Everything exploded. Windows shattered, doors blasted open - The Volm went down without a fight. Hal suspiciously watched the window of the control room, two Volms paced around it discussing the situation; it was now or never. He threw his rifle upwards and smashed through the window, methodically using the ledge to hoist himself up - he pulled his body through the open space. The Volm at his feet clawed his chest, a seething pain ripped through his skin. No time could be wasted, he picked up the fallen rifle and chased the Volm in pursuit. As he traced the Volm's whereabouts, Tom's voice echoed through the radio.

"Maggie missed the rendezvous point, Hal. Hostile are still in play."

"Maggie, Baltroc's on the move. Circle back to Tom and protect the patrols." His voice was heavy with wheezing and his chest trembled with agony. "Maggie-"

Hal violently plunged to the ground with the Volm on top, seizing for his throat. He kicked upwards, but it was no use as the Volm blocked his attack. Hal shielded his face from the venomous claws, as it attempted to rip at his skin. Agent Mason pulled away from Baltroc's grasp, allowing him time to stand above it. With one mighty step, he kicked at the Volm's masque and watched his steel boots cut it deep. Baltroc shrieked and only got angrier, it charged at Hal with the battle cry. With only his rifle as a defence, Hal blocked, blocked and blocked until he was standing in a corner. Trapped. He squared his shoulders and with all the power he had, Hal charged at the Volm and used his shoulder to knock it down. The adrenaline rushing through him selflessly gave him the fight he needed to survive. Baltroc slowly, mightily stood, but it did not attack. It was very quiet indeed, as if it twisted it's head from left to right; simply observing Hal.

"I thought you were a man with more than a gun."

He did not even hesitate. Slowly, but surely; Hal let his rifle fall to the ground. Baltroc sneered at the sight.

"Let's. See."

Baltroc hesitated, but seeing a chance to wound Hal did not stop him. He charged forward, but Hal punched upwards; the effect shuddered through his body and Baltroc cried at the burning agony. He seized Hal by the legs, pulling him down and watching his head smack against the ground. Baltroc stabbed and stabbed at Hal, but the fearless soldier avoided every attack. With one hand, he kept Baltroc's claws at bay and with the other, he reached for the knife in his side pocket. Allowing no time to be wasted, Hal swung him arm around and cut deep into Baltroc's throat. The Volm went into a feverous seizure. He leapt from his position over Hal's body and thrashed everywhere. Soon, Baltroc surrendered to unconsciousness, as the poison that had laced Hal's knife begun to take effect. Hal would have rested for a moment, if a shining light from a control had not distracted him and a figure in the window had not been recognizable.

Maggie.

"Well, this is awkward." Maggie smirked from where she mightily stood, he body was bent over a screen and she was controlling a more scientifically advanced computer. Hal strode over to her and did not miss the way she had positioned her body to shield the screen from sight.

"What are you doing?"

"Backing up a hard-drive, it's a good habit you should get into."

"Tom needed your help. What the hell are you doing here?" His eyes fell on the the screen. There were red dots all over and different codes spread across the pages, but Hal recognised the signature mark of Espheni masterwork. "You're saving Espheni intel, why?" Maggie ignored him, she removed the hard drive from the computer and moved around him. Hal seized her arm forcefully, not allowing her to escape his questioning. "What are you hiding from me? You could have jeopardised the whole operation."

"I think that's overstating things-"

A sudden alarm began to beep loudly and a bright torch was thrown into the room. He acted on soldier instincts, tucking Maggie under his arm - the two smashed through the opposite window as a huge blast exploded behind them. The air was thick with smoke and debris fell around them. Maggie grunted in pain beside him and her body ached to move. Hal lifted himself slightly to observe for any attackers. It seemed clear, their attackers has presumed them to be dead.

"Okay, that one's on me." Maggie admitted with a defeated sigh.

Hal did not speak for a moment. "You're damn right." He stood and stormed away.

Hal stormed into his father's office, ignoring the protests of the guards. "You just can't stop yourself from lying, can you?"

"I didn't lie! Maggie had a different mission to yours." Tom protested with his back towards Hal, his cheek resting on his palm as he watched over the city skyline.

"Which you didn't feel obliged to share."

"I'm not obliged to do anything."

"Those patrols could have died, Dad." That sparked Tom's attention, Hal never eloquently articulated to him as a son anymore. It was very special indeed, as if it was clearly to both, Hal was severely hurt from being kept in the dark. Finally, Tom instantaneously turned to face Hal - he leaned forward and his palms rested on the table.

"I sent the greatest soldier in history to make sure that didn't happen."

Hal looked down at his father from his stood position. "Soldiers trust each other, that's what makes it an army. Not a bunch of guys running around shooting guns." Tom stood slowly, leveling his son's powerful stance with ease.

"The last time I trusted someone, I lost a wife." That struck a chord, Hal was silent. Tom's voice softened, he saw the effect on Hal after mentioning his beloved mother. "Look, I didn't want you doing anything you weren't comfortable with. Maggie is comfortable with everything."

Hal smacked his hand against the table in anger. "I can't lead a mission if the people I'm leading are wandering off doing missions of their own."

"It's called compartmentalization" Tom argued back with a patronizing tone. "Nobody tells the secrets because nobody knows them all." Hal scoffed bitterly, there was a small sarcastic smile gracing his face.

"Except you."

Tom backed away, his defenses slowly coming down. "You're wrong about me, I do share. I'm nice like that." He began to walk away towards the exit, clearly leading Hal.

Leading him where? That was the question.

The two stood in awkward silence in the elevator as they traveled downwards towards the secret location. "You know, they used to play music." Hal commented, simply to fill the silence.

"Yeah, your great-grandfather operated an elevator for forty years. He worked in a nice building, he got good tips." Tom never broke eye contact with Hal, he enjoyed seeing the fascination in Hal's eyes as the two delved into the Mason history.

"He'd walked home every night with rolls of money stuffed in his lunch bag. He'd say hi and people would say hi back. As time went on, the neighbourhood got rougher. He would say hi and they would bite with 'keep on stepping. Your great-granddad got that grip on the lunch bag a little tighter."

Hal paused for thought. "Did he ever get mugged?"

Tom let out a small chuckle at the question. "Every week some punk would ask what was in the bag."

"What would he do?" the eldest Mason asked in a mesmerized tone.

"He'd show them. A few rolls of money...and a loaded twenty two Magnum." Hal nodded in understanding at the meaning of Tom's story. "My granddad loved people, but he didn't trust them very much."

Tom watched out of the clear windows of the elevators at the large fusion beamers and the masses of nuclear weapons at the feet. Hal's jaw dropped at the sight of the many weapons that dominated the sphere.

"Yes, I know." Tom spoke after seeing Hal's shocked expression. "They're a little bigger than a few Magnums."

There were planes, ships and satellites everywhere. They were sky high from where Hal stood and so many bright lights - it was a whole other world, only a few floors away from the real world. "This is Project Insight." Tom introduced, as the two strode through the sphere. Hellacarriers that are synced to targeting satellites."

"Launched from the Marine Star?" Hal asked, it was the central satellite that controlled all masses of weapons.

"Once we get them into the air, they never need to come down." Tom boasted, it has been John Pope's designs and the prospects of these weapons succeeding with very positive. "Continuous, courtesy of our new engines."

"Weaver?"

"Yeah, he had a few suggestions after he got a close look at our old turbines." Hal looked upwards at the carriers, their engines were pulsing red and there were so many - his eyes begun to hurt. "These new turbines can annihilate a thousand hostiles a minute. The satellites can read a terrorist's DNA. We wil neutralise a lot of threats before they even happen."

"I thought the punishment usually came after the crime?"

"We can't afford to wait that long."

"Who is 'we'?"

"Weaver and I. After the Fall of Chinatown, Weaver and I decided there need to be a surge in quantum analysis. For once, we are way ahead of the enemy."

Hal observed the weapons mounting sky high in disappointment. "By holding a gun to everyone on Earth, you're calling it protection." Tom stepped toward Hal in a threatening way, he did not admire the tone Hal had taken.

"You know in my research, I read old war reports. The greatest generation? They did horrible things."

Hal stepped forward too, his height was level with his father and his eyes were unyielding and unforgiving. "Yeah, they compromised. Sometimes in ways that didn't make them sleep so well, but they did it so people could be free. This isn't freedom, this is fear."

"As the President, I need to treat the world as it is. It is time to you got with the programme, Hal!"

His son hesitated with his jaw clenched and his teeth gritted together. "Don't hold your breath."