-Soledad-

It had taken a few hours to fly to the Johto region, but the ship held up well during the trip. Another sign of Ratchet's genius, when it came to engineering and repairing. When I reached Azalea Town, which was as barren and skeletal as the rest of them, I looked at the dead trees that spread out beyond the town's southern gate. Smoke rose in the distance and accumulated into black juggernauts, joining the dark sky, seeming to reach up from the ocean. The echoes of gunshots and roars filled the air, as if an entire war played out in the distant part of my thoughts. Loud, booming, but there, only miles away from me. I pushed the lever. The ship flew forward.

When Ratchet had said that Arbiter Corp had been expecting the Regions' Fleets' attack on the dish towers, he hadn't been kidding.

Amidst the forest and the ocean, a large gap of land – a mixture of sand and tree stumps – served as the battlefield between hundreds of fusions and military soldiers. In the ocean, massive watercrafts moved past their burning and sinking brethren, firing cannons and machine guns toward the fusion fleets that headed in to engage with the boats of soldiers and regular pokemon touching shore. Jets soared through the air, dropping bombs on groups of fusions, the bellows of their engines slicing through the drums of war, while dropships dispatched tanks and jeeps of soldiers along the battlefield, other dropships joining the aerial combat with the harpies above it all. Bodies of fusions, regular pokemon, and soldiers covered the ground, spilling out into the ocean.

My eyes followed the fusions' paths, tracing back to where they charged from. I saw the shape of a tower, settled somewhat into the dead trees. Pieces of it seemed to go missing, flickering in and out of reality, evidence of a cloaking device that'd been cut off. With its satellite-like dish tilted into the air, it was as large as a skyscraper.

Emerald Harbor.

Missiles from the watercrafts and jets shot toward Emerald Harbor, but they all exploded against a half-sphere-shaped layer of purple-white that surrounded the tower, the force of the attacks sending vibrations across the layer's surface. The layer disappeared, as if leaving Emerald Harbor exposed, but once another missile headed toward it, the layer appeared again, blocked the hit, and protected the tower – a force field. It was obvious that this battle had been going on for a while with no avail on our end; even with the amount of bodies I could see, Emerald Harbor looked like it hadn't taken an ounce of damage apart from its broken cloaking device. Soldiers and pokemon who tried to approach it on ground were blocked by the fusions who emerged from it, crossing through the shield via small gaps in the surface that traced the ground around the tower, only visible when the shield was exposed after an attack.

If I wanted to get in, it looked like I'd have to take the same route.

I fell from the chair when my ship reared to one side, a siren flashing, painting everything in red. Feeling a cold wind slash across my face, I looked – and saw a gaping hole where the door had once been. Whether it had been from a stray missile or a fusion attack I didn't know. I grabbed the controls, but the ship only veered downward, unbalanced on its one remaining wing, as it headed toward the ocean.

Fuck!

I dove for the floor and prepared for a crash landing.

Another jolt, which almost sent me flying toward the dashboard. Water splashed across the windshield and poured in through the hole. When the ship finally stilled and the water level stopped just below my waist, I let out the breath trapped in my chest, grabbed the dashboard, and stood up. Droplets dripped down my armored legs. The noises of the battlefield sounded closer than before, but, to my luck, another missile didn't come to finish the job, nor did a fusion poke its ugly head into the hole.

Before something could change that, I made my way to the small container of guns and ammo toward the ship's corner. Brushing wet, reddish bangs from my face, I grabbed a rifle and hooked it on my back. I attached packs of ammo and knives to my belt and holstered another handgun to my thigh, beneath the small cape that covered it, replacing any old weapons I had with new ones.

Alistair only deserved the best, after all.

I looked toward the dashboard, where that picture of Drew, May, Harley, and I had only fallen on its front during the crash. I walked over and grabbed it, the water stirring beneath my steps. For a second, I closed my eyes, if only to remind myself that I was that same woman in the picture.

Alistair needs to get what he deserved...but save Malcolm first.

I put the picture into my pocket and climbed out of the ship's hole.

I smelled gunpowder, blood, and sweat as soon as I stepped out onto the beach. While my ship had buried itself into the sand a few feet beneath the water, the tide had begun to recede, carrying the body of a dead fusion with it. Its claw snagged on my boot and stayed it. Its red eyes were open toward the sky, its jaw moist with blood. I kicked it away and faced the battlefield.

Each command, each growl, each footstep, each firing, each death, they all gathered together, creating a chorus that shook the ground beneath me. When the ground actually jolted and made me stumble, I looked toward the dead trees – and saw a bipedal fusion almost as large as Kruismara step out into the open, impaling a jeep full of soldiers in its scythe-like hand, creating dust clouds with each massive step. It roared and shook the ground even further.

A colossus.

Colossi were rare fusions, though there was a higher chance of being killed by one of them than by Kruismara's hand. Mutated as they were, it was hard to distinguish what other pokemon they consisted of, but the attributes of kabutops and carracosta were usually present, with their bluish skin, a large shell on their back, scythe-like claws, and an armored head with spiked ends. Despite their size and bulky shape, they weren't invincible, as two missiles from a jet struck the colossus in the chest, causing it to step back, pieces of its armor blown off.

Two more loud roars shook the ground, and two more colossi emerged from the dead forest, enclosing on the battlefield.

If I'm going to move, now would be a good time!

I grabbed Charizard's pokeball, released him, and climbed onto his back.

"Don't stop," I said to him, pointing to Emerald Harbor. "We might not last long if you do."

Charizard eyed the colossi and the rest of the war that waged in front of us. His face paled, but he took off anyway, heading toward Emerald Harbor, staying low to the ground so we wouldn't attract the attention of the harpies above. I leaned into him, to provide the least resistance against the wind.

Soldiers, their pokemon, and fusions passed by us in outlined blurs. A jeep exploded in front of us, the heat brushing my face, and Charizard reared to the side, barely dodging the claws of the behemoth that had destroyed it. We flew past groups of scout fusions that engaged soldiers, their growls loud then gone in the blink of an eye, and maneuvered over a series of trenches that hid regular pokemon, who glanced at us with shock before they disappeared behind us. A colossus approached, pounding the ground with each step.

Charizard narrowed his eyes.

The colossus intercepted our path, though it was oblivious to our presence, with us probably being a mere dot amongst a background full of them. But its wide legs were still barriers and the span of its claws were huge; the last thing I wanted was to be stepped on. With a growl, Charizard sped forward. We moved around the colossus, circling the thigh of its leg. As that leg moved forward, Charizard veered to the right and left, moving around the other thigh. The colossus's scythe slumped down when we came through, but Charizard barrel-rolled out of its way, almost throwing me off in the process.

As the colossus grew distant, we grew closer to Emerald Harbor, the tower looming over us like a colossus of its own.

"We have to time this right!" I said to Charizard, just loud enough for him to hear over the sounds of the battle. "We can't get through that shield unless fusions come out of it! That's the only time it's open!"

Groups of fusions emerged from Emerald Harbor's open doorway, heading toward the force field to engage with the soldiers gathering on the other side. I patted Charizard's neck. He increased his speed, eyes still narrowed, his muscles tense beneath me, and the fire at the tip of his tail blazing with a blue-white color. I leaned further into him, looking between his horns.

"Steady!" I said.

Closer...

Closer...

Just a little bit further!

The force field opened, a small gap that allowed the fusions to pass through. We flew over them – and beyond the force field.

Charizard tried to rear back once we entered, but his speed was too much. He managed to dive toward the ground before we crashed into the wall of the tower. I lost my grip on him on impact, hit the ground, and rolled onto my back.

I bit back a groan, pushing myself up a minute later, and I saw Charizard half buried into the dirt a few feet away from me. He whimpered, his tail flame dimming. I made my way over to him, kneeled, and put a hand on his neck. He tried to lift his head. I looked up when a missile struck the force field, its blast so close and loud that it blinded me for a second. Vibrations spread across the shield's surface. I looked back at Charizard.

"You did it, Charizard. We're in." I grabbed his pokeball from my belt and sent him inside. "This is my battle, though. Get some rest. I'll take it from here."

I stood and watched the battle. No one seemed to notice that I'd gotten in, not even the fusions that guarded the force field from outside. Though my top priority was saving Malcolm...

If I can, I'll find a way to shut off this force field, too, guys.

I ran into the tower's open doorway, and the war soon disappeared behind the tower's white, clean walls.

On the inside, Emerald Harbor consisted of different hallways, laboratories, cafeterias, control rooms, staircases, and accommodation and meeting rooms. If there would have ever been another moment where I regretted not taking my helmet with me, it was now. Blueprints of the towers had been included when I had installed the information I'd retrieved from that Arbiter Corp campsite into the helmet's database. I didn't have the helmet anymore. Ergo, I had no idea where the hell I was going.

But I didn't stop. Malcolm was somewhere in here, if Alistair hadn't lied. Despite how much I wanted to wrap my fingers around Alistair's neck, I hoped he had a ounce of good left in him to at least be truthful about some things – even if it was all for a sadistic purpose.

I slit the throats of any scout fusions that patrolled the hallways before they could notice me and alert the rest of the team. Blood drenched my knives by the time I finally crossed a hallway that led into a large room. The tiled floor vibrated with the movements of a massive generator to the room's side, at least a mile down and stretching a mile across. Catwalks lined its edges and connected above it, linked through a series of doors that sat along the circular wall. Its bright glow, plus the overhead lights, whitened the room to where it almost hurt to stare at the floor. The drone of its moving machinery was low, but still there, and it blocked out many of the sounds of the battle outside that had somehow found their way in. Even though a railing lined the edge of the floor's decline into the generator, I stayed far from it, not wanting to imagine what said machinery down their could do to you if they made contact.

If this wasn't the focal point for Emerald Harbor, I didn't want to know what was.

To the other side of me, multiple garage-like doors lay shut. Ahead, a metal staircase led into a control room, filled with computers and a doorway leading somewhere else. It was encased in glass, in which the glass extended and served as the front windows for a myriad of rooms and hallways on the next floor. All for observing purposes, obviously, for people who also didn't want to be so close to the generator when they looked at it.

In the control room, I saw a human figure talking to someone on a large screen. A human figure with blond hair, a black trench coat, and a sense of arrogance amongst his posture.

I clenched my hand into a fist. "Alistair!"

Though the glass probably muffled my voice, Alistair heard me anyway. He turned, his red eyes flashing, and he smirked. He mumbled something to the person on the screen and the image cut out. Then, he emerged from the room, walking down the staircase, eyes never leaving me.

"Soledad!" he said. "What a surprise! I thought you wouldn't be able to find your way in here, since no one else has seemed to yet. Still..." He frowned. "If I had known you were really coming, I would've cleaned up a little and made some of my famous three-bean casserole. You haven't lived 'til you tried my three-bean casserole, let me tell you!"

"Where's Malcolm?"

Alistair hummed. "Malcolm? Malcolm. Malcolm, Malcolm, Malcolm...About yay high? Purple-red hair? Green eyes?"

I snarled. "Where is he?"

"Ooh, protective." Alistair grinned. "You know what? I like you. I made a few bets that you wouldn't be able to make it this far, yet you did." His brow arched. "I owe a few hundred bucks to some people down by At Hell's End now, but whatever. You really are a good mother when you want to be. Too bad I don't have my own kid, so I can't relate." He pointed his thumb behind him. "Try looking up there."

There was an observing room just above the control one – and Malcolm was in it.

"Mommy!" he yelled.

Even with the glass in the way, I heard him loud and clear. He beat against the glass, but to no avail, his eyes glistening with fresh tears. Beside him, an operator stood still, only turning its head to acknowledge him when he tried to run to the door in the back – and get blocked off by the three scout fusions that guarded it. They didn't touch him, though, following Alistair's commands over the Hivemind.

"Let him go!" I hissed.

Alistair snorted. "And what? Ruin all the fun? Yeah, I wanted to see how much the great Artemis would be willing to do to save one of the things that really mattered to her, but I also brought you here to offer a little...proposition." He grinned again. "Undoubtedly you saw all that ruckus outside. I'm guessing you were the one who started it, with all that info you stole at the camp you destroyed. The towers wouldn't be known about if it hadn't been for you, and Jericho and the rest of the council is getting nervous over the military's obvious plan to destroy Kruismara and break the Hivemind. They wanted me to kill you as soon as possible, but the damage has already been done, so I thought I might as well liven up the game a little.

"To tell the truth, we know about the Resistance," he said, walking toward me. "We haven't known about them for long, but we know about them, and we know that right now a group of them – which one was it? The Hoenn Resistance, I think? – is coming this way to try and destroy Emerald Harbor. From what I've heard about the members of the Hoenn Resistance, you have some sort of connection to them, right? You were a member once yourself." He stopped. "Now, which one was it that you were particularly close to? Drew Trandafir? Ah, yeah, Drew Trandafir, the leader for the Hoenn Resistance."

I firmed my jaw, not surprised that Arbiter Corp knew about me, the Resistance, and about the military's plan to defeat the fusion army by getting rid of Kruismara, the head to the Hivemind that maintained all order amongst the fusion fleets.

But, Alistair's mention of Drew made my stomach jump.

"Gotta love those operators," Alistair said. "Encounter one, or just continue on with your daily life with no idea that one's following you, and all your secrets can be passed around the world in a matter of minutes through the Hivemind. Huh. Maybe we should've called them 'gossipers'...No matter." He looked at me. "I know now that that Drew fellow means a lot to you, a connection to your past that you care about just as much as you care about Mal up there. So, I'm willing to make a trade."

I paused. "A trade?"

"Indeed. A life for a life, if you want to be cliché." He walked closer to me. "Drew Trandafir is probably going to be the one in here with his little squadron trying to blow this place up, or whatever plan they have. But, if he falls, who knows what'll happen to the Resistance as a whole? Having the military up our asses is annoying enough, but getting rid of the Resistance will probably ease Jericho's tension a bit.

"Long story short, I'm hiring you, Artemis." He smirked. "Kill Drew Trandafir, and Malcolm is all yours."

I narrowed my eyes. "No."

"No?" Alistair tilted his head. "What happened to being Artemis to protect Malcolm? Don't tell me you ditched that idea already! I was just getting fond of it!"

He snapped his fingers. The operator beside Malcolm grabbed him in its elongated arms, holding him in place as a fusion scout approached him, fangs bared and dripping with saliva.

"Mommy!" Malcolm cried out.

"A life for a life," Alistair repeated. "If you don't want to trade, I might as well keep the money I got."

"Why do you want me to do it?" I asked, struggling to get the words out.

"Well, yeah, I could kill Drew myself just as easily. But, like I said, I like you. On one hand, you're Soledad; strong, powerful, independent, and willing to sacrifice yourself to save a best friend. On the other hand, you're Artemis, a cold-blooded murderer who'll shed the blood of her best friend if it meant her son was spared. I want to see how much more you'll do. I want to know which one you truly are. A life for a life. Kill Drew, and save Malcolm. Or let Drew live, and see your precious son ripped apart before your very eyes."

I looked between Alistair and Malcolm. I wanted to push Alistair out of the way, free Malcolm, and get away from this place.

But...one simple mental command from Alistair, and Malcolm would be gone.

"Make your choice now." Alistair chuckled. "None of us have got all day."