Chapter 19

No room for faithless

"̸A̧̛͠r͘͜͡i.̡́͢.͝.͟ ̵̛̛Ar̡i͝...̷̢ ͜A̴̶r̕͝i͏.̴̨͡.̸̵́.͞͝!̡̡͝"̵̛

Ariela groaned and slowly opened her eyes, her vision was blurred for a couple seconds before everything became clear.

"Ari… Hey, Ari," said Corrie.

Ariela coughed and winced as she came to her senses.

"C-Corrie?" she whispered.

Corrie smiled and hugged her.

"Oh, thank god! Ariela!" she piped.

"Ack! Too hard!" she groaned.

"Oh sorry," Corrie said as she jumped back.

Ariela groaned.

"Where… Where am I?" she asked.

"The compound," said Corrie, "well… More specifically the medical wing in the compound."

Ariela looked down at herself and saw that she was bandaged.

"…What happened?" she asked, "how long was I out?"

"That new SplinterCell mech… That Andromedon… It fucked you up really bad," said Corrie, "that last attack it delivered apparently… knocked out your 'shield' and… Well… Just be lucky you're alive."

Ariela looked down at her bandaged chest again.

"As for how long you were out… Well… You've been out for most of the day," said Corrie, "if it weren't for your Spark, you'd be out for at least a few weeks, if not months."

"Yeah, consider yourself lucky super girl," said a voice.

The girls turned and saw Ryan and Terrell walk into the room, the former was carrying a box of chocolates.

"Ryan… Terrell," Ariela said with a smile.

"Sup boss," Ryan said as he placed the chocolates on Ariela's lap, "got you a gift."

Ariela opened the box.

"Oh… Chocolates… Uh, ehehe, thanks," she said, "I didn't think that you guys would be so worried."

"They weren't the only ones," said a voice.

Ariela turned her head and gasped.

"Director McCoy," said Ariela.

Ariela's teammates all stood at attention.

"Director on deck!" barked Ryan.

"At ease you three," said Wesker, "I just came to have a talk with Ariela is all."

The four assassins looked at each other.

"In private," Wesker added.

"Uh-oh," said Ryan.

"We're out," said Terrell.

Ariela frowned as he friends left.

"Oh, thanks guys! Thanks for trying to convince him to let you stick around!" snapped Ariela.

"Relax… You're not in trouble," said Wesker, "I just came to apologize."

Ariela sat up straight.

"Apologize?" she asked.

Wesker nodded.

"I shouldn't have been so quick to send you in there to liberate that facility," he said, "I thought they might've had commandos stationed there along with lancers and possibly a ranger or two… Standard opposition. If I knew that they had such a vicious weapon waiting in the shadows… I wouldn't have sent you."

"…I think I should be the one who has to apologize," said Ariela, "that facility came under attack because Persephone believed I was under your protection and felt I was untouchable."

"Well, if you think about it, you kind of are under my protection," said Wesker.

"It doesn't matter," said Ariela, "this was always what I was afraid of, people getting involved in my crusade and those very same people who helped me would wind up getting hurt… If I had just stayed hidden… If I had… Lived someplace else… If I had just done something… anything different then none of this would've happened. Now one of Starline Corporations facilities is in SplinterCell's grip still after I failed to wipe out their occupation force."

Wesker smacked Ariela on the head.

"Ow!" she yelped.

"What the hell did you think was going to happen?" Wesker asked with a chuckle, "that there wouldn't be consequences of getting people involved? That everything would go right the whole way through? No… That's the price of conflict Ariela. No matter who you're with… No matter who gets involved… People are going to be put in situations that you don't want them to be in. Situations where you have to make a choice… And the choices you make in times of conflict… Depend on how it'll end… Either in your favor or the favor of the enemy's."

Ariela said nothing.

"Just a little food for thought," Wesker said as he pulled out a cigarette.

Ariela watched as the man lit up and took a drag.

"…Rest up Ariela… And don't worry… I'll find a way to get the facility back from your old friends," said Wesker, "this isn't over yet."

Wesker turned and left. Ariela let out a sigh and sat back in her bed, letting out a sigh. Ariela opened the box of chocolates and bit into one of them.

"Mm… Caramel," she thought.

Ariela looked at her bandaged left arm and slowly made her hand into a fist. She frowned as the images of the Andromedon flooded her mind; but that was soon replaced with images of the woman who saved her.

"…I feel like I've seen her somewhere before," she thought, "…but… I can't quite… Remember who she is… Was."

Ariela picked up the next chocolate and bit into it.

"Mm… Strawberry," she thought.

Just then, the door to her room opened.

"Back already guy-"

But Ariela immediately fell silent when she saw who it was. It was that woman. Ariela's eyes widened when she saw the emblem on the upper left-hand corner of her chest plate: Hydra.

"Arizona!" Ariela exclaimed in shock.

Ariela raised her right arm but winced and dropped it when she tried to charge a kinetic burst.

"F-F-Fuck," she groaned.

"Nie jestem Arizoną ... Jestem kobietą, która właśnie uratowała twoją dupę tam (I am not Arizona... I'm the woman that just saved your ass back there)," the woman said as she locked the door and started walking over to Ariela.

"W-Wait a second… You're… Polskan?" asked Ariela, "who are you?"

The woman didn't reply, she just looked down at Ariela when she stopped at her bedside and sat down beside her.

"…What are you doing?" asked Ariela.

The woman raised a hand and it started to glow red.

"Nie ruszaj się (Hold still)," said the woman.

Meanwhile, back at the Starline facility, Dakota was on his way with his team to… Trade words with someone.

"Where is he!? Where is that cock-smoking, arrogant son of a bitch!?" Dakota roared as he stormed into the facility.

One of the combat medics, who was busy tending to one of the wounded, pointed up, indicating that the person Dakota was looking for was upstairs. Dakota stormed over to the elevator and started mashing the button.

"Dakota, slow down!" Courtney yelled out.

The elevator doors opened. Dakota marched inside.

"Dakota stop! Stop!" Logan yelled as he raced over to him.

But the elevator door closed, and Dakota was on his way up; his right hand formed a tight fist as Persephone's words echoed through his mind.

"Damien you bastard, I'll kill you for what you did!" he thought angrily.

The elevator stopped at the top floor, Dakota marched off the car and headed for the Director's Quarters. Dakota kicked the door in.

"Damien!" he roared as he marched over to the other ranger.

"Ah Dakota you're here, I hate to break it to you pal but-"

WHAM!

Dakota punched Damien right in the jaw. There was an eerie silence as commandos and the entire facility staff, slowly turned and looked at the two rangers. Damien, whom managed to regain his senses after the punch, spat out blood.

"…What the fuck!?" snapped Damien, "what was that for!?"

Dakota grabbed Damien by his collar.

"You stupid, stupid, stupid son of a bitch… You nearly killed Ariela!" screamed Dakota.

Damien pushed him back.

"The hell are you talking about?" he asked, "I didn't do shi-Oh… Oh! You got the word, didn't you?" he asked, "you heard about how she was here… Her and the rest of the reds. Listen, I'm really sorry-"

"Damien, you know damn well that we were given strict orders to only kill her if necessary, what you were about to do was blind murder!" interrupted Dakota.

"Oh, come on Dakota, how do you know that it wasn't Chris who sent the Andromedon after her ass?" asked Damien.

"Because if he did, the Andromedon would've been ordered to incapacitate her, not kill her," Dakota said through gritted teeth.

"Dakota, come on, do you really think that he would've ordered the Andromedon to incapacitate her?" asked Damien, "open your eyes, you fucking moron! Have you forgotten who we're going up against!? This isn't some run of the mill traitor! This is Ariela fucking Liora! There's no 'kill only if necessary', you need to drop the bitch as soon as soon as she shows herself!"

Dakota growled and made a fist.

"Geez, why are you so hell bent on trying to make sure that she's not harmed?" asked Damien, "don't tell me you're still hung up on her…"

Dakota looked down. Damien raised an eyebrow, then he smirked.

"Oh… You are… Well maybe… Maybe we should take her alive… That way you can watch as we suck every last drop of her blood from her veins… Leaving her as a withered husk," sneered the ranger.

Dakota snapped.

"I'LL KILL YOU!" he roared as he pounced.

Dakota knocked Damien down on the ground. Chris raised a hand as he saw a couple commandos getting ready to move in to break the boys up, signaling them to hold their ground. Everyone in the room watched as the two rangers jostled on the floor, rolling and punching each other before Dakota got kicked off. Dakota jumped to his feet and drew his sword.

"Why don't you show how much of a real man you are Dakota?" Damien groaned as he rose to his feet.

Dakota looked at his sword, then he looked at Damien and tossed his weapon to the side.

"Ho, ho, it would be my pleasure," he said as he cracked his knuckles.

Damien marched over and threw a punch, but Dakota blocked and knocked him back with a palm strike. As Dakota moved in on Damien, Dakota's teammates had just arrived to see their squad leader knock Damien on his back and start beating down on him.

"Dakota! Stop! What are you doing!?" exclaimed Hanna.

"Shut up! This bastard bought this on himself!" snapped Dakota.

Damien kicked him off.

"She must've really whipped you good, lover boy," he said as he wiped the blood from his lip, "I'm almost pissed I didn't catch her on the rebound."

Damien charged and threw another punch, Dakota ducked and punched Damien in the ribs, face, and drove his knee into his gut; then he struck him in the jaw with his elbow and grabbed him by the shoulder before throwing him into the Facility Director's desk.

"I've seen you for what you truly are!" Dakota roared as he marched over to his opponent.

Damien rose to his feet and kicked Dakota, but he blocked it and grabbed him by the throat.

"Playing nice with Ariela, trying to be on her good side!" he barked as he slammed Damien against the desk, "and yet you had her arrested that night!"

Dakota started punching Damien in the face repeatedly.

"You're a serpent! A scheming snake!" he snapped, "you never liked Ariela! Ever since she first displayed her powers!"

Damien took the Director's family photo and smashed it against the side of Dakota's head. Damien grabbed Dakota and threw him into the Director's chair, causing him to tumble onto the floor.

"She's a fucking freak Dakota, a mutant!" sneered Damien, "first it was biotics, now it's these… Spark-wielders? These Technomancers!?"

Dakota rose to his feet and started blocking Damien's oncoming punches.

"That incompetent commander of ours should've killed her the night we arrested her!" barked Damien.

Dakota caught Damien's next punch and socked him right in the nose, before kicking him against the desk.

"Oh-ho, now you're really going to get it," he said.

"What the hell is going on!?" someone yelled.

Everyone gasped.

"Commander on deck!" exclaimed Courtney.

Everyone stood at attention as Persephone marched into the room, flanked by two rangers. The young woman looked around at the scene and then she looked at the boys, who were bruised, bloodied, and exhausted from their… Scuffle.

"…You're all acting like a pack of rabid dogs!" she snapped as she looked around at everyone, "and that, gentlemen… Simply will not do. Not if you expect to rebuild SplinterCell… Not if you expect to save it from the brink of death."

Persephone looked on Damien and Dakota.

"And you… Damien…" she said as she walked over to the ranger, "…Did I hear you right? Am I… Incompetent?"

"Uh… W-W-Well… I didn't mean… Incompetent as in you were a bad leader, I-I-I meant that as in I didn't… I don't really think it's wise to… Uh…" Damien tried to say.

Persephone calmly put a hand on Damien's shoulder. Dakota was shocked.

"Whew, thank god, for a second there I thought-"

"Damien," interrupted Persephone.

"Y-Yes?" he asked.

"…You… Much like Dakota… Much like Ariela… You… Are one of my finest rangers…" she said slowly.

Damien smiled.

"…And I'm sorry to hear you say such hurtful things about me," she said.

"Wha-"

But Damien was cut off, as Persephone… Stabbed him… With her own blade. Everyone gasped. Damien coughed up blood.

"…C-C-Comman… der…" Damien choked out.

"There's no room for those who have no faith in me or my capabilities as leader of this organization," Persephone said firmly, "and I especially have no faith in people who would go against my orders and try to kill my step-sister… In cold-blood."

Persephone pulled out her sword and kicked Damien to the floor.

"C-C-Commander…" Damien choked out as he reached for her, "I'm… S-Sorry…"

Persephone said nothing as Damien took his last few breaths, before going still. Persephone cleaned her sword and sheathed it.

"…I know… Things haven't been going well for all of us… But trust me when I say, that I am trying my damnedest to pull this organization together," Persephone said in a quivering voice, "all I ask… Is that you'll give me time and faith to help me with restarting this program… No… I am begging you… To give me time and faith…"

Everyone looked at each other before looking back at Persephone, who appeared to be holding back tears. It was no secret that Persephone was in a bad spot right now, and it was obvious as to why, SplinterCell was barely standing, Persephone had to reactivate her Black Sites and call on SplinterCell's secret black site commandos as back up to help her hunt down Ariela and bring her back to the mountain alive.

But now with Ariela being backed by Reverb, things had gotten tougher, which meant Persephone had to pull out all the stops, activate the new soldiers she kept locked away for so long, even go so far as to call in favors from SplinterCell's old allies, the All-Terrain Tactical Commandos for help.

"…For what it's worth commander," said Chris, "…we'll still help you anyway we can."

"We'll stand by you through and through," said a black site commando.

Persephone looked around and saw her forces… Her soldiers give her an affirmative nod or say that they would continue to fight for her. Persephone let out a choked sob.

"Come on guys, you're going to make me cry," she said as she wiped her eyes and let out a small laugh.

Dakota walked over and gave Persephone a hug.

"D-Dakota?" she asked, feeling confused.

"We're going to find her… And we'll bring her back by any means," he said with reassurance.

Persephone smiled and hugged Dakota back.

"And what if we can't bring her back?" asked Logan, "no offense but… Ariela's not going to come quietly. And aside from Damien's comment about you, the best we can do is put her down."

Persephone looked at Logan.

"Don't worry… I have a plan for that," she said confidently.

Ariela was in the training wing, beating a sparring dummy about the head and shoulders with powerful punches and kicks.

"Ari?" asked Ryan.

Ariela turned and saw her teammate slowly walk over to her.

"Oh hey, what's up?" she asked with a smile.

"Uh… Nothing… It's just… Corrie didn't see you in your room or anywhere in the medical wing," he said slowly, "but here you are and… Up and moving."

"Damn right," Ariela said with a laugh, "I've never felt better."

"…But… How is that possible? The Andromedon… It fucked you up… Like, bad," said Ryan, "the doctors said you'd be out for… A while. A long while."

Ariela looked at her hands, then she looked at Ryan.

"It doesn't matter," she said with a shake of her head, "what matters is that I'm in peak condition and I'm ready to try and take that facility back."

"Well… Okay…" said Ryan, "well if you say you're in peak condition to get back out into the field-"

"Lieutenant Liora!" barked a commando.

Ariela saw the woman approach.

"You have a call for you in the tower," she said.

"From who?" asked Ariela.

"…She didn't say," said the commando, "only that she said… 'She'll know'."

Ariela's expression changed.

"…Take me to the tower," she said.

The commando obliged and led Ariela to the tower, where one of the communication's officers handed her the microphone.

"…Hello sister," said Ariela.

"…I was right… You would know who was trying to contact you," said Persephone, "same old Ari…"

"…Did you know that your bastard soldiers sicced an experimental cyborg after me?" asked Ariela.

"…That's not why-"

"Rhetorical question I know you know… It's just obnoxious how you would point out that I'm still the same after so long and make it seem like this is a social call," said Ariela, "now… What do you want?"

"Firstly, to apologize for getting you hospitalized, that wasn't part of the plan," said Persephone, "the second thing was to request an exchange."

"…What kind of exchange?" asked Ariela.

"I can't explain over the line," said Persephone, "meet me back at the Starline facility… Tonight. We'll talk there."

"…Alright," said Ariela.

"And Ari…" said Persephone.

"Yes?" asked Ariela.

"…Come alone," said Persephone.

"…Alright," said Ariela.

"See you soon… Little sister," said Persephone.

Ariela swallowed as the transmission ended.

"…Now call me crazy, but this smells like a trap," said the commando.

"I don't think so… Persephone didn't sound desperate on the other end," said Ariela, "…this isn't like her to contact me… Not after the damage I've been dealing to her."

"…You're not seriously taking her word into consideration," said the commando.

"…If I was… I wouldn't be going in unarmed," said Ariela.

Ariela headed for the elevator.

"I'll be right back," she said.

"Wait, you're… You're going ma'am?" asked the commando.

"Yes," Ariela said as she hit the button.

"What if it's a trap? You won't have any backup if this 'exchange' goes south," said the commando.

The elevator door opened. Ariela looked over her shoulder and smiled.

"Don't be too sure," she said with a wink.