Yet every attempt proved useless.
The long-wave radio carried nothing but static.
The wired relay showed a normal connection, but the signal at the far end had vanished.
The command center's equipment passed every self-test.
The electromagnetic spectrum records showed that at the exact moment communications were cut off, a violent full-spectrum electromagnetic pulse erupted from the direction of the Block D Singularity Polymers core facility. It lasted roughly two seconds, and afterward, the interference level remained at an extremely high baseline.
The originally scheduled evacuation window was also drawing closer, second by second.
Calista stood where she was, no longer giving orders. She only stared at the blue dot on the map, the one that had been motionless for far too long.
Her fists were clenched tightly at her sides, her fingernails digging deep into her palms. The sharp pain was the only thing barely keeping her reason from snapping.
She was the one who made the plan. She was the one who approved the operation. She was the one who sent them into that known danger zone.
If... if they really...
Calista did not dare think any further.
Just then, Danny suddenly jerked his head up. A nearly frantic light burst in his bloodshot eyes. "Calista! There's one last way!
When we were clearing the perimeter earlier, didn't we find some old military communications testing equipment hardened against nuclear EMPs?
They're bulky, and they might not be compatible with our encryption protocols, but... they were designed specifically to withstand strong electromagnetic environments like this.
The engineers said they might be able to modify them. They're in the Block C warehouse.
If we can send someone in, even just to the edge of the interference zone, and set up a temporary anti-interference relay point, maybe... maybe we can pick up the signal again!"
Calista's pupils contracted sharply.
She did not hesitate for even a second. "Organize people immediately. Go to the Block C warehouse and find every piece of equipment that fits. Have the tech team modify them as fast as possible."
...
Several old EMP-resistant communications testing units were urgently dug out and, after frantic modifications by the tech team, were barely connected into the command system.
But when they were powered up to full output and aimed directly at the core of Block D, the receivers caught nothing except clearer electromagnetic background noise. There was still no trace of the Spearhead Task Force's encrypted signal.
Hope was being strangled little by little.
The pressure inside the command center sank lower and lower as time slid toward the end of the final evacuation window agreed upon by command and Leah.
"All backup plans... ineffective." Danny's face was as gray as a corpse. His voice was so quiet it was almost inaudible, and he did not dare look at Calista, who stood frozen in front of the map.
Calista had her back to everyone, facing the map.
Her back was still straight, but her hands hanging at her sides were trembling slightly.
She gave no further orders and waited in silence.
The second hand crossed the final mark, and the moment when the Spearhead Task Force should theoretically have appeared at the evacuation point passed soundlessly.
The position on the map never updated again. Only that lonely blue dot remained frozen in the target area.
After the silence, Calista suddenly spoke. "Have Rickson come here."
A while later, the command room door was gently pushed open, and Rickson walked in.
He was holding a newly compiled briefing on the perimeter security and the internal status of the base.
Rickson glanced at Calista's back, then at the room full of people sitting silent as statues. He quietly placed the briefing on the table beside him without making a sound.
No one knew how long passed. Maybe only a few minutes. Finally, Calista slowly turned around.
Under the light, her face was pale, without a trace of color. Deep in her eyes was pain and self-blame so intense it seemed about to spill over.
"Calista..." Rickson suppressed his emotions and asked carefully, "Should we... activate the emergency plan and send in a rescue team?"
Calista's throat moved. Her gaze fixed on the glaring red circle on the map.
Then, suddenly, she seemed to jolt awake. Her reason snapped back into place. She pulled her eyes from the map and swept them across every face in the command room, all of them waiting for her decision.
"Rickson, get ready." Calista blinked hard and spoke decisively. "I'll personally lead the rescue team in."
Her words detonated through the room.
"Calista?!"
"No! Absolutely not!"
"It's too dangerous! The Spearhead Task Force has already lost contact. You can't take another risk. The base needs you here commanding!"
"We can think of another way. Send more reconnaissance teams, or..."
The voices of doubt and protest erupted all at once.
Even Rickson snapped his head up. "Calista, be rational! That's impossible. You're the highest commander. Your place is here. We have no idea what's happening in there!"
Calista did not immediately argue back. She raised her hand and pressed it downward.
It was only a simple gesture, but it carried the weight of long-established authority. The noisy objections gradually died down until only rapid breathing remained.
Her eyes became sharp again as she looked at everyone in the command room. Her voice was hoarse, but every word was clear.
"I made the plan. I approved the task force's route. I sent all fourteen of them into that dangerous place.
Leah is my sister. Carver, Mike, Michonne, Merle... every one of them is family to me, people who stood with me to build Rock Fortress.
They are not expendable. They are my family.
I sent them in. Now they've lost contact, and we don't know whether they're alive or dead.
Do you think I can sit here and wait for them to come back through a cold radio and meaningless silence?"
She paused, her gaze sweeping over their shocked, uncertain faces. "I can't. So I have to go. I have to bring them home.
If they're alive, I need to find them. That is my responsibility to them.
Besides, the truth behind Project Black Fire, the potential aggression of those mutants, the suspected source of the electromagnetic interference... all this top-secret information is known only to me and everyone in this room.
Send anyone else in, even the most elite warriors, and they'll know nothing about the real enemy. It would be like walking blindfolded through a minefield.
I'm different."
Calista paused slightly. She did not mention what made her special, but her tone was firm.
"My instinct for danger was honed through countless brushes with death.
I know better than anyone what we may face in there. And compared to most people, I have a better chance... of surviving in that environment and finding them.
I am not going there to die. Right now, I am the person with the highest chance of success."
She deliberately skipped the details, but people who knew her well, like Danny, Bossie, and Rickson, could all feel that survival ability forged through countless real battles.
Carver and the others may have privately guessed at it before, but they had never pressed her. At this moment, that vague sense that she was "stronger" became a reason everyone could accept.