Avery watched as the sky lit up with a smile on her face that froze when she felt the familiar presence of Rinku draw close to her.
"You sacrificed my subordinates." He said calmly.
She nodded. "Tim and Veronica were unaccounted for and I didn't trust that either Phoenicks didn't just knock Alice out and hide her. It'd be child's play for them. Needed distractions while I took care of the variables."
"Perhaps we should've entreated the Spire to aim their ORG at the base. Or dropped a nuclear bomb." He mused.
"Overkill. But the planet won't survive long enough to be bothered with something like nuclear fallout." She said crisply.
He chuckled smugly and nodded. "That is true. But I'd appreciate you keeping that information to yourself for the time being, if you don't mind."
"One down, one to go. I'll keep your secret if you keep mine." She said, her fingers tracing over the rapier's hilt.
He smiled. "Of course."
~
"So, is this it? This is the resistance that's given us the runaround for months?" Caspar said, walking up and down the line in front of his five prisoners.
"Give or take." Clint replied with a grin.
Caspar nodded. "There's a few from your number missing, sure. Halo, Miss Chase, Tim. But I'm fairly certain Avery took care of that."
"We'll find out." Clint said, maintaining his cheerful demeanor.
Caspar had been nothing but fair to his prisoners since they came into his custody, so Clint suggested they stay on his good side as much as possible. He might not be as physically strong and Fuse or Alice were, but he could kill them just as easily. And they didn't need Armand alive to access the vault.
"This is the dreaded armor you Vanguard are so proud of, is it?" He said, using his foot to poke through the pieces. "Fuse wore one of these, didn't he?"
"Yes." Eve said tersely.
"I've already got my men working on new armors, but since Lin designed this one specifically, maybe I'll give it to the brains down in tech to use as a foundation."
"Not anyone can use that." Eve warned. "It's just mismatched parts that'll rip you apart if you're not careful."
"I got a report that Halo was seen wearing it on the Spire. Shouldn't be too difficult for me if that animal could handle it."
"Yeah, she wore it and it wound up killing her." Rebecca said. "Tore her body to pieces and overloaded her accelerated healing."
Caspar nodded his acknowledgement. "Regardless..." A couple of soldiers hefted the bag and carried it from the area while he appraised his prisoners once more. "Here's how this is going to go; I expect a certain amount of animosity from you. Nobody likes to be a prisoner. Allowing for that within reason, so long as you remain agreeable and do what you're told, when you're told, there should be no issues."
He gestured for Eve to rise, which she did, giving the others a nervous look.
"That said, this is my first time taking prisoners and I've been told that I should set an example for what happens when you don't heed my advice." He said, driving his fist deep into Eve's stomach.
The woman's vomit was tinged red as she sunk to her knees then fell to the side onto Rebecca's lap. Caspar stood silently, carefully wiping his hand on his trousers for nearly a minute before clapping both his hands together, then spreading his arms. "Right, so, do you understand?"
They all nodded except for Eve, who had fainted from pain and internal injuries.
Caspar nodded as well and pointed at her. "Go ahead and take her to medical, then take these four to the commissary for something to eat."
The soldiers saluted and hefted Eve off Rebecca and half dragged her through a door. Caspar was heading in a different direction, but stopped and turned to face his prisoners. "Please do not make the mistake of thinking I can be reasoned with or am sympathetic. You will die here and I will be the one who kills you. But I have it on good authority that Fuse may be returning soon and I'd like him to witness your deaths, as well as those of anyone else who's foolish enough to ally themselves with him against us. Whatever it was you may think you have been planning was doomed to fail before you'd even conceived of this rebellion. But until then, you are people and deserve to be treated with what little civility I can muster for you."
Once he was gone Rebecca and Clint look at each other in disbelief. They didn't dare speak, but hearing that Fuse had survived gave them hope. The brothers Phoenicks, however, looked particularly dour and didn't hold back their comments.
"You should've destroyed the contents of that vault instead of simply locking it behind a DNA sequence." Sebastian muttered.
Armand groaned. "That's like telling me to destroy a part of myself."
"Did you even consider the possibility that you'd be taken? Or that I'd be taken? We're twins, you fool."
"I considered it, but who could've predicted this level of insanity happening?"
Sebastian sighed heavily. "I'll give you the point on that one. It was still foolish of you to leave behind so much dangerous data."
Armand shrugged. "Nothing to do about it now. Now, when's dinner?"
The soldiers left with them shook their heads in annoyance before ordering them to rise and follow them through the base entrance.
"Ever thought you'd get this close to the action?" Clint asked, leaning his head back to talk to Rebecca.
She scowled. "Honestly, I'm beginning to regret my entire life over the last ten years."
"Your entire life?"
"Not the time, Roberts." She muttered.
He grinned. "No, I mean, I'm just saying..."
"I've never wished for someone to tell us to stop talking more in my life." She grumbled, looking at one of the soldiers walking beside them and sighing when he shrugged.
~
"You're not seriously considering using that, are you?" Avery asked as the armor lit up and cinched down on Caspar's body.
"The C-Corp girl designed this specifically for Fuse." He said, gingerly testing movements. "The Vanguard woman warned me that this was dangerous, but Halo used it."
"Halo was a freak. She was too strong for her own good and too stupid to know what to do with it."
"She also said that it killed Halo. Too wild."
Avery rolled her eyes. "See? Besides, don't those units have helmets that help regulate their output? And those pieces look mismatched."
"Only one way to find out how dangerous this thing really is." He said, picking up his sword and lowering into a draw stance.
Avery winced as she heard several sickening cracks and barely ducked the sword as it flew from Caspar's hand and sunk nearly to the hilt into the concrete wall behind her. As for Caspar himself, he stared down at the useless arm hanging at his side. It was several inches longer than his left now, but he didn't appear to be in any pain. In fact, he seemed amused.
"So this is why everyone's still so afraid of him." He said, then walked over to his desk and tapped on the keyboard before staring up at the screen. Several videos of Fuse in armor started playing. "He's able to control this power somehow."
"You need to get into a tank and fix that arm." She said, but Caspar didn't hear her. Nothing else existed for him right now other than the man on the screen.
~
Avery's heels clacked down the hallway as she rounded into Rinku's office. He sat at his desk scowling down at a screen as he'd been doing more often lately. But he looked up when she stopped walking and smiled broadly.
"I feel like an idiot." She spat.
"You certainly cut an imposing figure." He said. "I'm glad my ideas worked out so well. Truly a superior version of the Vanguard armor."
Avery's armor was minimal allowing for more freedom of movement and making the adaptation and adjustment process redundant. Most of the armoring was over the joints themselves with the undersuit built into each separate unit. It was also much lighter while improving the output and protection by a factor of ten. By comparison, the prototype Lin had created was little more than weighted metal and wiring.
"I wouldn't crow too loudly, sir." She said, dropping onto a couch as Rinku rounded the desk and sat down in a plush armchair. "The boosted performance was traded for overall protection. In that regard, that prototype is still superior. But if you'd like me to ruin your day completely..."
Rinku shrugged. "Do your best."
"Tech discovered that the prototype was incomplete. There's supposed to be a helmet. Without that, its output was throttled by the undersuit to roughly three percent."
"Is that so?" He said thoughtfully. "So you're saying my design is worse?"
"It's argue it's more efficient. The sacrifices made compared to the prototype make it an overall superior product. But in short, it is weaker." She explained, rattling off the information she'd received. "They also said it shows a refinement in its creation that suggests a familiarity with the design. Less of a rough prototype and more a reproduction."
"The armor Fuse wore in Coast City was the original."
Avery nodded. "I'd wager that it was throttled as well since it was simply a test type and testing wasn't complete before the Vanguard attacked."
"I imagine Caspar isn't thrilled with this information given he's been fighting with that armor for weeks now despite having his own personal unit ready to go."
She laughed. "That's putting it mildly. He's like a man possessed."
"Is he getting any better?"
She shook her head. "Even with Eve's help and advice, he's just breaking his body over and over."
"And how is Eve?"
"Your control seems to be holding just fine." She said indifferently. "She's done everything we've asked her to do and then some. The only issue is that she seems overly attached to that armor and is hesitant to remove it when ordered."
"Perhaps it's time I have a discussion with Caspar and we simply... let her have the armor. Not worth risking a break over something we've already made more efficient, yes?"
"I'd have to agree. But convincing Caspar'll might also be more trouble than it's worth."
Rinku waved his hand dismissively. "You leave him to me. How are your preparations going?"
"Smoothly. I'm nearly there, then it'll just be a matter of time. Assuming our deal still holds when the time comes."
He smiled conspiratorially and nodded. "Time will tell, Miss Avery. Time will tell. Who knows what tomorrow will bring?"
Avery took that as her cue to leave and got up off the couch. Rinku rose as well, giving her an appraising look, which soured her expression. "You already know what my answer is. I've seen what happens to the women who share your bed."
"I can be gentle." He said calmly, then laughed. "No, I know better than to ask, Miss Avery. But you can't blame me for thinking it."
"As long as we know where the line is, Rinku, you can ogle all you like." She said, walking from the room.
"Yes, the line." He said to himself with a chuckle before returning to his desk and dropping into the chair. The scowl returned as he considered her words about the armors. He was certain he managed to outdo Lin's work, but it was hiding more secrets from him than he'd anticipated from an artificial creature. "We all must acknowledge where the line is, don't we?"
More motivated than ever, he tapped on the screen once more.
~
Tim looked down at the older woman, shaking his head slowly. "Not the way this was supposed to go, boss."
Despite the migraines becoming debilitating, Veronica adamantly refused to be taken to a hospital, even after someone had given them a ride to Satan City. Instead, she talked constantly, telling Tim who to trust, who to test, and who to avoid and reasons why for each one. She also told him how to deal with Clint and Rebecca.
As the days passed, however, she spoke less and less until finally asking for him to leave the abandoned farmhouse so she could speak to Alice privately. He had a feeling, but pushed it out of his head until that morning.
"You've been preparing me for this eventuality since the freighter, haven't you?" He asked the woman. "To take over for you."
"Her injuries were worse than she let on." Alice signed.
"Stubborn to the end. Wanted to make sure we had everything we could." He muttered, then kicked the pallet. "Why couldn't you just let us take you to a hospital!?"
Alice circled around beside him and took his hand, forcing the fist open before entwining her fingers into his. He sighed and shook his head. "She was grooming me, but Clint had more time with her."
She released his hand began signing. "Clint's a solid leader, but he's not a soldier. This is a war and we need soldiers leading us, not spies. She must've figured that out at some point and shifted her attention to you."
"Intelligence operative." He mumbled, remembering Clint's emotional stubbornness at the Spire when it came to getting Eve to the pontoon. "We don't give you enough credit, Alice. You're smarter than you let on."
She smiled and took his hand again.
"I guess we need to rally our allies to go get our friends back." He said after a few minutes. "And get you back into fighting condition while we're at it."