Chapter 33 “Tempest, meet Tornado.”

“Are you sure you can make it Boss? He's a big guy, and I can land on the doorstep if you want me to. Valkyrie ain’t the only hotshot pilot we’ve got” Anubis came over the comm as Sara stared out the open Vertibird cabin.

“He needs to walk, keep the pressure where it’s needed.” Acheron answered for her. Getting him to sign off on a medical discharge wouldn’t have been her first choice. The emergency signal from her uncle left no other option. She wasn’t going to bring a bird to his doorstep, Crixus would have to play along. He kept up the convincing hobble till he reached the front door.

“Son of a bitch!” Crixus dropped the act as soon as he walked in, seeing an old friend. Sara slipped round and nearly ran to her uncle. He looked older, yet sharp and in good spirits. All the better for seeing his daughter.

“My girl!” He hugged her tightly. “Let me look at you!” Sara stepped back and her uncle saw right through her. “Come through.”

Sara watched as the news of her father’s order, and the events that followed, hit his estranged husband like a punch to the gut. “Clarke...he broke his oath.” Brandon looked like he didn’t know left from right. Panic gripped his face. “Does Grimm know?”

“Yeah.” Sara saw that she had misjudged something.

“Clarke’s lucky he’s hundreds of miles away by now. Grimm would have killed him or died trying.” She believed him.

“Could have sold tickets to that.” Sara knew that would make two people in the world laugh, both of them sat in that bedroom.

“I’m so proud of you Sara. You had nothing but bad choices and you kept everyone whole.” Her uncle put his arm around her. He stayed there for a moment, still and quiet, letting her finally just breathe.

“At least John isn’t alone now.” Sara clung to that, the only bright spot, and her present company.

“Yeah.”

“How are things at the office?” Sara changed the subject, glad to be able to talk in person.

“You know the place I found, for us, it’s better than I thought. I want you to see it.” Brandon gave her something else to think about, to look forward to. If only for a moment. “We’ve been running a sting on a chem dealer. Does the name Jones mean anything to you?” Brandon looked serious.

“No...wait, we rescued a field scribe unit. They were being ransomed to someone named Jones.” Sara remembered the operation at the mould factory.

“When?”

“A month ago maybe, I’ll look it up later. Why?” Sara didn’t like the tension in his voice.

“We spotted Recon at a meet, We need to know if we’re compromised.” He tried to soften it, but only to brace her for what came next. “There’s a chance Jones is an Apparition.” Brandon looked like he was about to ask if she knew the codeword. Sara did.

“Fuck.” A mutant with the mind of a man. “What do we do?”

“Purge it in flame.” For a moment she saw the officer again, not the outcast.

The beads across the open door way parted at the corner and Sara felt old feelings stir. “Matthew!” She embraced him tightly, and he winced. “What?”

“It’s nothing.” Sara knew the look of Matt hiding something all too well. She lifted his t shirt without asking, seeing two fresh scars. “I took a round, I’m fine.”

“Why didn’t you tell me?” Sara punched him in the arm, frightened by something that already happened. She didn’t worry about Matt, he’d been a great knight and even better scout.

“Charlie patched him up. Good as new.” Brandon cut Matt off. “Why don’t you two catch up. There’s someone I want you to meet. I’ll go get her.”

“Still subtle isn’t he.” Sara joked to break the tension. Her uncle always wanted them to reconcile. “How is he?”

“Better than he’s been in a while. We’re onto something…” Matt trailed off seeing Sara’s expression. “Are you ok?”

“He’ll brief you.” Sara couldn’t go through it again. “Scored a ‘Grongnak and the Dungeon of Despair part two’.” She knew he’d like that, he always did love comics.

“Shit, where’d you find that?”

“A friend gave it me. I’m going to come visit, I’ll bring it.”

“I’d like that.” Sara didn’t think she was the only one remembering the old days.

“Tempest.” Sara followed her uncle’s voice after a few minutes chatting and saw someone she didn’t know. Red hair, green eyes, pissed off. “Tempest meet Tornado.” The woman nodded, slightly. Callsign, who is she? Sara thought. “You’re going to be her point man.” An hour later they were in the air.

“This is a stupid fucking idea.” She shouted to Tornado across the cabin. Sara didn’t like the plan when she first heard it an hour ago. She liked it less now, a mile out from Excalibur Outpost.

“Relax.” She heard her uncle’s tone from the redhead.

“Put these on.” Sara tossed her the cuffs and the woman put them on behind her back. “You ready?”

“Yeah, just watch my left arm...I sprained it.”

“You let Charlie take a look?” She had to know Charlie, Sara thought.

“Yeah.” Tornado closed her eyes. “I’m ready.” Sara pulled the full face hood down and cinched the neck string. Sara saw her breathing quicken, matching her own.

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“You good?” Sara reached a hand through to Val in the pilot's seat as they landed. She couldn’t trust anyone else. Val nodded, but didn’t get up.

“Move!” Acheron marched Tornado in at gunpoint. With the woman hooded and cuffed, dressed in dirty dull green fatigues, Sara saw a chance to pull off at least part of the operation.

“Five meters then a staircase down.” Sara whispered as she took the supposed prisoner’s right arm, guiding her down to the brig. Acheron cut ahead of them, blocking a pair of knights from the main corridor as they passed.

Sara bundled Tornado into an interrogation room and slammed the steel door behind them. She saw panic in the green eyes as she pulled off the hood. It seemed to grow worse as Tornado saw the small, windowless room on sub level one.

“Hold still, I’ll get the…” Sara trailed off and broke into a grin as the woman turned. One cuff already undone with a bobby pin, picked in the way Brandon taught them both.

Two gentle taps rang from the door as Acheron gave the all clear. “Wait one.” Tornado started to take off the green fatigues. Sara went to turn away out of habit but stopped. Beneath the dull green, the woman wore a tight black suit, hexagonal cells with built in armour plates on the chest. Sara watched the tight hood be pulled on and an orange visor join in the middle of the smiling face. Then she vanished. Who is she?!

The stale air shimmered and Sara felt a tap on the shoulder that held an electric charge. She turned and opened the door, walking into the corridor and leaving space behind her.

“Fuck.” Acheron saw it too. Her mind raced with every step towards the stairs. Sara had been briefed on stealth tech, as had Acheron, but to not see it in the flesh came as a shock to them both. I know who she is.

Sara remembered what John told her about his first day above ground, and what the thing on his arm did when he took fire. Rosie. Right away Sara knew John hadn’t seen her. He’d never mentioned another one of those things. Not under interrogation, or blind drunk, even in his loneliest moments. And John didn’t lie well enough for it to be easy.

Sara understood now that he’d done that to spare the woman he loved from his fate. The risk of falling into the hands of Head Scribe Collins and his keenness to dissect the device, and the attached arm. Now Sara had brought her here personally, betraying John all over again.

Sara lost her concentration as they reached the flights of stairs. Three knights approached, boisterous and loud, throwing a basketball back and forth. Taking up the whole staircase.

“Hey Boss.” Viper greeted her in his usual casual way, the way Sara liked to be greeted. She froze.

“Is that how you address the ranking officer on base Sargent!” Acheron boomed in a way he rarely did. He’d always cared less about rank than she did.

“Sir. No sir!” The three snapped to attention, letting the ball bounce away.

“Make a hole before I make one!” They shot back to let them pass and Sara tried to look annoyed.

She saw the ball in the empty corridor below and went to grab it, seeking not to get a reputation as the kind officer she hated. It lay still against the wall, till it abruptly rolled at her. Show off, Sara thought, not like John.

“Viper?” Sara darted up the lower flight stairs, taking not being able to hear gossiping as a good sign.

“Sir?” She bounced the ball off the wall and up to the landing.

“Work on your layups. Come find me later, I'll buy you a drink.”

“You got it Boss.”

Sara couldn’t tell if Rosie stood behind her or in front. Every so often she’d catch a shimmer, a trick of the light, no more. Acheron brought up the rear as they made quick progress to her father's office. Everyone on the command level had either gone to the mess or had more pressing business.

Sara went in first, Acheron waited, then closed the door slowly. His caution allowed Jen to call out.

“Acheron, brought the Boss chow, she in there?” Jen’s excitable attitude had already brought her into the office. “Hey Boss. Look at me, in the elder’s office!” Jen had been a field scribe, little more than hired help, till a week ago. Her quick mind and iron toughness had earned her a new status she enjoyed.

“Here.” Sara took the tray that Jen held out in an odd manner, looking for the quickest way to get rid of her.

Jen had balanced the tray atop one of the pipboys they’d recovered from Vault 256. She looked like a kid with a new toy. “Pretty neat right!”

“Please tell me that wasn’t around a Filthy arm at some point.” Sara tried to act normal, and not to think of seeing these things littering the floor with rotten arms still inside.

“No, this was in storage. It’s so useful, got all my files, got a radio, even got games!” Jen dropped her voice slightly. “I mean it’s not as cool as the other one.” Part of Sara wanted to introduce her to Rosie right there and then, just to watch her fizz with delight.

“You’re supposed to be studying it.” Sara tried to dismiss her gently.

“I am studying it.” Jen waved the clunky, oversized device at her. “Oh and there’s no progress with the overseer’s one. Damn thing is tricky, ran brute force attack, tried a trojan horse, nothing.”

“Well then you better get to it Scribe Groves. Thanks for the food.” Sara all but bundled her out of the door and bolted it shut.

The shimmer flashed into a person sat at her father’s desk. She pressed in the visor causing it to separate and depressurise with a hiss. “My login is…” Sara trailed off as Rosie started clacking away at the terminal. Firing through data as fast as the screen would refresh, which seemed far too slow for her.

She had access to everything, the Archive of Brotherhood knowledge, field reports, orders and operations. If they were caught she and Acheron would both be executed.

“You should tell your friend to crash the pipboy os with junk data and run a recovery program as a new admin. Fucking Unified OS.” Sara didn’t know why Rosie and Acheron scoffed. Nerds.

“You came here to extract John didn’t you?” Sara blurted out.

“Who?” Her uncle clearly hadn’t taught Rosie to lie.

“Cut the shit.” Sara barked, her nerves raw.

“Wasn’t her call not to tell you.” Acheron interjected. Sara knew it must have been her uncle’s order. “She was told to say nothing. He wanted you to have a win.” Sara felt angry, but the thought of John not being alone had brought her comfort.

“Sara,” The rapid typing stopped and Rosie’s face softened. “I know you saved John, and looked out for him. I want to thank you...” The ice cold Recon demeanour thawed in an instant as Rosie looked on the verge of tears.

“You don’t have to thank me for that Rosie.” Sara smiled and took the food over to her, guessing she probably ate like John.

“No, I want to thank you for being his friend.” Rosie had to look away as Sara thought about the life both John and Rosie lived. Alone while surrounded by thick walls and distrust. “It...it made things easier for me to know he’s got a friend here.”

“He’s got more than one.” Acheron added, with his usual way of knowing just what to say and when to say it.

Sara smirked as Rosie grimaced and forced down a bite of burger. Not like John, she thought. “I’m guessing the big man does the cooking.” Paul always loved to cook, she missed him and Charlie both. “And his wife doesn’t.”

“Yeah, that’s right.” Rosie changed the subject while glaring at the monitor, seemingly getting what she needed from a quick flash of the screen. “Where did you find the pipboy?” She scoffed at the thing Jen wore.

“Oh shit, I forgot. John, he got the parts you needed, he took them back.” Sara beamed with pride for her aspirant achieving his goal that she thought wildly optimistic at best.

“...Good.” Rosie barely reacted. Not like John, Sara thought, not at all.

“I’m done here. Where’s the safe?” Sara felt a cold shiver as she led Rosie through her father’s adjacent quarters. It felt more like a betrayal than anything else so far. She took down the Brotherhood flag with her eyes closed, trying not to throw up. Acheron forced a smile from the doorway, she couldn’t return it.

Sara glanced at Rosie simply thumbing through the paper files in the digitally locked safe. Recon cracked tumbler safes as part of a drinking game, digital had always seemed the smarter option, until now. “I’m done here.” Great, Sara thought. Now for the hard part.

Sara had command over the entire outpost. All except one hangar, Recon HQ. They answered to the elder or Lead Scout Marks, neither of them here, which meant anyone wearing black answered to no one.

Nickel and Cobalt sat in the sandbag emplacements outside. She hadn’t seen them since they joined her team on the rescue operation that saved Jen. Recon kept the main hangar door six feet open, a sniper nest built into the rafters. The nearest target sat a mile away. Don’t fuck with Recon, Sara thought, then started to walk in.

“Boss.” Nickel stood and blocked her, Sara knew her a little. Wiry, lean and quick, had a thing for board games. “Can I help?”

“I need a file from Bronze’s office.” Sara took another step and Cobalt blocked her with his broad shoulders, pulling him from the gap in the door.

“Which file, I'll get it.” Nickel tried to defuse a situation none of them wanted.

“That’s classified.” Sara needed to buy Rosie a little longer.

“Boss, you know the rules, we gotta think about op sec. You know who taught me that, Maelstrom.” Nickel kept her tone soft and her posture firm.

“You’re right.” Sara retreated, she made it a few steps before Nickel caught up to her.

“Hey Sara, you’re in command, we know that and we ain’t worried. Just gotta find your balance. Unless you want to throw on something black and breeze through selection.” Nickel gave her the ultimate compliment. Recon respected their own, no one else.

“You know another hour of paperwork and I just might.” Sara half joked to put her at ease.

“Shit, paperwork is why we feed the scribes, your uncle taught me that too.”