easy. Not Zay, not after how easily he handled us before…

She felt a hand at her shoulder, causing her to jump before turning to see it was Al. “Dad!?” But as she looked up to him, distraught, she now saw a father who wouldn’t be aware of a thing if his own son Isaiah had just met his demise. The guilt from moments ago was now doubled, especially knowing she was only telling herself that it wasn’t Isaiah just now biting the dust. Her mind now raced, realizing he would be reading her face by now.

And he was. “Sam, did something else happen!? Why are you looking like you just saw a ghost?!” he prodded concerningly, hands on her shoulders. “Your boy just pulled off a miracle! Why aren’t you-”

“-Dad, I…” She struggled to come up with any words at all amidst the flurry of emotions caught between her denial of the events unfolding and the desires to see Isaiah meet his due justice, but not now, not like this, and not in front of their father.

“And by the way,” he continued with a sudden air of suspicion. “What was Sebastian apologizing to you for just now? Right before he took care of the Cloak.” But he waited for a response only to watch her focus painfully fade away. “I’ve seen this all over you too many times before. You know something I don’t, and seeing how the timing is, Sam, I think you’d best tell me.”

She could no longer hear the constant communications chatter all around them, feeling as if the eyes of even her mother in addition were staring through her. She agonized over the thought of telling her about Isaiah, but feeling too exposed to continue acting as if her troubles were of separate origin, knowing that there would be no way she could make any kind of convincing diversion.

“Dad…” She felt her stomach in her throat, knowing she had no choice but to spill it. But the second she found strength to get more words going, she felt his hands lift away from her shoulders. Only now could she continue eye contact, this time with the concern directed toward him instead. “Dad?”

He was looking down at the floor, paralyzed in thought. It was a long few seconds before he looked back at her. “Who stuck that knife in you back in Dhaka?”

“What?!” Why would he bring that up, now of all times?!

“Sam,” Al continued, still staring at the floor. “I remember now. A man possibly from the NAU who you said left that scar on you… Sebastian was the only other one who knew of his existence when he saved you.” Voice trembling, he now found the focus and strength to look back up at her with a despair in his eyes that almost drew her to tears. “And he just said… ‘I’m sorry, Sam,’ for what? Who did he just kill?”

Sam could only shake her head, too paralyzed by his pleading stare to speak. No… there’s no way… But before she could finish her thoughts, Sebastian’s voice coming back over the radio caught her attention in a manner that would strengthen the grip on her soul even more.

[Andre! He’s collapsing!] His shout rang through her core, reminding her in the worst of times what it was she had done. She wasn’t sure what happened exactly, but the dots started connecting themselves very quickly no matter how much she tried to shoo away the thoughts. “Kerry! Somebody, get him to safety, now!”

“Coming!” Kerry’s exasperated voice quickly joined in. “HQ, I just cleared that last threat! Requesting for immediate medevac!”

[Tend to him!] Sebastian answered back. [I will keep watch for any remaining forces!]

Sam in that next moment already pictured hearing Sebastian and Kerry’s voices screaming or coughing out in pain as her ability to stay shut rapidly crumbled. She knew it wasn’t her brother just now. Rather, she was now deathly terrified not only for Andre’s condition but now for the two she wished she had done more on her part before sending them off as poorly as she had. She turned back to her workstation with a whirl, grabbed her headset and blared out: “No! That’s not who you think it is! Sebastian, Kerry! Full alert! We will send an armed escort with that medevac!”

Al swiftly grabbed her wrist and her full attention with what looked to her a fit of outrage she hadn’t seen in years, adding more to the terror. “Sam, damn it! Those are your people out there! What are you hiding!?” he seethed through his clenched teeth. “Who was that just now and why are they in trouble all of the sudden?!”

“Shit!” Kerry’s voice interrupted them once more. “HQ! I got Andre with me! Fuck! He’s taken shrapnel or something to the chest! Damn it- Andre, hold it together! Stay with me-Sam! Sam! Answer me, damn it!”

Those last words were now knives to the heart. It was something else she couldn’t dodge, pinned between her guilt and her father’s catching on.

“Why isn’t Andre wearing his armor!?” Kerry continued to cry out furiously amongst Andre’s woefully audible, painful groans. “Did you do this on purpose, Sam!? Answer me!”

That was it. She remembered now exactly what happened. She felt like she didn’t owe Andre a damned thing earlier when she purposefully left Andre out of the loop, and now she realized he might die for her thoughtless, careless, selfish act. And if she really believed the Cloak Sebastian downed wasn’t Isaiah, that meant he was already swooping in to claim both his and Kerry’s heads and it would be her fault as well. And with those fears and the desire to scream out building up, an adrenaline-fueled yank of her arm freed it from her father’s grasp as she belted out: “Let go of me!” And with that momentum she took off for the door in a sprint.

“Hey!” Al burst out and started to chase her, only to stop right after as he realized where she was headed. “Lock the Axiom!” he barked toward one of the operators next to him. “Don’t let her launch!”

“Close gate three!” an operators voice relayed the command as he rushed back to his station. With both hands now firmly on the edge of the table and his heart rate rapidly rising, he remained there in silence, seemingly struggling with various thoughts and emotions storming inside. And against the norm, which would usually consist of him quick to belt out orders, always making his intentions clear, he instead sat there amongst the chaos that was the constant stream of field operation communications and shouts exchanged. He then found himself standing up and staring down Tricky.

She sensed something amidst her monitoring of Devin’s team’s situation, stepping back to answer his call. “What happened just now?!”

“I need a favor,” he firmly requested, dodging her question. “And I can pay any price you ask. Anything.”

.

Sam rushed out of the locker room, having just changed into her pilot suit with her bag in hand, making a desperate dash for the hangar. Nearly plowing into a pair of crewmen in their own hurry for the hangar, she could only keep a very limited focus on what was in front of her, clouded by agonizing regret and fear of the worst.

If only I had thought about more than just myself!

Spotting her Axiom standing there with the ladder still extended, she ran right up to it, jumping up to the highest step she could reach from the ground and hurriedly but clumsily made her way up.

Everyone careful in planning and executing but me! Just sitting there and wallowing in self-pity!

She threw herself into the seat and reached down for the plate carrier rig under her seat, and with each arm she put through and each buckle fastened was a dagger through her heart. And here I am doing what would have saved Andre if I had swallowed my damned pride!

Unaware of the tears starting to fall down her cheeks, she yanked at the harness straps and buckled them in with record speed, then reached up to pull the helmet down.

And now I see what’s most wrong with me! Sebastian should hate my guts by now! And Kerry- oh my God, please tell me they’re all still alright!

And as she affixed her headset and earpiece before throwing her helmet on, all she heard over the next seconds were silence. But amidst such a rush of emotions, it didn’t occur to her what had to have been going on. Several taps of her earpiece and the side of her helmet failed to get her connection to the radio up nor did it wake up the visor monitor. “Come the fuck on! What gives?!”

Her imagination then took over as she furiously began searching for something she perhaps forgot to set up, feeling her desire to scream wildly ratchet up. And just as she felt her fingers go into a grip so tight she felt her nails dig into her skin and just came a second shy of ripping out a shriek of utter frustration and desperation, a soft ping from her headset matched a sudden blue glow from her visor.

“Antares Operating System, power on. Initializing. Please Wait,” spoke the system’s automated voice, and with it came a release of built up steam as hope started to pour into Sam’s mind.

“Yes! Thank you!” she shouted out as she quickly clicked through several commands the instant the screen changed to pre-launch sequences. And as her eye cameras came online, she looked up to see the launch gate was starting to open. Why was this even closed to begin with? Everyone and their mom knows these are to be kept open!”

.

Back at the control room, Al was sitting motionless at his station, hand over his face.

“Are we clear, Mr. Knight?” he heard Vincent’s imposing voice over his headset, refusing to answer in turn for holding in his pent up anger. “You have no authority to meddle with executive orders I place directly. We are in a critical situation here, and we cannot afford to waste not one resource.”

His breath began to tremble, struggling to keep strength enough to hold back, but with each word, it became more and more difficult.

“We must keep Navarre’s team up and moving until we confirm that Cloak pilot’s identity, and with Nguyen out, Samantha must take his place as she’s the only one capable. Don’t pretend you can’t make such sacrifices. Don’t make me bring up similar choices you made years back.”

That last line was the last straw, teeth now clenched tight as he drew in a deep breath. “Don’t you dare go there.” He straightened up as he menacingly let out his threat. “You have me with my hands tied, for now,” he added as his head cocked. “But once this is all said and done, this is going to all come down on you, not me.”

“Mr. Knight,” Tricky’s voice whispered from behind.

“Mark my words,” Al finished as he threw his headset down, now turning to face Tricky. “Can it be done?” he now spoke with a lowered volume.

“My men are working on it now as we speak,” she spoke in an equal tone. “But we will hold you to this promise.”

“Just make it happen.”

.

.

Across town where Sebastian stood over the downed Cloak, police and Infinity crowd control had just finished taping off the block and fought to hold back agitated and fearful onlookers. But the most agitated and fearful there was he himself as he found himself hesitating, unable to take off his helmet and get up from his seat and out the open cockpit. He gripped the receiver of his PDW, clutching it tightly and up against the chest region of his plate carrier, forcing himself to slow down his breathing. He heard Kerry’s intermittent, pleading calls for medevac to hurry while constantly checking the scanners for explosives or threats on foot in the vicinity.

“Get that ID, Navarre!” he heard from one end of the communications channel.

“This is a definite case of hemothorax! I can’t do shit from here- somebody hurry!” he heard Kerry from the other end.

He didn’t know how that happened to him, but it was the first time he felt this exposed and helpless. Even throughout his experiences that had him under direct fire, this situation was somehow different. He finally found the resolve to flip up his visor and pull off his helmet, leaning forward enough to look down. He saw heavy police presence down the street about fifty meters away, which should have given him enough confidence to push forward.

[Why can’t I move?!]

“Navarre, right?] a voice called out he didn’t recognize, causing him to sit back down and put back on his helmet and visor.

“Who is this?” he asked before realizing there was a pair of Ap50’s just behind him.

“We’ve been reassigned! Go get that ID! We will cover for you! And medevac is ETA thirty seconds!”

A huge sigh of relief left his lungs, feeling like it was just a matter of waiting before at least part of the situation could clear up. He got himself back to where he was earlier and finally made his way quickly but carefully down the ladder.

[Tell me you’re holding on there, Andre!] he shouted over his headset along the way.

“He’s not responding anymore, Sebastian!” Kerry cried back, fueling his haste as the thought of Andre fading pushed him to hurry up and do the only thing he could do at this point.

Upon reaching the asphalt below, he made haste, PDW shouldered and in a bee-line for the Cloak. He hadn’t seen it this up close and personal before, making the mood that much heavier. These had claimed so many lives, yet there it lay silent and harmless, and assumably lifeless as well. His pace slowed as he approached the cockpit area of the monstrosity, leaving him wondering how to approach the hatch area due to the shredded armor and opened holes riddling the area.

But upon closer inspection, the hatch door setup was eerily similar to the Gamma units he was so familiar with. Subconsciously by habit, he reached with his freed left hand for the external switch plate he was accustomed to using for entry. And only the bottom half seemed to partially function, and with no choice, he took in a few heavy, difficult breaths before pulling it open by force with that same open hand, unsure of what was waiting for him on the inside.

[Please tell me it’s…] he mumbled aloud through his teeth, pulling with all his might before it eventually hit the bump-stop, signaling to him it was as open as it would get. PDW back up at the ready, he slowly climbed up and peered inside amongst the smoke pouring out.

[Shit…]

His heart was already beating out of his chest, but that word slipped out as he instantly felt faint at the sight of the body. It wasn’t the blood or the stench, it was that the sleeves of the lifeless pilot were rolled up, revealing the body was nowhere near the same skin complexion as Sam’s alleged brother. It wasn’t the body he expected to see whether he had hoped it to be true or not.

And without any further confirmation, he quickly ducked back out into the street, now feeling as if he couldn’t stand up straight from the panic kicking in. [This… this was the trap…] he continued mumbling, awkwardly spinning around as if to look around each of the building tops surrounding them. [This was a trap!]

“Get back in the cockpit!” Kerry screamed out as she caught sight of him looking around, dangerously exposed. “I don’t know what the hell you mean, but if it’s shit hitting the fan, get back to safety!” And as she finished shouting, the sounds of humming hover drives drowned out her continued thoughts as she looked down to see Andre still breathing, albeit shallow and too rapid of a pace. “Hang in there! I hear the medevac! They’re here!”

“Navarre, sitrep!” Al shouted in Sebastian’s ear as he stumbled his way up the ladder.

[I… I don’t know what…] He instead chose to wait until he got back into his seat and doors sealed before taking a few deep breaths to settle down and collect his thoughts. [I don’t know how to say it, but that wasn’t the Cloak’s pilot. It was a decoy.] And through the next pair of deep, trembling breaths, he remembered something else he had to say while the line remained quiet. [Sam… please don’t hate me for what I tried to do.]

Al finally broke the silence on his end. “I… won’t even ask. Navarre, you and your team report back. You’re no good out there anymore in the state you’re all in.”

Sebastian knew that would be the logical choice with Andre out and Kerry not even flight-ready, but the guilt still sank in on him, feeling as if he would have to betray Sam’s wishes once more. There was just no way in his mind her brother wasn’t coming for him after that decoy stunt.

[Or, wait, was this to distract us so they could hit a different target?]

With a snap of his reflexes, he buckled his helmet straps and pulled his visor down, now rushing to get his mobility systems back up.

[SHIT! That’s exactly what his is!]

“Navarre!” Al shouted out after waiting for a response. “Medics have Nguyen loaded up and en route to base! Get Melancon and yourself back, now!”

[Kerry! I had it all wrong! They lured us out to expose HQ’s western block! That’s where they will hit!] Sebastian called out, ignoring Al’s command.

“Hold on, I have to load back up!” Kerry quickly answered back with her catching of her breath loudly noticeable. “And listen, Sebastian! Andre’s unconscious! We need to protect that medevac!”

Sebastian turned to watch the hovercraft take off with its lights flashing, quickly rising above the tops of the nearby buildings before accelerating. Shaking his head, he went back to finishing his own launch prep. [No, it’s not us they’re after! It’s HQ! If-]

He was cut off by the echoes of rifle fire from the distance that caused his eyes to dart back to the sky, finding trails of black smoke spewing from one of the thrusters of the medevac as it started careening toward the ground below. He was wrong again, and his heart froze in that instant. [What- NO! ANDRE!]