[https://i.imgur.com/tEt4115.jpg]
A utility truck deftly maneuvered its way around pedestrians and rickshaws through the narrow streets of shore-side Navotas, just north of the city center. The construction differed vastly from the Makati and Quezon areas Sam had passed through earlier, having been stuck with infrastructure from the 21st century. Through the smells of fishery exports and associated wastes that wafted in and out of the opened windows of the truck, Revenant kept focus on the road ahead, carefully scanning the view for his target destination. He finally arrived to an opened garage space that was part of a boarded-up shop. He took time to adjust his entry angle before finally getting clearance to back up.
As the truck continued backing up, several doors on the inside began to open and shut as the sounds echoed throughout the empty garage.
Always these dirty, abandoned dumps. You’d think Tyrus had different tastes from Rex. Revenant saw the wall just inches from his back bumper as he put the truck in park, killed the engine, and climbed out to the sound of approaching footsteps around the corner. He turned behind him to the only connecting hallways he could sense, seeing the silhouettes of three figures approach dauntingly. “I prefer my coffee when I arrive, thanks,” he nonchalantly requested, taking out his ID badge from one of his shirt pockets.
“You know I only drink tea,” Isaiah’s voice came from behind the other two men, taking Revenant by surprise. “Don’t act like that, now, Tamaz.”
Tamaz (Revenant) paused in a mix of befuddlement and insult as the two men walked past him and right toward the exit of the garage. He noted their faces were not of locals, but rather from perhaps the mainland. Before he spoke back up, he instinctively turned off his ear piece. “Forget the fact you didn’t get any rest all this time; I’m not surprised. But them?” he spoke as he pointed behind him. “You stopped by Nanning, didn’t you? Why involve them?” he continued as his eyes narrowed, focusing again on Isaiah’s silhouette.
“I already got a good read on Tyrus’ thinking, and of course Rex already has no idea I am here.”
“You didn’t answer my question,” Tamaz snapped back, maintaining his hushed voice. “Why them? They look like damned rookies to me.”
“Follow me,” Isaiah motioned as he turned back to the hall from which he emerged. “And leave them be for now, they’ll be standing guard.”
Tamaz paused in thought as the garage door began to close behind him. Of course, this is how he acts when Cable isn’t around. What the hell are you up to, Reap’… He began to reluctantly follow him down the dark hall and around the corner. But then again, I can’t say I’m not just a bit relieved to see him show up unannounced after all that’s been going wrong lately. The door at the end was opened as a light switch was turned on, revealing a table with scattered papers, clipboards, and folders while a stack of holographic transmitter stations was haphazardly piled to the side against the wall. It brought an even more reluctant but undeniable, bittersweet grin to his face at the sight of it. Just like things always had been and always needed to be. Damn it, Req’, if only you were still here, brother. “I see you must have gotten here this morning. Not a trace, even.”
“Have a seat,” Isaiah wasted no time mincing words or bothering to catch up on recent times, showing him the empty chair in front of a closed portfolio marked “Project E???”. “Utilizing the chance to truly focus during the height of the silence and isolation Rex bestowed upon me up until yesterday, I managed to dig up two very critical pieces of information. This is one.” His finger pointed out the portfolio, watching Tamaz eye it as he took his seat. “Take a look.”
“I knew this project was coming- I mean, everyone knows. That’s why Tyrus has us ready to move big tonight.”
Isaiah frowned in disagreement toward the notion as he too took his seat. “But do you know why it’s about to be a colossal mistake? Did your Tyrus ever figure out what the hell Vrey had in mind creating this scheme?” He awaited his response patiently, noting Tamaz’s careful look-through of the files.
“Well… these parts do match what I heard…” Curtana, Arondight… Galatine… But once his eyes met the jotted down specs underneath the Galatine’s layout and configuration schematic, one particular codename had his heart skip a beat. Reign OS. No fucking way…
Isaiah saw the rapidly built-up tension in Tamaz’s gaze. “Rex was an absolute fool for taking me out of the picture- or at least trying to. Do you see now why we need to stop whatever foolishness it is Tyrus has planned?” His hand extended across the table in gesture. “Will you help me?”
This OS means only one thing… Tamaz only half heard what was spoken to him as he remained fixated on the operating system details, unnoticeably shaking his head in denial. This is a fucking full-out assassination operation lined up. How would he see through the plans to… “Fucking hell,” he suddenly spat out as he slapped the portfolio down against the face of the table through his frustration and fear. “Reap’, are you sure this is for real? You aren’t fucking with us because if you are I swear-”
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Isaiah calmly repeated as his gesture remained open: “I need your help, Tamaz. Please.”
“Wait,” he replied with a sudden flash of insult and disbelief. “No, no, those guys you brought with you. They’re trainees straight out of Nanning- I can tell. That’s not like you at all, Reap’. What the hell is going on here for real?”
“Keep your voice down, please,” Isaiah retracted his hand as he saw emotions were getting the best of his partner.
“This isn’t you,” he continued shaking his head in disappointment.
“No, this is me,” Isaiah rebutted, quickly continuing as not to allow a chance for him to shoot back. “I lost you and Elias, and I will explain later what I have Cable off doing for us, so I needed someone in case I lose myself as well. My contingency plan- I always have one.”
“But this move Hexa has planned is more the reason we move tonight on their base like we did in Dhaka!”
“No! That is exactly what they want you to do, damn it! That’s their trap they have set up for you!” Isaiah lost patience for just a moment, quickly dialing his emotions down as he hoped not to be heard. He took in a deep breath, now remembering it would be best to find something more objective to make his point. His eyes pilfered through the clutter, finding the blue clipboard he remembered taking notes on the week before. He picked it up and passed it to him, showing downloaded correspondence between Tyrus and a number of unnamed informants. “You can see Tyrus is moving as if the real threat lies in Infinity’s Marikina Base.” He closed his eyes, letting out a sigh and a chuckle unintentionally as his thoughts moved to the next. “You might know the other critical piece of information is that a mole leaked the location of their one missing piece to the project.”
“The pilot,” Tamaz instantly filled in the missing word, answering naturally without thought or hesitation. “Of course, they wouldn’t have anyone on edge if the pilot wasn’t found.” But if this is all true, and we lay waste to their whole base… I see it, now. The president would grant authorization of widespread lethal force. That’s the kind of support Hexa would’ve loved to have had… that’s precisely what was missing from the government leaders back in Bangladesh and Colombia. His fingers started tapping the table nervously. And this is the pilot from the Apollyon Massacre. This would mean the second our forces surface we’d start dropping like flies, one by one, from miles away even. The realization of what Isaiah had been hinting at finally hit home, causing Tamaz to place the board back on the table, looking him in the eye once more. “We can’t stop the move tonight, Reap’, it’s too late now. What do we do?”
Isaiah breathed a bit easier upon seeing his partner’s trust slowly returning. “Like I spoke of earlier, I need you to promise me a few things, first, but trust me that I have everything worked out.”
“Here’s where things get fun, Tamaz,” Marian’s voice suddenly came through his left earpiece, startling him.
“Damn it, Cable, you hacked my line?!” he fussed, bursting from his chair in distress.
“Salutations from Nanning, old chap. What say we start getting back to good old business?”
The fact his earpiece was even on had him quite uneasy, feeling his heart rate ramping up. His eyes then fixated on Isaiah, knowing he heard her voice even if just slightly, yet he continued his wait calmly. “I-, you realize we could have been listened in on. I had this turned off!”
“We have picked up a number of things on my way here from Macau,” Isaiah answered as he reached under the table, pulling up a small handheld device no larger than his thumb. It contained no lights or buttons; just a smooth, black, rounded-edged device. “Your first promise is to keep this on you at all times, but keep it safe from the elements.”
“This is how we will talk to only you and the rest of our small team,” Marian added over the line. “We have to move faster than ever and we can’t trust anyone else’s judgment as you just found out.”
Isaiah watched Tamaz calming down somewhat as he took his seat back slowly, confusion still lingering. “The other thing I need you to promise is to eliminate those three from Dhaka the absolute first chance you get, and you know who I am talking about.”
Tamaz took a second to process the request, remembering orders regarding that specific issue. I remember… That was Melancon, Nguyen, Navarre, and Reap’s sister. But is he serious? “But intel says they’re not even in Manila yet.”
“They are. They’re already here, and Nguyen is even on duty as we speak,” Isaiah flatly replied, suppressing the emotions trying to break to the surface as he prepared himself for the next statement. “And forget the orders to capture alive. We’ve confirmed exactly what happened to Requiem, to Elias… and it was in fact Samantha.”
Tamaz closed his eyes upon hearing that last statement. His thoughts quickly settled on what he had been training himself to believe since that mournful event, convincing himself patience would lead to resolution. “I will hold you to your words, Reap’.”
“We draw them out tonight,” Isaiah coldly continued, painfully keeping his own emotions at bay. “We have to do this and quick, because if those specific pilots are neutralized, the need to continue with the operation will be gone. If we don’t, the locals and the news will end up giving Vrey every positive light needed to unleash his big dogs.”
“Though it is just one pilot-”
“-No, Tamaz,” Marian’s voice interrupted. “I will show and explain my findings once I meet up with you both tomorrow, but this Project Excalibur is not just about my old comrade in crime Kaylen Rodgers, I found much reason to believe Little Knight is to be one of the other two major moving parts. That’s what he meant by the need to eliminate them ASAP. This isn’t just the return of the Reign operating system, it’s much more, and Sam doesn’t even know this yet, so we must move fast tonight.”
Tamaz’s brow was cocked in curiosity upon an idea that popped into his head as he listened. “This all means you know exactly where those pilots are, each and every one of them.”