"We've got movement." Chen whispered, holding out his arm to signal. Everyone took their places, with multiple fields of fire all focussed on the bottleneck of rubble that concealed the secret passage. Chen took a knee behind a boulder on point, and up in the sniper's nest, Yu tightened his grip on his binoculars.
Selena and Abigail had made most of the trip through the tunnel in eerie silence. It was only when they were almost to the other side, that Selena turned and rested her hand on her new partner's shoulder. For the first time in this whole endeavour, she looked visibly nervous.
"The people we're about to meet won't be pleased to see us, at first." she told her. "I'll have some explaining to do, to put it mildly. Stay calm, and don't make sudden movements."
"Understood Selena. Guess I'll just keep quiet for now and follow your lead then?" Abigail asked as they carried on walking to whether it was they were heading to. Like Selena, Abigail was also nervous, but the nerves were tinged with a hint of being afraid. Afraid of what might happen if things didn't go so well.
"Before we get there, mind filling me in on who we're meeting up with?"
"I don't really know." Selena admitted, as they started walking again. "The Colonel played his cards close to his chest. All he ever told me was that he had agents among the General Population, and how I could contact them when the time was right. If thing's hadn't gone according to plan, if they'd decided to torture me, then at least this way I couldn't give them anything useful."
On the other end of the tunnel, Chen felt cold as he first picked up the voices. He couldn't make out anything of detail, yet, but he could swear that he recognised one of them. His finger rested on the trigger of his sidearm.
The two women exited the tunnel, winding their way through the mess of rubble and stalagmites that concealed it's entrance. It was immediately apparent that this was deeper into the bowels of The Pit than Selena had even been before. She had been to the Lower Levels on her official inspections, but this really was the true belly of the beast. That beast was in limbo now. Whenever she'd been down previously, The Pit had always been buzzing with activity. A miserable place, yes, but alive, teeming, a mesh of moving, human parts, all interlocking in a great, collaborative effort...
That was gone now. This cavern was dark, and so very, very cold.
Selena was stunned, as a dozen or so flashlights all blazed on at once, dazzling her. There was no screaming of commands. Whoever had come to greet them was aware of how far beyond light sound would carry in a place like this, and stayed quiet. Though she could not see a thing, Selena remained outwardly calm. Slowly, she raised her hands, and stepped out into full view.
"We're alone, and we're unarmed." She said, keeping her voice low and level.
"That was dumb." replied a voice that shook with suppressed rage. Her vision slowly returning, Selena managed to focus her gaze on the man standing right in front of her. He was Chinese, his body covered in gang affiliated tattoo's, and a more recent coating of cuts and bruises. More importantly, every line on his face was etched with fury, a muscle jumping at the corner of his eye... and he was pointing a semi-automatic square at her heart.
"Are you the Colonel's man?" she asked him.
"Shut the fuck up!" he hissed, before turning the gun on Abigail. "You must be Warden Nyte. Let me ask you something, Warden..." he said, training his weapon back on Selena. "What the fuck are you doing bringing that traitorous ***** down here?!"
Up on overwatch, Yu didn't say a word. However, his lips were now a line so thin as to be barely visible, as he watched the scene below unfold.
Korovitch watched the scene in front of him impassively. Having been present for the arrival of the inspection team, he recognised Selena. And although he had rarely visited the facility's bar, he did recognise Nyte as belonging to the Warden's Auxiliary. That she was alive and unharmed implied she had been cooperative with whatever faction now controlled RACDI-Alpha. Still, she was a woman, with practically no combat training, to boot. The auxiliary were merely service for the actual wardens, so he couldn't blame her for going along with things.
Selena, on the other hand... she had been meddling since her arrival. And what word through the grapevine that Korovitch was aware of said that she had all but sold Lee out to the invading force. He scowled as he watched her.
Abigail had her hands up the moment a dozen or so flashlights were pointing in their direction. It took her eyes a few moments to adjust to the sudden shift in light levels, her eyes blinking a few times. When everything became clearer, she could see that there were a handful of soldiers pointing assault rifles at them. She kept quiet as one of the soldiers, of Chinese descent and at best guess the leader stepped forward, the picture painted on his face was that of furious anger as she started barking at Selena. A few moments later, he briefly pointed the gun at Abigail before aiming it back at Selena.
"What the fuck are you doing bringing that traitorous ***** down here?!"
Ah yes, the traitor that was Selena Hernandez. Abigail had heard that she was confirmed present at Lee's execution, and had been co-operating with General Hammond immensely since his arrival; it was probably what granted her the near unrestricted freedom that she possessed, whereas the likes of Abigail and Zach were kept a close eye on. A part of her was sickened by the fact, but she realised that sometimes you have to do dirty things to survive.
"To be disposed of perhaps like the traitor she is? Or maybe as a means that we can all get out of here not only alive, but this place returned to Venture. Haven't decided yet. Unforseen consequences and all that." She replied in a calm, neutral tone, her face relaxed for the most part.
"And what about you. Why are you down here?"
"I recognize her," Neil whispered to Yu. "She was with Lee in the Hive before everything went to shit." Neil was feeling strangely talkative. "Who is she?"
"Her name is Selena Hernandez." Yu replied stiffly. "Her official title is Chief Resource Analyst of the Venture Horizon Executive Board. She's no mere bean-counter though... she has other talents, and Venture has had no qualms about using them. She's a 'diplomat', which in her world is a pretty way of saying she's a Spook. She was with Colonel Lee supposedly before the facility fell to Hammond, only Lee winds up dead, and she winds up practically at Hammond's right hand without so much as a scratch on her...
Oh," he added, his tone darkening. "and she also brokered the deal that brought Ignite Solutions into the Pan-Arabian War against the Tigers, leaving us stranded in the dessert with our asses hanging out."
Yu went back to listening very intently. Needless to say, he was interested in hearing what Ms. Hernandez had to say for herself.
Down on the cave floor, Selena flashed a quizzical sideways look at Abi.
'Well thanks for the vote of confidence!'
More of her vision was returning now, and she could get a better look at who else was gathered here. There were some faces she recognised.
"Lieutenant Abreu, I believe; and Captain Korovich; and..." Selena legitimately smiled. "Aggie. I'm glad to see you're all still alive."
"You don't address them!" Chen snapped "You address me."
"And who am I addressing?"
"My name isn't important."
Selena bit her lip, and tried to remain relaxed.
"I'm not your enemy." she said.
Though they were standing over ten yards apart, Chen looked for all the world in the pause that passed between them that he might spit in her face.
"Of course not." he said eventually, surprisingly sincere despite all his bitterness. "If this was a trap, you wouldn't make yourself the bait. Anyway, the message we received was solid." Chen seemed to relax, but did not go so far as to lower his weapon. "That doesn't mean you're still not lucky I haven't shot you already, after all the shit you've pulled. I've got a lot of questions, and God help you if I don't like your answers."
"I have a question," said Korovitch, speaking for the first time since they had taken up their position.
Felix stayed near the woman who had approached him earlier, Aggie they had called her. He wasn't playing guardian or anything of the sort, she seemed strong enough and he wasn't sure if her illness had been feigned or not. It was simply that he had no business in these people's affairs, and thus stayed near the back of the squad.
Clementina meanwhile was just poking out of the shadows, her arms lowered and unassuming, but a glance downward would notice she was brandishing an impressive looking Mac-10, the one she had lifted off the cannon fodder she and the others had mopped through earlier.
Clem wanted nothing more than to make this bastard's body unrecognisable, and if she was very, very lucky, she would be permitted such an honour. Though, extremely unlikely.
Selena looked to Luka, but didn't say anything. The corner of Chen's mouth twitched involuntarily, but eventually he spoke up.
"Go ahead."
"We've been down here for quite a damn while," said Korovitch. "In that time, things have only gotten more intense. Rations of food and supplies have gotten harder to come by, even though the inmate population was fairly well provided for when this all happened. Ms. Hernandez, you've been on the surface this entire time. What's the situation above ground? What are the supplies like? Have they received reinforcements? Because things can't be going all that smoothly for them, if the two of you were able to get down here relatively unaccosted."
"Maybe she fucked her way down here." Spat Clem as her eyes burned a hole right through Selena. ""You must have made quite an impression. We lose control and already under their leader's wing. As dedicated as I'm sure your commander is, surely he can't have had the time to be so... hand's on, with all the new responsibilities."
Clementina had no idea what was going on above the surface. But considering Selena didn't look like a down trodden husk, she had to have fucked her way to safety, it was the only thing that made sense for someone like 'her'. The others were going to be pissed she interrupted, and she would apologise, because she was on the right side. Unlike her.
"Stow it," Korovitch replied, not looking round. "It's past time we had fresh information, and I want to hear it."
Selena bit back the torrent of appropriate retorts that sprung into her head. Now was not the time for antagonism.
"Well..." she began, addressing Luka directly. "You'll be pleased to hear that whatever Colonel Lee tasked you with is working. All internal and external communication and surveillance is blocked, meaning, for one thing, that General Hammond can't call for backup of any kind, assuming he ever had any. We still know so little about how The Songbirds are organised. On the other hand, they came here in force, and with all the men they lost throwing themselves at Lee's defences, what supplies Hammond does have will stretch him longer than they supposedly needed to." Selena hung her head a little. "You know, a part of me thinks Hammond was counting on that. The man really is a bastard."
"Noted. Stay on point." Chen interrupted.
"Right." Selena took a deep breath. "If the rate of consumption of resources stays as it is currently, I predict that people will start starving in a little over two weeks. Of course, when it gets down to it, there are plenty of corners Hammond can cut to stretch things out. Neither he or any of his men seem overly concerned about it, nor are they concerned that they probably can't hold this place for that long anyway. RACDI-Alpha was a big scalp to take, but that means that Venture's going to want it back all the more, and sooner or later they will be bringing down the hammer. Hammond destroyed most of this facilities heavy defences when he took it himself, and even with all the Inmates they've conscripted, they'd be bulldozed by the main thrust of Venture's forces. Of course, that raises the question as to why Venture don't just go ahead and do it already. The technology from Project CONDOR has blinded both sides, and neither wants to risk making a single move without intellectual superiority over the other...
Lee was right from the start. It's obvious now that there's a much bigger play at work than just what's happening here, and neither Hammond nor Venture want to upset the board."
"Right." Chen replied "I think it's time we got to the elephant in the room... I want to know exactly what happened between the two of you preceding the Colonel's death. What did he want from you, and why did it end with him facing a firing squad?"
While the matter was sensitive to say the least, this would be the matter at hand that Selena could provide the easiest answer to. In fact, if the man currently facing her down really did know Lee as well as she suspected, then he'd probably already put the pieces together, and just needed to hear the words out loud before he could accept them.
"Lee spent nearly all his time in the three months after Borealis preparing this facility for an attack he suspected was coming, after he'd stumbled across evidence of infiltration in Venture Horizon's databases, looking for leverage should things between him and the Executive Board turn ugly. Even so, when that attack eventually came, he wasn't ready, not by a long shot. The threat had snuck up on all of us, with the aid of Venture Horizon technology that they shouldn't have been able to obtain, and saboteurs on the inside who'd passed our most stringent vetting processes. Whoever the Songbirds are, we'd grossly underestimated them until now. Once it became clear that RACDI-Alpha was no longer defensible, the new objective became preserving loyal elements inside the facility, to continue gathering intel on our enemy with the aim of sabotaging their ultimate objective. Simply protecting the agents he already had was not enough, however. Lee needed someone within the ranks of the new occupiers, someone with less restricted movement than the average prisoner, in order to initiate the next phase of the plan."
"That's you, is it?" Chen responded, looking unhappy. "Why would he suddenly turn round and give that responsibility to a person who came hear looking for an excuse to blacklist him?"
"He didn't have any other choice." Selena replied, calmly. "He had a reputation for inspiring loyalty, and had recently purged this place of any of his colleagues that couldn't be persuaded round to his way of thinking. With that in mind, nobody on Lee's payroll would ever be trusted by the enemy.
I was never on Lee's payroll. I was, as you say, a recent acquaintance, with an agenda and a track record of switching sides. I was the only person for whom playing the turncoat with the enemy at the gates was plausible."
"That's not convincing me that you didn't switch sides for real." said Chen. "You're not going to try and tell me that Lee won you over, are you?"
"I have enormous respect for your former Warden In Chief." Selena rebuked firmly. "However, you are right, I never planned on dying for him. That said, I don't deal unless I can weigh up all the factors in my favour. The Songbirds are shrouded in misdirection, and their only clearly observable trait is a complete disregard for human life. They might have the upper hand for now, but I'm convinced that joining up with their cause would gain me nothing that I want."
Chen didn't have a reply to that, which Selena took to be the go-ahead to continue.
"Anyway, even with my reputation, General Hammond did not trust me at first, and kept me in a state of captivity that rendered me useless. Fortunately, Lee and I had accounted for this beforehand. There was still one play we could make to convince the enemy that I was no threat to them. So, when they brought me to Lee, hoping to use my status as a Venture executive to persuade him to co-operate, as we anticipated they would, I turned him loose.
As per Lee's plan, I was incapacitated by him before he staged a fruitless and desperate attempt at escape. When I was found and brought to by Hammond's men, I told them that Lee had divulged his escape plan to me, and then knocked me out when I tried to stand in his way. Then, I led them right to him, and he was recaptured before he had the chance to leave the facility. You know what happened to him after that; and for my co-operation, I was given largely unmonitored access on the surface, where Hammond believed anything of value to have been destroyed anyway. Using this, I've been able to further examine everything that Lee had found searching Venture's systems, and make my way down here to you, so we can take the next step towards thwarting the Songbirds."
Chen looked like a wounded animal as he absorbed her words, sweat beading on his brow.
"Dammit. Fucking dammit!" he growled hoarsely.
"Soldier..." Selena said, firmly, sensing her moment to apply some force. "You knew Colonel Lee better than I did. He trusted you with his life, and he trusted me with his death. Which do you think was more important to him?"
Those words hit home. None of the others in the cave had seen Chen look quite so stricken as he did then. Even so, he slowly lowered his weapon, a signal for the others to do the same.
Breathing a sigh of relief as the soldier had lowered his gun, Abigail lowered her hands also, the feeling of dread had passed. She found it illuminating to hear about some of the more specific aspects of what was going on behind the scenes. But it made her think that her part in things was somewhat smaller compared to those that she was with. Words failed her as she couldn't think of what to say right at this moment.
Lowering his rifle, Korovitch turned to Chen. "So what is it that you intend to do now?"
"We can stand down now." Yu said, tapping Neil on the shoulder before getting to his feet. "Come on, we should probably be present for this anyway."
His expression was not so raw as Chen's. Still, something had struck home, that much was clear to see.
Back on the ground, Chen looked to the side in response to Luka's query, before sighing and thumbing over in Selena's direction.
"Guess you should be asking her. She seems like the one with the plan, after all."
Selena gritted her teeth, but went ahead regardless.
"I need you to help me escape."
If Chen hadn't been so disciplined, he'd have hooted with derisive laughter loud enough to wake the entire Lower Levels.
"Let me get this straight..." he replied, grimacing "We've been busting our asses just to survive for days, in vain hope that there was still some kind of plan in the works, then you get us all together, and persuade us not to blow your head off, just so you can tell us that the 'plan' is to save your sorry ass?! Lady... you've got some stones, I'll have to give you that!"
"There's more to it..."
"Oh no please, go on. I guess things really can only get better from this point."
"I'll require an escort, which means that anyone who does not explicitly need to stay here for our mission gets to escape too, if that's what they want." Selena continued. "I can't promise we'll be going somewhere better though...
The Venture file that Lee was most obsessed with in the months before his death was in reference to an operation, codenamed Project: TALON. When I tell you that I've had top-level access to all Venture Horizon operations, and I mean top-level, not the 'top-level' they give to idiot bureaucrats who they need to make feel important, I do it so you can understand how serious it is that I've never heard of this Project before I found it on Lee's files. Whatever TALON is, there are people very high up who want it buried very badly. Most of the information relating to it had been wiped or otherwise corrupted; and what was left, was under a level of encryption it would be a waste of time to even try and describe. Nevertheless, Lee was convinced that what was inside could point us to the truth behind everything that's happening, and help us stop it. I come to you now, because I've managed to pull a set of coordinates from the data, and I have us a way out."
Clementina rested her knuckles against her forehead and sighed. "So, Lee asked the person he trusts the least in possibly this corporation with his death, so we could escort you out of here alive, our reward being we get to tag along with your freedom?"
Holding her gun at her side she continued with a less bitter approach. "Look if we have a mission to do I'm happy to do it, but I still see little reason to trust you considering what you've done. I don't care if this ends up being a waste of time, I want proof that you're telling the truth, I want you to jump through hoops to earn trust. I don't care if its petty, I think its necessary."
Abigail was sitting down on a nearby rock, largely being overlooked by the soldiers as Selena went on about some grandiose plan to find information regarding some top secret project that Venture was cooking up. The more that Selena talked about it, the more it sounded like a suicide mission, or a waste of time, possibly both; after all, what was the probability that info regarding this TALON project still existed at these co-ordinates that had been found? She was finding the chewing out of Selena by the female soldier to be a bit grating, but it was justifiable given all that Selena had done.
"So," said Korovitch, sounding unimpressed with Selena's explanation. "Are you saying that by leaving, we'll be able to stop what's happening from the outside? Or do you really just want to get out before the situation deteriorates any further?"
He could hear the faint echo of footsteps somewhere behind him. Yu and Neil, no doubt.
Neil came up from behind the rest of Chen's group and stood by Korovitch. Though it didn't really concern him considering his mission, he couldn't help but speculate who would try to escape the facility with this woman.
If anyone should go, it should be Aggie and her brother, he figured.
"Well, I won't insult your intelligence by claiming I want to stay..." Selena said "Cutting RACDI-Alpha off from the rest of the world was a blow to the Songbirds, but it also means that there's nothing else we can do to stop what's coming from in here, and I doubt that an organisation capable of doing the things they've done so far would bet all their chips on this place. I know it's not much of a lead, but I don't think Lee would have poured the last of everything he had into getting us this much if he thought it was a dead end."
"No." Yu replied, joining the conversation "He wouldn't have."
He looked to Chen, who could only shrug his shoulders and sigh in a defeated, yet compliant gesture.
"When this all started, I had no more reason to trust any of you than the Colonel's say so." He continued, resolute. "You're all still here , because you've all proved, one way or another, that he made the right call..." He paused, looking to Selena "I'm giving her the same chance."
"Yu," Chen piped up. "you go with Selena. I'll stay behind and co-ordinate everyone we have left."
A long silence followed, as the twins looked at each-other through the darkness. What was said between the two could have filled volumes, just none of it out loud.
"Don't thank me just yet..." Chen followed up, smiling. "If I don't get to go on vacation, they I get first pick of who stays to keep me company."
Yu cracked a small smile. "Deal."
"Alright then: Luka, Fiona, Felix..." Chen rattled off the names. "You're staying to help me make General Hammond rue the day he set foot on this frozen pile of shit. Sound good?"
"Clementina, Lewis, and Aggie," Yu followed up. "You'll be joining Ms. Hernandez and I."
Korovitch listened as the names were rattled off. He was unsurprised that he would be remaining in The Pit. With the inherent danger facing whoever remained behind, Chen couldn't afford to put him anywhere else. Hell, if he had been passed over to Yu for the exit team, he'd have outright refused. As for Fiona, he was torn. On the one hand, he was glad that she would have his back. On the other, she was, assuming their suspicions about Wickers and Hayes proved unfounded, the last remnant of his squad. He wanted her safe.
It came as no surprise to Abigail that she'd be staying behind, even though she really wanted to leave this hellhole, it would look rather suspicious if one of the only bartenders upsticks and left, leaving only Zach to handle things; chances are he'd get questioned about it by the Commander or one of the other high ranking officers, and she didn't want that on her conscience. After the two brothers were finished, Abigail stood up and stretched her arms a bit.
"Well, unless you need me for something else, guess I'll be heading back upstairs."
Neil noted Korovitch's displeasure and looked to Chen. "We don't need so many staying behind," he said. "The more people we have, the easier we are to find."
Clementina wanted to put up a false argument, pretend she wanted to stay. She wanted to act outraged, but most of all she wanted to be outraged. She didn't enjoy what she was feeling. She didn't enjoy the relief she felt as she heard she'd be leaving this hell hole.
Felix's thoughts on the other hand drifted to home. To the sun-baked fields he would lie on for hours with his beloved, as they thought of names together. Was it a mistake coming here? Was it a stupid, awful mistake?
Chen looked over at Neil, and, without warning, broke out into a broad and reckless grin.
"Running from foxhole to foxhole isn't going to cut it anymore." he said. "Supplies are dwindling, and every move we make draws more attention to us. Oh, and I'm guessing this escape plan our new friend has cooked up, would be requiring some sort of distraction, so you don't get caught before you take more than two steps outside?"
"Pretty much." replied Selena.
"At which point, we're gonna have the Good General's full attention anyway. The more we run and hide, the more Hammond rules uncontested. The longer he stays like that, the more people he gets on his side. The more people he gets on his side, the sooner we get turned in. Hiding's not a plan I like anymore."
Surprisingly, Yu was smiling too.
"If you can't convince you're enemy that you're nowhere, convince him that you're everywhere at once."
"Right; and I don't know about the rest of you, but I'm a little sick of standing by and doing nothing while that son of a ***** dismantles what little there was that was getting better about this place when Lee was in charge. It's easy to order around an army of fanatics, but I wanna see how long Hammond can keep his cool when the rest of us decide to misbehave."
