Kuwait: Slick Clyde and Nick Nitro were having heated words with the OMAR Executive Board about the defense of the facility as well as his incorporation of Dusty Earth and Padre Destino into his tiny outfit. Eight had received plenty of flak over his decision to just allow for four vehicles to make the Trans-Atlantic flight but it was too late to do anything about it now and so Slick was now butting heads with him as Eight also considered it his personal responsibility to ensure the security of the facility.
"You're not entitled to that information!" shouted Eight as Slick nearly lunged at him but was held back by Eleven and Nick.
"If you don't give me detailed layouts of the layout of this facility and its defenses then we are going to just end up dead that much sooner," Slick replied angrily.
"If we give you that information now, then what's going to stop you from coming through here later and killing all of us!" shouted Eight back at him. Unseen to everyone, One's head snapped up at that statement and stared at him from her seat high above as the color drained from her face. She had chosen not to join the others down in the pit but she still listened in nonetheless.
"What are you so afraid of? If I wanted you all gone, I wouldn't be doing it this way," Slick retorted with a snort. "I'm not the threat here."
"But you are the threat!" Eight exclaimed as One's jaw dropped and Slick shifted uneasily. Had Eight finally realized the truth about the time travelers from the future and would force the younger Slick's hand into action?
"Or you will be, I should say," continued Eight as One and Slick both breathed an internal sigh of relief. "Your aspirations to rise to the top of this company could one day overwhelm your sense of judgment and make you think you could overtake us. But you don't have a ghost of a chance."
"If I were to come after this location, I guarantee you that no one would be left standing when I was done," promised Slick with a sinister smile and a look that caused One to immediately get up and leave for her office to allow her a breather.
Walking into her office, One shut the door and reached for a cigarette and lit it.
"I wouldn't smoke that, it's bad for your health," said a voice that caused Auntie to instantly begin choking on the smoke even though she hadn't yet brought the cigarette to her lips. She quickly spun her chair around and saw a darkened individual standing in the corner of the room.
""How did you get in?" she said angrily and then blinked and turned thoughtful as she couldn't think about why she was mad at him in the first place.
"Well technically I'm not here at all," said Clyde as his image fuzzed out for a moment.
"Ah," said Auntie nodding her head. "We're working on holograms ourselves from the advanced technologies we've recovered from numerous sites around the world. I can see it paid off one day seeing as you're broadcasting through our system."
"So how are the defense preparations proceeding?" asked Clyde curious. Auntie chuckled at that question.
"Your younger self is in there yelling it out with Eight," said Auntie as she briefly opened the door and voices could be heard.
"You never should have let him off his leash Eleven, let alone into this organization in the first place!" shouted Eight.
"If it weren't for him, then we wouldn't have as much of a powerbase as we do now. If you don't give him the plans, I will!" responded Eleven furious. The door shut, once more cutting out the sounds from the outside.
"Ah yes, Eleven, the one ally I had in this organization," said Clyde with a hint of sadness. "The tools he gave me would serve me well during my time here with OMAR."
"Yes, but this isn't your time with OMAR!" Auntie exclaimed. "You have no right to ownership over this organization in this or any other time frame."
"I'm the CEO of this company, the COO, the President, the Vice-President, and everything above, below, and in-between. I am the last of the OMAR board members so forgive me when I say, I AM OMAR!" Clyde spat. "Thanks to me this company has reached heights the likes of which it will never see under your reign. But one blemish remains: why did you never formally attack the United States again after the failed Coyote attack of '77?"
Auntie just shook her head in shame at his question and then dropped her head into her hands.
"Because I'm tired," she revealed. "I'm tired of the fighting, of the war, of everything. Fighting leads to killing, and killing leads to warring, and one day that will be the death of us all. If we keep going down this path, we're all going to be doomed. That was why I created OMAR, to bring order to the chaos of the outside world, but I failed."
Clyde laughed at that. "You're not that selfless because who would've been in charge had that vision succeeded?"
Auntie cracked a smile at that. "All the same, it would've been better than this one."
"And the world I am trying to create is better than the one you have right now," Clyde answered in an ironic echo. Auntie lightly nodded her head.
"And you did a great job because you pulled the wool over all of our eyes. I should've known it was you from the start when I began to have strange vibes whenever I saw your younger self. But now you've positioned things so that you're the greatest threat this installation has ever faced and also its greatest hope at being saved," admitted Auntie a little impressed. "And I don't suppose that if I went out there and killed your younger self, it would make any difference?"
Clyde shrugged. "The question you should really be asking is can you afford to take the chance if you're wrong."
"But will he fight for us against you?" Auntie asked. Clyde nodded his head.
"He will. Not so much out of loyalty to you but more out of hatred towards me," the CEO responded. "And I'd say you're better off with him because Eight is nowhere near the strategist Three was."
"You knew Three didn't you?" Auntie realized. "An experience your younger self will now no longer have."
"An experience he doesn't need to have to survive. I planned every movement to absolute precision before I leapt back here and although there were some bumps along the way, the endgame was exactly what I anticipated it to be," Clyde responded as his eyes took on a more malevolent image. "I am going to once more bring this company to new heights so that it can take advantage of the opportunities that are only present her and now."
Auntie rubbed her eyes feeling more tired than ever. "Just tell me one thing, how did I die in your reality?"
"I don't know. You left OMAR when I first became a board member and your whereabouts were never truly confirmed. I heard rumors you were operating out of the Australian outback but as long you stayed out of my hair I had little reason to track you down," Clyde confessed. "Well, I must be going but I'll be seeing you soon."
The image of Clyde winked out and Auntie immediately poured herself a glass of bourbon and then hit the intercom button.
"Mr. Clyde, I wish to have an audience with you after you're done planning the defense of the installation," she said and then shut it off and immediately downed her glass and then poured another as she waited for him to arrive and what exactly she was going to say to him.
Iraq: The US cargo plane slowly made its way over the desert below trying to avoid any OMAR defenses and any roving armalite gangs that may have adapted to the desert setting.
"It's funny, this areas used to be called the Fertile Crescent because it was once thought to be the cradle of humanity. Now its home to the organization that has caused this planet more strife than any other in history," said Sheila absently as she looked out the window. "Irony is a fact of life."
"Sorry, biology was never my specialty," John confessed with a chuckle as he poured himself some coffee from a thermos. Chassey had used whatever favors she had left and had gotten them passage to the Middle East. Getting a plane was hard enough, getting a plane out of the country near impossible, and getting to a literal no man's land was a miracle. But here they were, mere hours from OMAR HQ and each was having their own coping mechanisms about thinking of what was to come.
"I wonder what Convoy would be thinking right now," Sheila continued with a sigh. "We always butted heads but whenever he gave advice, it always seemed to clear up any doubts I had."
"I can imagine, but I also know that he would think we're doing the right thing. It may not seem that way, but Convoy always said any haul may have twists and turns along the way, so put your faith in the road and you'll always get to where you need to be," said JT sagely. Sheila laughed at that.
"Thanks Uncle John, I needed that," and she immediately hugged the man Convoy considered to be his brother in arms.
"No problemo, kid. Or should I say, Madame President?" he asked amused before Sheila groaned at that.
"If that is my destination fine, but I'm taking my own road and where I end is where I end up," Sheila responded. "And I need to make sure I'm able to continue that journey after this is done so excuse me, but I need to perform a weapons check."
JT nodded. "I'm planning on doing the same once I finish enjoying my morning cup of joe."
Sheila nodded and got up and headed for her vehicle as the plane shook briefly but otherwise continued on its course. JT was proud of his niece and although Convoy didn't know how to properly express his appreciation verbally, he knew the trucker was always proud of her as well.
Further down the plane, Chassey sat on the hood of her Vertigo, lazily fingering the ring that was still hanging around her neck while staring out at the rear cargo hatch aimlessly.
"Go hence, to have more talk of these sad things; some shall be pardon'd, and some punished: for never was a story of more woe than this of Juliet and her Romeo," Houston quipped as she walked next to the FBI Agent.
"Don't I know it," she agreed with a light smile. "But I'm no damsel who can't live without her man. I'm going to do what Juliet should've done and killed Romeo and overthrown the Montague and Capulet families to create her own unified empire."
Houston looked at her strangely at that. "That's the silliest thing I've ever heard."
"Ah, I'm just tired," Chassey confessed and laid her back down on the windshield. "Something on your mind?"
"You already know what about," the former Coyote responded as she looked pointedly at her ring. "How can you and him…I don't even know how to say it."
"I don't either and yet there it is," said Chassey, hardly surprised that Houston had figured out her situation. "I do love him, I know that now. But rest assured that regardless of my personal situation, I am a Vigilante first and I will do what needs to be done when the time comes."
Houston nodded certain of Chassey's truthfulness with that statement.
"Three hours until drop," came a voice over the PA system as the plane briefly rocked. Houston and Chassey looked at each other pointedly.
"Cannon to the right of them, cannon to the left of them, into the valley of death rode the 6000," responded Chassey with a quote of her own and then closed her eyes and soon was snoozing blissfully away as the plane continued on its course as Houston headed for the front of the plane to try and inform the pilots about what she remembered of OMAR's defenses.
1975, Outside Las Vegas: R. Chase and the Leader of Echo Base sat in the desert overlooking a stretch of road as Sid Burn loaded a crate of weaponry into a non-descript black limousine and then was given a briefcase from whomever was inside and then it rolled off as Sid headed for his car.
"Who was in the limousine?" asked Chase confused as this event hadn't occurred in his timeline.
"A man who went by the name Antonio Malochio," the Leader responded. "He was planning on using the weaponry Sid gave him to blow up the West Texas Federal Oil Stock to try and help out OMAR but he gets defeated in a year by another band of Vigilantes near Interstate '76. But his story isn't really important, what's going to happen next is."
Sid's car failed to start, apparently out of gas, and then Chase watched in astonishment as John Torque's Jefferson roared to a halt and then the playboy got out and socked Sid Burn and immediately tossed the Coyote into the trunk and tossed the suitcase of money into the driver's seat and roared off.
"Unbelievable," said Chase as he walked onto the road as the dust slowly swirled back down. "I knew Torque didn't like Sid but…"
"In this reality I'm not even convinced they knew each other beyond their conflicts during the auto wars," the Leader responded. "But as you can see…"
Another temporal schism erupted and soon began sucking everything in sight into it.
"Is this a pattern?" asked Chase headed against his vehicle as the hollowing winds began pushing against him.
"It would seem so, but that's not entirely what I meant by my earlier statement," the Leader responded cryptically as he headed for his van. "Now come on, we have one more stop to make on our little journey."
The two vehicles fled the current timeframe as it continued to be consumed by the vortex.
Tibetan Plateau: Cow stampeded left and right as 'Y' the Alien's Luxo Saucer soared past overhead. In the cockpit, the alien flicked the occasional switch before leaning back in its chair and consulting its trusty PADD that had allowed it to survive thus far on its mission. A shadow hovered over him from the rear and after a few moments of silence, the alien turned to face the other occupant of the vehicle.
"You don't need my permission to speak," the alien stated as he poked a couple places on his PADD and got a real-time aerial image of OMAR's facility in Kuwait.
"Why am I still alive?" the other occupant, Bob O., asked. The alien turned to look at the other occupant.
"It is because I am an opportunist and despite the fact that you pursued me with the intent of capture and interment for two years, I was impressed all the same. No human being in this time period would ever show that same level of commitment and so I could not just destroy you without a chance for you to join my cause," said the alien. Bob O. narrowed their eyes suspiciously.
"But my mission is still to-," began the other when the alien lowered its PADD and gave a look of annoyance.
"And to whom exactly are you planning on turning me in?" 'Y' asked pointedly. "Site 4 was destroyed over two years ago and I highly doubt the US government would have any record of your mission. Plus, what exactly are they supposed to do with you afterwards? You're better off with me because I can at least offer you a sense of purpose and if I do not succeed in my mission, then any success of your mission will be very fleeting."
The other occupant considered this thoughtfully.
"And then we'll go see the stars?" asked the occupant thoughtfully.
"I'm not from outer space," the alien replied curtly. "But what I can give you is a purpose that has some meaning other than just being a simple hunter for hire."
The occupant also considered this.
"Just promise me one thing," the occupant asked. The alien nodded his head willing to hear what the astronaut had to say.
"Revenge against those who did this to me," said the astronaut pulling back his reflective visor to reveal a chimpanzee underneath. "I can never go back to the jungles, not after they gave me increased intelligence and the ability to speak. I don't seek revenge against all of humanity, but those that made me a monster, that's what they're going to get in return."
"If you want revenge my friend, you're in good company because all that is left is revenge," the alien said pleased as he pressed a button on his PADD and a 3-D hologram of Kuwait City emitted from it.
"This is our target, the Oil Monopoly Alliance Regime's Headquarters," the alien revealed. The chimpanzee looked confused by that.
"Why there?" Bob O. asked.
"Because according to my readings, a temporal explosion is going to occur in the heart of that city that is going to unravel the very fabric of time," the alien answered as a glowing spot appeared on the map and then expanded outward, engulfing the whole area.
"Then how do we stop it?" asked Bob O. "I remember what they taught me at Site 4, you can't contain a temporal eruption once it has started."
"No, you can't," the alien agreed. "But I already know how it starts."
"Then what causes it to happen?" asked Bob O. in a hushed tone. A new image popped up from the PADD's holo-imager.
"Not what; who. She willingly allows it to happen," the alien told his companion. "So in order for all of us to live, she must die. I wanted to kill her right away but my original mission specs called for diplomacy first. So I warned her, but she didn't listen. So like I said, now is the time for vengeance."
Bob O. regarded the image carefully and then nodded his head in agreement.
"Now, let me show you how to operate the weapons on this vehicle," the alien continued as he got up and led the monkey to the weapons control area.
"So when is this explosion supposed to occur?" the chimpanzee asked. The alien looked at him solemnly.
"Three point five hours from now,"
Kuwait: "I had a chat with your future self," Auntie told Slick right off the bat just to see what the former playboy's reaction would be.
"Did he tell you to say hi to me?" was the immediate response to which Auntie laughed.
"No, I'm afraid not," she admitted before sighing heavily. "I have to give you credit, you're more crafty that I realized."
Slick shifted uneasily at that. "For what it's worth, I would never come back through time to try and rewrite history. I don't live my life with regrets."
Auntie nodded, knowing that he was telling the truth from this point in his life.
"For what it's worth, I don't really care what causes you to eventually change your mind, all I need from you is your assurance that at this time, you fight for us," Auntie demanded.
"Technically he's fighting for OMAR as well," the playboy pointed out of his future counterpart. "But rest assured that regardless of my personal situation, I am a Coyote first and I will do what needs to be done when the time comes."
"See that you do," Auntie reminded him before pulling up a map on her computer that featured a radar reading of an object moving towards them.
"This is a United States Air Force cargo plane heading for our facility," Auntie told Slick. "Our sources tell us it contains the members and vehicles of four Vigilantes."
"Do you know which ones?" asked Slick, trying not to be too conspicuous about needing to know if Chassey was with them. Auntie shook her head negatively.
"No, but I don't believe anyone on there was not a member of the '77 team that foiled our original plans in America," Auntie figured. "What I don't know is their intentions and I was hoping that you might be able to infer that."
Slick looked at the radar dot coming ever closer to the facility.
"They intend to defend us against the future Coyotes," Slick deduced. "They don't want to, but they at least know what OMAR is currently capable of. But with my future self, they know that America has no future and neither do they."
Auntie leaned back in her chair and steepled her hands in front of her face.
"What will they do afterwards if they succeed in their mission?" she asked next.
"I don't know. But your responsibility as head of OMAR is clear. They must be eliminated because they could be a future threat to our operations," said the Coyote. Auntie nodded her head.
"And if I gave that order, would you attack or defend them?" Auntie had to ask. Slick considered it for several moments.
"I don't know," he finally admitted. "I certainly feel no sympathy with their cause anymore, but they are more than capable when the odds are stacked against them. It'd be a shame to just eliminate them just because they got in over their heads."
Auntie was still formulating a response to that when her intercom buzzed.
"Yes?" she asked into it.
"They're here,"
Auntie and Slick instantly locked eyes and then Slick ran from the room as Auntie headed for her reinforced window to the outside.
From the darkened and cloudy sky above, four lights appeared and then slowly gave way to the images of a bus, tsunami, Palamino, and limousine that hovered over the entrance to the facility.
From OMAR rolled the Towncar, the Goliath Half-Track, Wapiti 4x4, and a Trans-Am and each took up a defensive position between the facility and the new arrivals.
The two sides faced each other in silence as lightning began to flash and thunder rumbled softly and soon the roar of engines and the flash of headlights was heard and seen as well.
"I'm warning you, you get one last chance to walk away," Slick said over the radio to his unseen future self. "Go back to your own time now because I won't be held responsible for what happens to you if you spend any more time in ours."
The limousine revved its engine angrily but the owner of the vehicle said nothing in response.
And then the sounds of an airplane was then heard as a C-130 landed nearby and from it raced a Thunderbolt, Wonderwagon, Livingston Tow Truck, and Vertigo and then the plane immediately took off back into the clouds. The four vehicles then took up an offensive position around the two groups of Coyotes.
All eyes instinctively towards the limousine as the wheels began spinning in the sand and dirt and then an electrical arc shot across the twin posts on its back.
"I've come through time to claim what's mine!" shouted Clyde as his vehicle leapt forward all weapons blazing and soon chaos descended on the Oil Monopoly Regime Facility as the battle joined.
