"Que carajo!" The chief immediately yelled out in seeming anger – a phrase Sam had heard an awful lot since her arrival in the country. "So, it IS real news!" He then grabbed both of them by the shoulder and pulled them in a "follow me" manner. "Come! I have a wire radio I need you to use!"

And upon being led up to the administrative office wing, they were motioned to take a seat at a table in one of the small conference rooms. And as Sam nervously took her seat, she noticed a landline device had been set up and placed at the center of the table. And after being told to wait, a few tense minutes passed before both she and Kerry realized this might be their only chance to loosen up and catch a breather.

"I guess this is for the better," Sam mumbled, chin resting on her palm as she stared at the still-closed glass door. She pondered the safety of their LTACs, but she kept in mind there wasn't much anyone could do as long as the two of them kept their key transponders safely on them. "Hopefully Director Braun has something drawn up for this mess."

"I'm surprised you don't have any big ideas for once," Kerry subtly jabbed, leaning back in her seat as she thought back on how lucky they both were. "I still don't get how you dodged that missile as well as that Vulcan fire from near-point blank range."

Sam could have spoken likewise, remembering the unanticipated fire Kerry dodged by a few mere meters. "That does remind me," she spoke as she turned her eyes in her direction, returning a similar, subtle smirk. "I may have crazy ideas too often, but you sure as hell dove straight into a higher setting on Antares, didn't you? After all that refusal before?" She took Kerry's muffled chuckle as admittance. "It's why we're still alive, though," she added in a more serious tone. "I know you hate the feeling it gives you. You know… the head-slamming pain and all…"

Kerry thought to mention the fact she hated playing second fiddle in that sense before taking the full plunge, but she knew more than before how it was an unavoidable difference in sheer volume of experience. "I had to do it at some point. Can't get better and can't keep up if I don't. But yeah, don't remind me…"

Sam let out a defeated chuckle right afterwards, catching Kerry's attention. "I still can't believe after the high-threat level shit we've both managed to take down since the start of the fall, that some stupid ass little planes have us hiding like rabbits."

"Hey, listen," Kerry leaned forward as she tried to lighten the mood. "I remember plenty of stories back from my days in the National Guard. Those things we saw today are no slouch, only held at bay by interceptors or a good ole' fashioned A-7. That XV-1 – I mean, that's what it looked like to me, was always equated to the old storied Warthog. Ever heard of that thing?"

"No, not really."

"Well, maybe they were nothing but old American campfire stories, you know, but anyway," Kerry sighed as she leaned back once more. "There's no way in hell after seeing that level of engagement from the military that the world isn't watching with all eyes."

And it was as if the last of their nerves had finally settled, right as the flashbacks of the maimed civilians cropped up in both of their minds. A mutually heavy silence followed, neither feeling comfortable speaking of it. Sam had become more and more desensitized to death, but it was always those directly involved with some form of conflict up until then. It was the first time she had seen completely innocent bystanders swallowed up like that, and by the military of all entities.

Even Kerry couldn't shake it off despite her own experiences years back. "I hoped I'd never have to see a similar sight the rest of my life. It's kind of why I joined Hexa's Infinity in the first place."

I remember her talking about what she saw back in her hometown with the Guard. Sam let out a difficult sigh, knowing she had nothing to positively contribute. This kind of sick shit never happened back in Akkadia, or anywhere in Eden at that rate.

"Speaking of the world watching with all eyes. I know that all got out on the media. Well, if it could, that is."

Sam took the change of topic gladly as she nodded before reminding herself of their biggest setback, possibly. "Ugh, right. We'll never know though with this kind of jamming still going on, and it's been for days!"

The sound of approaching feet and indiscriminate conversation stirred them back up, and seconds later the door opened as two different men came in with a separate cable they ran from somewhere, hooking it to the back of the device. They smiled back at the two pilots before backing away, nodding as if they didn't know what to say. After a confused glance exchanged between Sam and Kerry, the chief from earlier appeared in a nervous sweat.

"Please excuse me," he spoke while catching his breath, furiously tapping away at the screen display on the handset. "We keep these, ahn, just in case." He then backed away, checking to see if the monitor connected, and then entered a contact initiation sequence.

This book was originally published on Royal Road. Check it out there for the real experience.

"Now it all makes sense," Sam whispered to Kerry.

"Right. With all this jamming, sometimes even antiques come in handy."

After another minute, the chief finally had a transmission coming through. "Done!" He exclaimed, backing up once more to see Director Braun on screen. He of course failed to notice the immense relief on both of his guests' faces as he patting each of their shoulders, standing between the two. "Mr. Director, I have your pilots here!"

"Thank God you two are safe," a likewise relieved Director Braun quickly spoke up upon hearing the other side. "As you can tell by now, we are calling off a lot of our operations until further notice. Which means, you two need to stay put until I send for you."

Sam bit her tongue. She knew the threat wouldn't change just because she felt some way about sitting idle once again. "Yes, sir. Kerry here led us to this place. Glad she spotted it."

Come to think of it, it is a miracle we're able to sit here safe and out of view. I bet the fighters couldn't see our move, and they're radar-blind, too.

"Good work on that, Melancon. Your mid-sortie calculations must be well trained," the Director nodded. "But listen, I need you to be on standby. And keep the TV on, because where you are I assume you have no access to our other partner organization."

Sam thought to correct him, but realized it could be a huge risk and an even bigger potential mistake if she were to reveal she had the communicator with her in front of others. "Are we looking to see how the SAU continues to react?"

"We fear greater retribution given what just unfolded over at the Assembly Hall," he added while Sam winced, knowing he was holding his punches for her direct strike on SAU forces. "So, with the exception of our security details posted around the Casa Rosada protest rallies, we pulled back all forces completely. "Stay low, and stay informed as best as you can until we reconnect."

Kerry put a hand up but immediately retracted it. Sam could tell what she meant to ask, normally being one to quickly catch key details left out.

"We'll remain here. Thank you."

After closing the connection, the chief let out a tense sigh as he started back for the door. [This new contract money had better be worth it,] he spoke to someone who had been waiting outside for him. [I didn't expect to hear something like that from their supervisor,] he continued, referencing the Director's warning of the SAU's retaliation. "Now," he turned and spoke to the two who were still seated. "Let us finish deciding where you can stay and wait. Come. We don't want you by the window," he spoke with an uncomfortable smile, nodding toward what was behind them.

The blinds were closed, but both Sam and Kerry saw his point, quickly using it as a reason to get up and follow him.

"I know what you wanted to ask, but good thinking not bringing it up," Sam whispered to Kerry as they started to walk over toward the door.

"Yeah, let's just take what we can get," Kerry answered, uncomfortably raising her brow.

.

.

●　● Monserrat District, Buenos Aires, Argentina, SAU

The sun had long set hours ago, but the area surrounding the Casa Rosada was seemingly lit as brightly as day with the number of spotlights and headlights pouring in and around the throng of protestors. Infinity's Ai20's stood in ranks, one to the east side of Plaza de Mayo, and one between the Plaza and the Casa Rosada building itself, all in an attempt to prevent or ward off any forced entry by some unfriendly Underground faction, if not at least present the image of a tough wall to crack before anyone could try anything. The threat, however, of the supposedly impending coup had them on edge. And meanwhile above, two police hovercrafts circled around in their own patrol routes while keeping an eye on the sky. It was all something Sebastian wasn't expecting to lay his eyes on as Rodrigo pulled his pickup truck up three blocks away from their view from the Avenido Belgrano intersection.

[This is as close as we can go, brother,] Rodrigo spoke as he put the truck into park unlocked the doors. [Any closer and we risk not just losing our wheels but losing a lot more, if you know what I mean.]

The two stepped out from where they parked curbside, slamming the doors shut and grabbed their backpacks from the truck bed, both stuffed to the brim.

Sebastian hadn't imagined making such a move in the blind, feeling an overwhelming sense of both humility and guilt the entire trip over from Colombia. [I wish I had spoken up sooner,] he spoke up as he shouldered his bag and waited for Rodrigo before crossing the empty street. [I realize this is the worst way to do this,] he added in reference to the situation that them deaf and blind; Rodrigo had earlier explained to him how any time a critical event occurred, all local bands would switch and would require their communication devices to be recalibrated by special equipment he didn't have. And given the news, it made sense that Rodrigo's equipment from Enrai didn't connect to any network.

[Hey, it's not like we're coming up on an enemy camp or some shit like that. We're both easily identified by Hexa. Let's just get to the APC stationed over there- I know they'd have some way of pointing us to someone within Enrai, if not Cruella at least.]

A loud rumble slowly ramped up in volume as both of their attention had been fully captured by a distant steam enshrouded object approaching from above. The sight had both of them walking forward with more confidence, having seen what they wished would come at some point before their arrival. The emerging structure revealed it to be of the same landing craft that Sam arrived on that past summer, and it was clear that Hexa was not taking the events lightly- in fact, this was the heaviest hand Sebastian had ever seen Hexa play. [You know,] Sebastian started to speak up before something else caught his attention.

[What the…] Rodrigo spoke with heightened alarm, noticing from across the sky a flash and a streak across the sky, quickly followed by several more. All of them zipped right for the landing craft as both nearly dropped their bags to run.

[Get to cover!] Rodrigo barked as the two darted immediately for the covered stoop of the car dealership building they just walked past.

If you find any errors ( broken links, non-standard content, etc.. ), Please let us know < report chapter > so we can fix it as soon as possible.