"Did you really need me to come along?" Tim asked as they walked down the hall.
Veronica gave him her usual all-knowing smile. "I'm not a combatant, dear."
He sighed. Since leaving the Phoenicks' compound, Veronica had warned him not to speak too much as she'd be working through things in her head, so it'd been a quiet and relatively uneventful journey. But it gave him time to watch the older woman. She seemed to put herself into something of a trance while they traveled, only coming out of it when necessary.
Tim had asked her what she was doing, and she briefly explained that she was putting her body on autopilot to dedicate more resources to her mind. This was enough for Tim to figure out that that was how it seemed like she knew everything. She was simply playing out scenarios in her mind constantly, using what she knew from years of observing others as the foundation to guess their responses and actions.
It wasn't predicting the future, but it ensured that no matter what happened, she wouldn't be surprised by it and could react without losing her composure. He also had a feeling that she wanted him to come along, not just because he was the only viable option, but because she wanted him to see how she operated up close so he could take over for her in case something happened.
As a tracker, it meant he had to think faster than others did to account for changes on the fly. She must've seen that as a useful tool to have and develop into something more. The woman truly considered every possibility, and that made her more dangerous than even Caspar and Rinku.
"Miss Chase." A voice said through a speaker.
Veronica smile sweetly, though there was no visible camera. "Hello, Eriq with a 'q'. How've you been?"
"Can't complain. Heard you've been having troubles, though."
"Nothing I can't handle. Your little toy predicted I'd be coming, didn't it? So you know what I'm here for."
There was silence, then the door opened to a lavish office that Tim thought felt a little too cliche. But the man standing in front of the large oak desk was anything but. He was pale and his skin was pockmarked with various ports. Tim's sharp eyes also noticed his eyes also seemed to be artificial. He was dressed in what looked like a diaper at first, but was just a kaupinam.
"I can see you brought one of Phoenicks' toy soldiers with you. Or are they Rinku's now?"
"Neither. He's mine." Veronica said. "Protection on the road, observation in the office. You know how it goes."
"The office." He said thoughtfully, but it was a clear dig at her. "And have you finished calculating every conceivable permutation? Followed every branching path to its conclusion?"
She laughed. "As always, Eriq, I've barely scratched the surface, but I've got enough information to work from for now. I think you've been leading the GA or whatever they're calling themselves now on wild goose chases across the continent when, in reality, none of your people have even made a move. But when they've been chasing their tails long enough, you'll act and catch them all off guard."
Eriq smiled. "I'll never understand how you can guess so accurately every time. But allow me to show off a bit; You're looking to build an army. But you need infrastructure, otherwise it's just another rebellion that'll be easily squashed under the might of the New Gods. So you've come to me, hoping I'll provide that missing infrastructure and quietly do most of the work for you."
She snapped her fingers, pointing at him. "Got it in one."
"And your leadership? Kurokawa Fuse would be best suited to the role. But I hear he's no longer on the planet. Among other things. Things of great interest to you."
Tim saw her confident facade crack slightly at the mention of Fuse's name and she was doing her best to stay composed. She hadn't even gotten to see him at the Spire, something he knew weighed heavily on her. Eriq's smile deepened.
"A child of your own, but your maternal side only manifests when it concerns him." He said, spreading his arms. "We've been acquainted long enough that you cannot hide things like this from me anymore."
"Is... Is he alive?" She stammered.
Tim caught a moment of sharpness in her eye and realized this was part of her act.
"Very much so. And he has amassed a number of defectors to his side, I believe. If the information is accurate. Two of Rinku's, a boy from Albion, the Vanguard woman, and..." He shook slightly, looking enraged before his calm demeanor returned. "The girl."
"Two of Rinku's? Who?" Tim asked, stepping forward.
Eriq looked over at him lazily. "Jacen Porter and Lucille Gast."
Veronica made a harrumphing noise and Tim stepped back and gave her an apologetic look. "Before we exchange anymore information, I need to know where you stand on my plan."
"Return the girl to us and we'll consider ourselves allied." He replied simply, picking up a cord and plugging it into one of the ports on his chest.
"She's not mine to return. You'll have to take that up with Kurokawa."
"But it was on your order she was taken-"
"After your people beat, starved, and abandoned her to be killed by the GA when she failed to meet your demands." Veronica snapped.
He stared at her for several long seconds before exhaling. "Then a revised condition; You must admit that you've known about Rinku since his arrival and his possible connection to the girl. You must admit that you used Kurokawa Fuse to keep her out of his hands. As well as your intent to use her for the very thing you're coming to me for now. And you must admit that to both Kurokawa Fuse and the girl, in front of your peers."
"How can you be sure I'll-"
"I will know." He said sagely. "Armand Phoenicks is not so hidden that he escapes my eyes. Do this, and I will consider your debt paid and we can ally ourselves against this common enemy."
Veronica turned and walked through the door that slid open, leaving Tim to nod his thanks before jogging after her. Once they'd exited back out into the dense forest that hid the compound, she slammed her fist into a tree and roared in rage.
"Played me like a goddamn child." She growled, examining the split skin on her knuckles.
"He was testing you?" Tim asked carefully.
She glowered at him. "Yes, he was testing me. He wanted to see if I'd take the obvious bait. Returning Lin would be easy, but then he'd know he couldn't trust me to remain loyal. I'd already planned on revealing the truth to everyone, but I didn't think he'd be watching. Means I can't be clever with my wording."
"If you knew about all of this ahead of time, why weren't you guys better prepared?"
She shook her head. "We needed more allies. We had to play the slow game, even if it meant more lives lost. We needed the GA to be weakened somehow. Needs upon needs upon needs, Tim. We only get one chance and it has to be flawless, or we're all dead."
~
Rinku scowled at the empty screen, not bothering to acknowledge Caspar as he stood on the other side of his desk. Finally, he leaned back in the chair and looked at the blonde haired teen standing across from him.
"Never trust family, Caspar." He said calmly, despite the nearly uncontrollable fury roiling inside him.
"I don't trust anyone, sir."
Rinku narrowed his eyes. "Is that so?"
"What do you know about my history prior to the Program?" The teen said, not breaking eye contact.
"Your personal histories are locked away in that infernal bunker."
Caspar nodded. "When I was recruited by A-Corp, they'd found me on the street in Satan City. I'd just killed my mother for taking the bread I'd stolen from a bakery to eat by herself. That was my first lesson about the lies trust tells you."
"Fascinating. So you don't even trust your remaining comrade?"
Caspar chuckled, then coughed to cover it. "Avery will abandon her duties in a blink to attack Halo. Even if that duty is protecting me. So, no, I don't trust her. Grudges run too deep with that woman, and I'm sure if you asked her to be candid she'd tell you exactly how deep her hatred of me goes."
"That is not the impression I get from her at all."
"It's not love she feels, sir, it's obsession. But it's that obsession that makes her a valuable ally for the time being."
Rinku pressed his fingertips together. "One could say the same about you and Fuse."
Caspar's fists clenched tightly, but his face remained a mask. "One could say."
"Very well. What is it you've come to report?"
"The location of Armand Phoenicks' compound."
~
"Well, that didn't take long." Armand muttered.
Eve glowered. "I'll get the armor on."
"Don't." Clint said. "We're surrendering. We don't have the firepower to match the GA and I'd rather not die just yet."
"I'm ready."
"Don't be absurd." Armand scoffed, walking over to a spot on the floor and stomping, opening a hatch. "It's just big enough for you."
She raised her hands to argue, but Clint shook his head. "You're finally, properly on the mend. Tim and Veronica are still out there. You'll do us more good with them than you'll do in custody or worse." He nodded to Sebastian, then looked at the monitor. "Alright, clear the area. Alice didn't make it after our escape from the Spire. The armor tore her apart. Easy enough to buy because it's not far from the truth."
"We need to leave a message for mom." Rebecca said, tossing bandages into a compost pile.
"That woman is likely waiting outside for the coast to be clear before she strolls back in like she owns the place. Do not concern yourself, Miss Chase." Armand said, helping his brother lower Alice into the hole.
Clint laughed. "I agree. She said they were only going to be gone a week, it's been six days."
Rebecca frowned, but continued cleaning the medical area.
"They'll make entry in less than five." He continued. "The heat down here should throw off thermals, so they'll be eyes only. Just in case, are you sure about that hole?"
Armand gave him a look as he snapped the floor panel back in place. He walked over to his couch and sat down, resting one leg over the other as if he didn't have a care in the world. Sebastian helped organize the medical supplies while Rebecca shifted the compost to disguise the supplies.
"A thought occurs." Armand said suddenly, just as an explosion echoed from the access tunnel. "They'll be able to access my vault now."
Clint, Sebastian, and Rebecca all look at him as the first soldiers hit the ground and start making their way toward them.
~
Tim and Veronica watched as their comrades were forcibly escorted from the hidden entrance to the base. They were both fighting against their desire to run down the mountain and try to stop them, but knew it would be useless.
"That's Avery." He breathed into Veronica's ear.
She nodded and committed the woman to memory. As she commanded the soldiers, human and alien, she looked like the stereotypical swordswoman she'd seen in comics from her youth. She also looked a few years older than Tim, Fuse, and Alice had.
There was some discussion happening as the twins were escorted out and Avery pointed at a few soldiers before following the last group into the transport, leaving those pointed to behind as it took off.
The pair retreated further until the pine tree, mussing the snow as they went and huddled closely to preserve warmth and speak as quietly as possible.
"I didn't see them pull Alice out." Tim whispered.
Veronica considered for a moment. "They must've left her for dead, then. If Armand or Sebastian were smart, they would've done something to simulate death."
Tim frowned. "Avery never went down, so it's likely. Otherwise, she would've brought Alice's head back up with her. Still..."
"I only have one gun and it's no good to us in this wind."
He nodded. "And a few of those guards are likely Rinku's men, so there's no telling if they'd find forty-fives anything more than an annoyance."
"I don't suppose you noticed any other possible points of entry?"
He shook his head. "Just the one. Poor design, if you ask me. But I don't think he ever expected to be found. Destroyed city and all."
Veronica scowled and the two lay underneath the pine tree until the sun set when Tim couldn't be patient any longer. "We've got to do something."
Veronica nodded. "There's only one thing we can do."
Rolling out from under the tree she started walking down the mountain until the soldiers started moving to surround her. Tim watched, his entire body tensed as he calculated the speed he'd need to reach Veronica before they gunned her down.
Instead of creating a distraction, he heard two cracks and his body was already moving before the bodies of the soldiers hit the ground. One of the alien guards recovered from the surprise attack and grabbed her face.
Tim saw the gun she threw at the same time sailing toward him and leapt for it, rolling and driving the barrel under the chin of one guard before pulling the trigger twice in rapid succession. His arm moved independent of his body and squeezed the trigger twice more into the face of the other soldier holding Veronica. As she collapsed, Tim dove, catching the soldier's weapon and unloaded it into the remaining one from center mass to his skull.
Silence fell over the area as Veronica groaned and tried to push herself to her feet. He hauled her up by her shoulder and half carried her over to where the lift was hidden. "Some distraction."
"Worked, didn't it?" She said weakly. "Told you I wasn't a combatant."
"You're lucky I'm fast."
Setting her down on the grate, he mashed the button and leaned against the railing while she massaged her temples with a groan. "Wasn't luck. I knew you'd make it."
"Lotta trust."
"S'all we got, kid. That and confidence." She said with a pained grin. "Now we have people on the inside."
Tim sighed. "But they have Phoenicks, which means they can access the vault now."
"All part of the plan. The slow game, remember? You saw them haul up the armor, right?" He nodded. "Skipped a few steps I wish we'd had time for, but things don't always go how I want them."
Alice was waiting for them when they reached the bottom. She and Tim embraced quickly before she signed rapidly to him.
"Yeah, yeah, we know. Veronica's already accounted for it. How are you?"
"It feels like my body's on fire and I can't tell if it's the healing or the drug the chicken doctor injected me with to lower my body temp."
"But you're healing, right?" Veronica asked, holding her hand out. Tim took it and pulled her to her feet while Alice nodded. "You look clearer than you did. We'll have to move out soon. Take ten minutes to gather what you can and meet back here. We have maybe an hour to get as far from here as possible."
"They're gonna purge this place, aren't they?" Tim asked as Alice sprinted away.
"Yep. And I don't know that an hour'll be enough time, but the sooner we move, the further we'll get and the more likely it'll be we survive." She said, wincing and rubbing her temple. "I'll have to remember to thank God for leaving us our other overpowered warrior."
Alice came sprinting back down the hall with two bags and fully dressed. Handing Tim one, she slung the other onto her back.
"They prepped these after you two left. Food, medical supplies, spare clothes."
"Good, let's go." Veronica said, getting back on the lift and leaning heavily on the railing as it started its climb.
"You gonna be good to run?" Tim asked.
"Body's fine, it's my head. Bastard might've cracked my skull. It's just surface pain, though. Worry about me if we survive what's coming."
"Was Avery here?"
Tim nodded. "Later. Just recover from that dash as much as you can."
She nodded and leaned against him with a sigh. Veronica shook her head. "Teenagers."