The fighting had begun. First, a fleet of bombers to soften Elysium's defenses. All they really did was help the anti-air turrets get a little practice in before the assault. A few waves of mechs had been pushed back but it was clear the main assault force was yet to make an appearance.

Raptor had their orders. As shit as they were. Reese walked the chaotic halls of Elysium preparing for the fight of his life. There were so many questions racing through his mind. Why were they attacking now? How do they still have access to the generator after Reese stole the plans? How had Hosun managed to get to the council? What would be his next move?

He helped a private shift a sheet of metal as he considered. They were preparing for gorilla combat, they knew the MOGs would breach the walls soon enough. They had planned on winning by holding choke points within the halls and tunnels. A group of civilians worked away, welding steel to doors and walls. Everyone was at work. Soldier and civilian. Every abled bodied man had taken arms and been sent to the walls. Every capable civilian woman had been assigned to protect and hold the civilian shelters where the children and infirm would hide.

Hosun never made a successful move without Akemi at his side. How had he advanced so far? Reese remembered the day Akemi disappeared. July seventh, 2161. Nearly fourteen years ago. She showed up once during the early rebellion in 65' but he never saw her. Was it so hard to believe she simply faked her death to go to work for Hosun? They had been close, very close, it wouldn't be far fetched. The idea sat uneasily with him. She had abandoned him, the boy she adopted and supposedly loved, to abscond with a man she had never shown any romantic attachment to? What about her daughter? Yua, she was called. Perfect Yua. Small enough to fit in the palm of his hand. Reese had always justified Akemi leaving as an attempt to keep Yua from a military life. How was fighting alongside Hosun keeping her from the military?

Reese walked on. He heard cannons blast and artillery crews argue. He made his way to the hangar. Lara and Archie would meet him there. He didn't know where Iris was sent but she was likely still working of Apotheosis with Ade. He marched through, deep in thought. Too deep in thought. He continued on his winding path, not noticing how quiet it had grown. Not noticing the half completed constructions and hastily dropped tools.

Had he been more aware, he'd no doubt have raised his eyes higher... And seen the bodies hang.

The three met in the hangar, unequipped and poorly prepared. Archie wore denim shorts and a Hawaiian button up shirt with a ammo carrier vest hastily attached. Lara wore a black leather jacket and pink rimmed combat boots. She did, however, have her rifle preassembled. Normally she would do so on the trip over, she must have been practicing when the alarms went off.

"Sir." Lara greeted as he marched towards a metal locker. He opened it to reveal a tight oversuit. He stepped into it and zipped it up.

"What do we know?" Archie asked in an overtly serious tone.

"Less than we should." Reese answered as he slotted magazines into his carrier.

"How didn't we see them coming?" Lara asked. "A force that size should have been visible days ago." Reese didn't reply. He pulled a rifle from his locker, checked it and slung it over his shoulder.

"Sir!" Lara pled. She wanted answers that Reese didn't have. He brushed past her and opened Daphi.

"Get in." He ordered. They did, they silently sat and Archie warmed up the engines. Reese sealed the door shut and tinted the window black.

"There's a spy." Reese declared. There was no doubt in his voice but there seemed a tinge of anger.

"A spy?" Lara repeated.

"Somebody has infiltrated into our unit, copied the plans for the generator and sabotaged the long ranged scanners." The three sat in contemplation.

"That would be alot... Even for you, Reese. Who would be able to do all that without raising an alarm?" Lara asked. It was true, Reese was the best infiltrator the Alliance had and he doubted even he would manage.

"That's the problem. A better infiltrator than me? I've only heard of one person who could qualify." He said. The realisation dawned on Lara, she understood what he was suggesting.

"You can't be serious?" She doubted. "Akemi?"

"Who?" Archie asked.

"Ito Akemi. Reese's adoptive - bitch - mother." She explained.

"Hey!" Reese protested.

"She turned you into a killer, ruined your life and abandoned you when you needed her most... She may have called herself your mother, Reese, but she wasn't capable of a mothers love. You deserved better than her."

"Now is not the time for this. If it is her, we need to deal with her quickly." Reese said. He suppressed the anger in his voice and kept as cool as he could. Lara didn't know Akemi like he did, she wasn't there to see how much he owed her. He knew that it didn't matter. If she was sabotaging Elysium, she had to be dealt with like any other spy; quickly and lethally.

Archi span the engines, ripped the throttle and set them on their way. The conversation could wait, the spy could wait. That didn't mean they weren't all considering how a spy could have gotten close enough to them to steal the generator plans? What else could they have stolen? Did they know about Apotheosis?

Later...

They would work it out later. They had a mission right now.

Reese looked to Lara who sat beside Archi in the cockpit. "Follow Banshee-one" He ordered. "Keep close by."

Daphi pulled high. They leveled out in the middle of a formation of hovering aircraft. The purple bombers called Banshee squad were aligned in a triangle with more jets on the right side than the left. Daphi settled in just behind the foremost bomber.

"Pterodactyl class shuttle, this is Banshee 1-1. Come in?" A man said over Daphi's radio. Reese grabbed the device and stepped into the main cabin, alone.

"Banshee 1-1, this is Lieutenant Reese. Shuttle's code is Daphi. We read you." He untinted the window and looked out at the shuttles. The sun beamed from reflective panels beneath them, a feature of the bombers to make them harder to see from the ground.

"Lieutenant, what the hell are you doing in my formation?" The man asked.

"You haven't been briefed?" Reese responded.

"Apparently not. Am I to assume you will be accompanying us on our little bomb run?"

"Lucky you, we'll try drawing attention away from you and provide support on your run." Reese put his comm down and folded back the main seat. A folded up turret lay beneath, Reese pulled it out and set it up by the door. Lara made her way to the other window and attached her rifle to a wall mount.

"Banshee 1-1 to command, mission is go." The pilot announced. The shuttles flew towards the horizon and Daphi followed close by. A flurry of artillery flew past them from Styx, they were trying to sew chaos in the ministry lines to allow the bombers to slip by more or less unnoticed.

The flight lasted hours. Each shuttle dropped at least a dozen bombs; killed a hundred men. Fighters tried to intercept. Banshee 1-5 and Banshee 1-8 were killed right off. Daphi rounded on the MOGs and worked to distract them. She wasn't nearly as well armed but she was faster and better flown. Reese shot round after round at men on the ground while Lara made nearly impossible shots look easy. She even managed to hit the pilot of a fighter, causing it to crash and burn. Once the bombers had expended their payloads, they flew their way home.

There was consideration; worry. The air sat heavily beneath the crimson stars, chaos reigned in the slightest of winds. It was as though Reese stood beneath the weight of a thousand men, all trying to tear the sky apart. The enemy was not in the sky, however. It was in his home, with his team... His family. It didn't matter if this spy truly was Akemi, Lara and Sash came first. He would stand alone at the breach and hold back the gushing tide if need be. His body strained against unseen bonds, his mind raced against ideas that came to quickly to consider in full.

"Breathe." He told himself inaudibly. It would be seconds until they landed and minutes until he could stop the threat. He looked out of the window and saw Styx pass underfoot. Above, a small ripple in the barrier shone a galaxy, or a nebula or something of the kind; Reese was far from a typical star gazer and had little knowledge of proper terminology. He couldn't tell you its name but he could tell you what it was. It was the crooked and bloody grin slashed across the firmament, a taunt from whatever would-be-god that deigned to sit in judgment of him. A judge whose jurisdiction lay beyond the mercifully small island of understanding within the vast unknowable that his comprehension presided on.

He knew there was no gods; he knew the sky did not sit in judgment. He knew the feeling that he deserved what was yet to come derived not from some divine mandate, but from the elegant monstrosities he had performed in service of some foolish greater good. It didn't make the seconds pass any faster.

"We've got a problem here" Archi called out. All three bundled within the cockpit with bated breath. A pointed finger revealed the issue. The hangar door, it wasn't opening. He signaled twice and thrice with no reply.

"Take us into Lion squads bay, I'll explain to them later." Reese ordered. With that, Archie swung the shuttle around. He swerved between power spire and scrambled jet as he span to the otherside of the tower.

Archi dropped low, nearly trimming back the wheat left in the fields. A hangar bay opened up, it was on the lowest level and he gracefully slid into it; much to the annoyance of a group of engineers. Archi and Lara waved them off and started an argument while Reese ran off without a word. He rounded the hundred, hundred corridors and passed by a dozen checkpoints without a word. There was nobody willing to stand in his way as he ran, quickly as he could, towards the research bunker. The checkpoint guard opened the shutters long before he arrived. She must have seen him coming. The guards behind the shutters shouted for him to halt, he ignored them and slipped into the elevator. There was little they could do. It shifted downwards with a clanking start. Slow... It was moving too slowly. He stood, coiled and ready to fight but the lift was taking all together too long. He steadied his breath and focused. He needed a plan. If it truly was Akemi, if she truly was alive, he was in for a fight. Reese had only ever beaten Akemi in a single fight when she was training him. Even though she must have been well into her fifties by now, she would still be a massive threat. She would have been smart enough to compensate for her age somehow. New weapons, new strategies... Maybe even prothstetics?

White tiled walls. He wasn't far now. The whirring brakes kicked in and the lift slowed to a halt. The gate lifted and frantic scientists ran past the door. They didn't notice him. They were panicked but no more so than anyone else in the tower. Nothing had happened yet.

He firmly grabbed a passing lab assistant by the arm as he tried walking past. "Where is Iris?" He demanded.

The assistant hesitated and sputtered a response along the lines of "I don't know sir."

Reese walked on. He would check the office first. It stood out compared to the rest of the neatly organised laboratory. Where sterile tile ended, oak wood frames began. Piles on piles of coffee stained papers and half torn journals stacked as high as Ade must have stood. The homely lamps lighting the room shone on two women working away, unfazed by the seeming apocalypse outside their hovel. She was safe.

Did you know this story is from Royal Road? Read the official version for free and support the author.

"Iris?" Reese asked as he entered the room. He didn't look at her, instead his rapid eyes scanned the roof, vents and any other point of entry.

"Reese. We're busy." She said, her face buried in papers. "Ade's had an epiphone." She walked over to Ade who was equally engrossed in her papers. He relaxed somewhat, there were no points of entry aside from the front door, which he stood careful guard over. "Iris. Look at me." He ordered. She did. She saw his face, filled with suppressed worry and rapid consideration. She knew, she was in danger and he was there to protect her.

"They don't know i'm here, do they?" She asked with a quivering voice. The evident fear drained at his heart.

"They have a spy. I think it could be..." He hesitated. "It could be Akemi." Her face told Reese she understood the severity of having Akemi nearby. Memories of the Queen's Rebellion flooded back to both minds. All those Akemi had killed with such unbelievable ease. Iris and Akemi never got along, but the idea it could be her... It was troubling to say the least.

"What do you want me to do?" Iris asked.

"Block the door. Let nobody in, you don't leave without me or Lara. Ade stays within arms reach of you. Understood?" He ordered. She nodded and set her papers up on the same desk as Ade. She had learnt to take Reese's orders as literally as she could, he was always careful with his words around her.

"But I need to gather things from other labs!" Ade protested.

"I'll get them." Reese told her, still scanning over the room.

"You won't even know what to look for. I'll get them myself." She insisted. She stood and leant to walk out until Iris grabbed her hand and held her back. "What are you doing?" Ade asked, trying to pull her hand free.

"If Reese says we stay here, then we stay here." She said. Ade looked at her in shock. She hadn't imagined Iris saying something so... Subservient. She always took command of a room, always gave out the orders.

"Since when do you do what he says?" Ade asked, still trying to pull her hand free. "Don't you outrank him?"

"I'm a doctor, Ade." Iris said. "If he tries to tell me something against medical advice, i'll ignore him. He is a soldier... and he cares about me. If he tells me i'm in danger then I am in danger. I trust him to make that call. If you don't trust him, trust me. He says stay, we stay."

Ade looked at her; her eyebrow cocked and her lips pursed to protest. It seemed either confusion or fatigue had stripped the arguments from her tongue and she stomped back to her desk.

Iris turned in her seat to look at Reese. Her look of subdued worry matched his own. "What's your plan?" She asked. The bustling from outside the office didn't die down during Reese's contemplation. He was worried. He didn't know if he could beat Akemi, he didn't even know if he could find her. Right now he couldn't doubt. He couldn't let her see him doubt or fear. He knew he would win, he had to win. There was no alternative. His face steeled, a slightly forced grin traced across his lips.

"First, i'll kill the spy; then, I'll kill Hosun. Maybe i'll win the war while i'm out there." He confidently said with a small half wink to Iris.

"And if it is Akemi?" Iris asked.

"She's a threat." He coldly stated. "I'll do what I do to anyone who threatens you."

"This isn't some assassin, Reese. This is Akemi." She insisted.

"She's old. I'll beat her."

"I don't doubt whether you can beat her. I worry what pulling the trigger on your own mother will do to you." A moment of silence passed between them. Something pushed back and forth in the air between them. An elephant in the room everyone refused to acknowledge. There was no answer Reese could give. None with any integrity, that is. Truth be told, he had no idea if he could pull the trigger on her or not. If she posed a threat to Iris, the shot would be easy but if there was more to all this? If she had some world shattering explanation for her cruel absence? Would he be able to do it still? He needed an answer.

"She's a threat." He repeated. "I'll do what I do to anyone who threatens you. Then... I'll kill Hosun. After him, I'll win the battle; the throne and the war. Maybe stop for breakfast along the way."

He made her laugh, a rarity in recent years but all the more valued. He hoped it would distract her from the question. He hated that he only made her laugh when he needed to distract her. He hated that, even now, he couldn't use her name. Couldn't acknowledge who she truly was. Not just to the world, not even to Ade... But to himself.

"Wait..." Iris mumbled. Reese's stomach dropped at the thought she would press the issue further. "Did you say Hosun?" She asked.

If his mind could laugh it would have revelled from relief.

"Yeah." He told her. "He's in charge of the MOG forces."

"Here?" She asked.

"Everywhere." He answered. "Sect Councillor Hosun Akyama."

Iris half laughed, half cringed. "The old man let him on the council?" She asked, mostly to herself.

"Arbiter thinks he's the general in charge of the siege." Reese explained. "She's going to send Raptor out to get him - once we find this spy, that is."

"Be careful with him." Iris warned. "He's as much a politician as he is a general. Not a mix that makes good men."

Three solid smacks on the old oak door made Iris jump, and Reese grip his rifle. "It's only me!" Lara called out. "Just had to explain to a dozen checkpoint guards that Reese wasn't a threat." She joked.

"Okay, you're here. Good. You've got guard duty. Nobody in-" He looked back at Ade. "Or out." He ordered.

"Yes, sir." She confirmed before taking a seat on a small shelf beside the door. Reese looked at her as she hunked her massive rifle up next to her.

"Here." He said as he handed her his much smaller rifle.

"I've got Hou Yi." Lara insisted before she looked around at the enclosed room they were trapped in. A single shot from her rifle would change the rooms air pressure to the degree it could be dangerous. She nodded her head as she took the rifle from Reese.

"Any idea where I should start with this spy?" Reese asked the room. No response was offered by any of the women before him. "Seen anything strange?" He asked. "Spoke to anybody new?" Again, silence. He turned to leave with a slight sigh.

"There was a woman here earlier." Ade mumbled. "It was probably nothing." Her confidence visibly waned and her eyes fell back to her work.

"Go on, babes. Probably nothing is better than literally nothing." Lara encouraged from across the room. Ade looked up to Iris and met her kind, approving gaze.

"Well... A woman came in earlier. She fell over outside and fell into the room. She kept apologising, I heard an accent-" She explained before Reese interrupted.

"Japanese?" He asked.

"Yes, I- I think so." Ade confirmed. Reese met Iris' gaze. It wouldn't be a coincidence.

"Short?" He asked. Ade struggled for an answer, not out of nerves but genuine consideration. "Shorter than Lara?" Iris asked, helping her answer along. Ade nodded in response.

"I suppose nobody looks short from your perspective." Lara joked. Reese and Iris ignored her. They were too engrossed in the questions. It had to be Akemi.

"And you say she fell into the room?" Reese asked.

"Yes sir. She seemed to trip up outside and tumbled into the room. It gave me quite a fright." Ade said. She scratched her pen into her desk, pulling up the layer of polish from the wood. Reese looked around the room where she would have fallen. There would have been some plan, some strategy. Akemi would have fallen in to drop a scanner or a listening device... There was nothing. The development room, especially Vasily's old office, was covered in anti-surveillance tech. State of the art, not even the ministry could develop something to breach their scanners. There must have been some other reason.

"Where was Iris?" He asked. Ade and Iris shared looks.

"I'd have been getting food." Iris suggested. Had she intended to get a look at Iris, confirm it was her? She would fall in as an excuse to speak with them. Iris knew what Akemi looked like, surely she wouldn't have risked a conversation? She must have waited for Iris to leave so she could see Ade, or get a layout of the office?

Reese left the room. There were no more answers to be found in there, he needed to seek the spy out. He looked at the researchers as he patrolled the hallways. Nobody matched the description. Nobody even resembled Akemi. He questioned a few techies, asking if they had seen any older asian women walking around. They all said no. They told him there were several young lab assistants who somewhat matched the description but it wasn't good enough. Nobody had seen anyone who looked like Akemi.

"Reese!" Archi called out over the bustling crowd. "I got words from the boys in engineering about the hangar." He said.

"What's going on up there, why didn't they let us in?" Reese asked. Archi stopped before him with a small pant and a hand on the wall. He had been running.

"They don't know. The door jammed shut behind us and they haven't been able to open it since. The whole wing is shut." He said.

"I've got a feeling that's related to our 'new friend'." Reese hinted. Archi didn't get it. He looked at Reese in an attempt to figure out who their 'new friend' could be. His lips parted and he mouthed out Ade to himself before realising who Reese meant.

"Oh! You're talking about mumsy!" He shouted much too loudly for the subtle tone of the conversation.

"This is why you don't get high security clearance." Reese sighed. He was preparing to leave when it dawned on him to ask Archi about the spy.

"Hey, Archi. You haven't seen any short, very intelligent, East Asian women around have you?" He asked.

"I'm guessing Lara doesn't qualify given the 'very intelligent' clause." Archi laughed. "I guess I have, there's a few research assistants. I'm not sure if any of them could help you?" He finished.

"Any of them suspicious at all?" Reese pressed. He was already looking around for his next possible lead, he didn't hold much hope that Archi would break the case for him.

"Hmmm..." Archi considered. "I'm pretty sure Janet has been stealing food from the staff fridge." He offered with complete sincerity. "And, maybe the newer girl... I didn't catch her name. Good at chess though. Beat me in two moves." He said.

"New girl?" Reese asked. "There is no new girl."

"Yeah, I hadn't seen her about before. She came and played chess with me. What was it she said? 'Get some lessons, Arch.'" He recalled.

"She called you Arch?" Reese questioned.

"Errm, yeah. I guess? Do you think it's relevant?"

"The lab staff call you Aricci. We call you Archi."

"Lara calls me Arch... What does that mean?" Archi asked.

"It means the spy has been listening in on Lara, not me or Iris." Reese realised. "Lara is the target."

The lights ran dark. Everything was black. Archi stumbled and reached out for the walls. "Whats going on?" He asked. He received no response, there was nobody there.

Reese ran at full pace through the lab. He dodged past blinded scientist and fumbling guards. He had trained for the dark. It was far from a hindrance. The office door was still shut. Could this be Hosun's move? Why listen in on Lara?

He swung the door open. There was nobody in there. The room was empty, until. Reese raised his hands, he had been caught out. Cold steel had been planted firmly against his temple. A rifle. It was angled up, whoever held it was short. A woman?

"Lara?" Reese asked. The gun was pulled from him.

"Shit." Iris sighed. "Sorry Reese, I couldn't tell it was you."

"Wheres Lara?" He hurriedly asked. He turned to look at her. She was close to him and looking randomly in his direction. She was completely blind in the darkness.

"A soldier came by. Said you needed her help." Iris answered. "Said you'd found the spy."

Reese grabbed Iris by the arms and leant down to her eye level. She couldn't see how frantic his face had become. How borderline crazed his wide eyes looked in the darkness.

"Where did they go?" He demanded. Iris hesitated for a moment, she seemingly realised what had happened. The soldier, Akemi must have turned off the lights so Iris wouldn't recognise her.

"Th- The hangar. She said you had cornered the spy in our hangar."

Reese didn't respond. He ran. He thought it was Iris in danger but all this time it had been Lara? Lara wasn't good enough at hand to hand. She would lose the fight, if there was even a fight to begin with. Akemi in the dark, a monster in the night. A fight wouldn't be needed to kill Lara. He passed by Archi and ordered him to keep an eye on Iris as he ran by. He didn't watch as Archi stumbled and fumbled his way along the corridor. Reese took the emergency route upwards. He wasn't going to wait for the lift, he would be faster on foot. He ran and ran; never slowing for a second. There was no consideration for pace. He didn't care if he was breathless for the fight; if he was slow and steady, Lara would die. He would take a more difficult fight over a dead sister.

Power was active throughout the rest of the tower. She had only cut it down in the research lab. Surely Lara would have noticed Akemi in the light? She was still very young by the time Akemi left. Maybe she wouldn't recognise her while they hurried.

He made it to the hangar door. A group of soldiers stood guard outside it. Reese ignored them and headed straight for the door.

"Lieutenant! We thought you were already inside?" One shouted. Reese beckoned for him and his squad to follow him. They loaded their rifles and walked at his back.