Chapter Eighteen: Locked


July 30, 2016. BAINE Headquarters.

James wasn't participating in the conversation as he walked down the hallway. None of his teammates noticed that he was walking far more purposefully than the rest of them. His eyes were fixed on his target, unaware of the ones walking beside him. Even the objective of their mission, the case in Fitz's hand, was secondary to where he went now.

"You know what I don't get?" asked Ichigo. "Why does an alien superweapon need plutonium to make? Doesn't that seem a little…pedestrian? I would've thought it'd need concentrated solar atoms, or gravitational energy, or somethin' like that."

"Well, everything's made of something," Hester replied. "There's only so many atoms on the periodic table, and even the ones we don't have on earth, we can synthesize. I'm just glad this is one we don't need a particle accelerator to make."

"Yeah, but…aliens!" Ichigo said. "And Valdain did say that nuclear energy is a few steps behind what the Koh'i'Noor have, right?"

"Exactly. He's using what we have to work with," said Vargas. "If it blows up big enough, it's fine by me."

The team soon reached the laboratory. Gina, Rhodes, and Valdain were inside waiting for them. "Back so soon?" asked Rhodes. "We heard about the attack–just glad you made it back in one piece."

"Unfortunately, the workers weren't so lucky," Bridge said gravely. "They decimated the whole place. Anyone left inside would have been vaporized, if not crushed by debris. SEEN and the Children might have been bad, but…even they didn't show this much disregard for innocent lives."

Valdain nodded knowingly. "Alkaria has grown much more…callous in recent years. If we don't do something about her soon, I fear the rest of this planet will share their fates. And to that end, did you retrieve the materials?"

Fitz placed the case on a table. "Sure did: twenty kilograms of the good stuff. More than enough to make one of your shooting star thingies." He opened it up for Valdain to observe, with all the nearby humans backing away for good measure.

"Hmm…yes, this should do nicely," Valdain said. "Given BAINE's resources, I should be able to have a shooting star ready within a day, two at most. Though I recommend we wait a few days before we begin the process, as shooting stars are quite volatile. Storing them can be quite tricky."

"I agree," James said, stepping over. "I wouldn't want such a dangerous weapon lying around here, especially one that only one of us knows how to make." On that word, he locked eyes with Valdain, closing the case. "Actually, that's kinda what I wanted to talk to you about. See, Alkaria attacking the exact same place we went to is a pretty big coincidence, yeah? Unless she knew we were coming, of course."

Though he did seem intimidated, Valdain tried not to let it show. "I know you must be suspicious," he said, "but I assure you, I am just as confused as you are as to how she found out where you were going. And that is the only possibility I could discern, as she would have no other reason to go…What are you doing?"

"Woah! James, chill, put the gun away!" yelled Luke.

Although he was keeping it down at his side, James held his pistol in his hand. His grip on the handle tightened, as though he was seconds away from pointing it at Valdain. "Relax, it's just a bit of motivation," he said to Luke, before turning back to the interrogation subject. "I want to believe you, but there aren't any other possibilities. Did she put a tracking device on one of us back in Antarctica? You'd know best, wouldn't you? If there's an explanation for all of this, I'd love to hear it."

"Rook, put your weapon down, that's an order!" snapped Daniel. He stomped over as James, reluctantly, holstered his gun. "I more than anyone understand acting on intuition, but this is ridiculous! If Valdain really was a mole, he wouldn't be helping us build a weapon to fight Alkaria, would he?"

"You heard him, a shooting star could blow this place wide open!" James retorted. "Maybe that was Alkaria's plan: instead of taking BAINE head-on, she sends in an infiltrator to work his way under our roof, and tear us down from the inside!"

"James, I know you're worked up, but this isn't helping anyone," Hester said, trying to calm him. "Besides, didn't you hear what Alkaria said back at the blacksite? She said Valdain was a traitor."

James scoffed. "And what exactly makes you think she wasn't lying? It all works out perfectly: trick us into building the exact thing that's gonna blow us all up, then destroy the place we got it from so we can't make more if some of us survive!"

"Are you hearing yourself right now?" asked Daniel. "Nothing you're saying makes any sense!"

"Well, I wouldn't say nothing makes sense," Vargas said. "We still can't explain how Alkaria found out about our plan."

Bridge shot him a glare before continuing. "Next time, think about discussing your suspicions with one of us before pulling a gun on one of our allies."

Valdain raised his hand. "If it helps, we could always store the shooting star at an off-site location. Somewhere far away from any people that could get hurt if it were to misfire. I could be kept in the dark of its location, so there would be no chance for me to find it, either."

"That whole episode aside, that is a good idea," said Gina. "There's this old warehouse in Keystone that's practically empty anyways. Nobody around for miles. We could put it there."

"Well, he knows where it's going now!" said James. Gina cleared her throat awkwardly.

Daniel sighed, rubbing his forehead. "I think we should all give these three some space to get working. Everyone…" It was all but stated he really meant James. "...head back to the barracks. Maybe get some rest–after all, we did almost die. Again."

Fireteam Victor filed out of the room, James sending one last glance at Valdain as he left. Rhodes went over to the table to lock the case up again. "I'm sorry about all that. I don't think I've ever seen James act like that before. He must really think you're up to something."

"No need to apologize on his behalf," said Valdain. "And I can't say I blame him. I cannot explain just how Alkaria was able to find them, either. I fear that she may indeed have some way of tracking us."

"Even if that is the case, I still trust you," Rhodes said. He held up the case. "So, what should we do with this for now?"

Gina strolled over to take the container. "I'll handle this stuff for now," she said. "Didn't Mills have something he wanted to talk to you about?"

Rhodes gave a small shrug. "He did, but it didn't sound too urgent. If you need my help, he could probably wait a bit longer."

"Ah, it's just synthesizing plutonium into a nuclear warhead, it can't be too hard," Gina said. "Besides, what could go wrong? Now go on, we're underdogs as it is. I'm sure that Mills has an idea for fighting these robots he's putting you in charge of."

"We can certainly hope." As Rhodes headed off, Gina moved to store the plutonium elsewhere. However, she stopped, turning to face Valdain. He was quiet for a moment, before eventually speaking up.

"Is…is something the matter?" he asked. "If you're still wary, I can–"

"No, no, it isn't you," she assured him. "I don't think you're betraying us, but you may have a point about there being a tracker on someone. I'd scan everyone for something like that, but I wouldn't know what to look for."

"I could help as well, but that may only complicate matters," Valdain pondered. "I think it would be best if I remained isolated for the time being."

"Are you kidding?" said Gina. "You're the only one here who knows how to make this shooting star! We literally can't do this without you!"

Valdain pondered a moment. "Time is indeed of the essence–even I cannot say when exactly Alkaria's plan will come to fruition. Although, I am apparently not the only one on this planet with that knowledge…"

"You mean the CGs?" Gina asked. "We haven't been able to get in contact with them for a while, but I suppose anything's worth a shot at this point."


"Sir?" Captain Hugo had been on a mission once she got back to base as well. The moment her team had arrived, she had asked to see Director Mills, claiming to have some potentially worrying information. Exactly how worrying, she didn't say, but Mills wasn't about to take any chances.

"Please, come in, Captain," the director said. He did a good job of hiding it, but he seemed tired, as though he had been going a few days without sleep. He likely had, given just how much he had been doing to work towards the inevitable invasion. "Now then, you said you had something of interest to show me?"

Hugo simply placed a USB on his desk. "Everything I could find on the subject is on there," she said. "I didn't have time to sort through it all, we found it moments before the facility was attacked."

"I see," Mills said, loading the files onto his computer. "What can you tell me about how you found it?"

"I led Fireteam Bravo into the server room once we got access to the site," she began. "Initially, we were only there to shut down the security systems and erase the footage if any alarms were tripped. However, some of my men thought we should look through the data to see what Polaris had going on, and I agreed."

He nodded. "Good thinking. I imagine you found out they were up to something suspicious?"

"Yes, but it's not so much what they're up to as much as it is how," she explained. "The files should explain in more detail. Most are just shipping manifests and inventory lists, but you'll notice something off in a few of them."

Mills looked through the files in question, skimming them for details. Many of them described shipments of raw materials in and out of Polaris storehouses or factories. More than a few were pieces of Gem tech recovered from various sites, most of the older ones supplied by BAINE. But despite the two parties cutting ties, the tech was still flowing. And the supplier was not listed.

"Troubling, to be sure, but not altogether damning," Mills noted. "We know that Polaris has connections with Mr. Echo and the Children of Homeworld. Is it possible that they are simply maintaining contact?"

"That's what I thought at first, and it's still possible, but something doesn't add up." Hugo approached the monitor to point out some details. "If you track the shipments, you'll find that everything involving Mr. Echo is listed under the pseudonym 'John Doe.' And anything to and from the Children of Homeworld is under 'A. White.' But these more recent acquisitions, they aren't listed under any name, just a blank space. But here's where it gets even stranger."

Below all of the manifests were a series of communications between Polaris higher-ups, some involving Barnabas St. Augustine himself. Most were soon revealed to be irrelevant, but there was one that caught both of their eyes.

"Here, this one." Much of the transcript was just Barnabas talking to one of his underlings, mentioning the importance of a shipment they would be receiving. When the worker pried deeper than he should, Barnabas got defensive, telling him it wasn't his place. He then said 'Our benefactor has graciously donated these materials to us, and I won't have you offending her with your nosing into her business!' "And there you have it. 'Her.' How many women do we know that would want to help one of BAINE's enemies and has access to that much Gem tech?"

"You aren't…surely you don't think St. Augustine could be in league with Alkaria," said Mills. "She seems to be doing just fine without his help, and Valdain seemed certain she would refuse to cooperate with humans."

"I admit it is a stretch, but the only other people I can think of are the Diamonds, and that theory falls into the same problems as this one. Hopefully I'm just overthinking things, and it's just the Children again."

"Whatever the possibilities, this does warrant further investigation; just not right now," said Mills. "Once the situation with the Koh'i'Noor is wrapped up–if it is–then I'll have some of you take a closer look. But for right now, we should focus on saving the world."

"I wouldn't have it any other way, sir," Hugo said before leaving. "Just give the order, and I'll take the team out."

The Director took another look at the manifests. Something else he picked up was that for just about every shipment from Echo or the Children, another was sent in turn. Like a trade or barter, Polaris would give their benefactors something in turn. But for these anonymous packages, nothing was given. At least, nothing physical.

"'Scuse me," a voice from outside said as Rhodes made his way inside. "You wanted to see me, Sir?"

Mills rounded his desk after closing the files. "Ah, yes, Edmund, I've been meaning to see you," he said. "I apologize; you must have so much on your plate already, and now I'm adding to your workload."

"Nothing to worry about, it is the fate of the world we're talking about here, after all," Rhodes replied. "What is it I can do to help?"

"I've been thinking," Mills said. "Given the power displayed by a single force of Koh'i'Noor on the Polaris Blacksite, we'll need something to bolster our chances in the event of another ground attack. More than just firepower: finesse. And given the effectiveness displayed by your Lightray project, I think we should bring another creation of yours to fruition."

Rhodes' face lit up like a kid in a candy store. "You mean…?" he said excitedly.

"Indeed I do," said the Director. "Effective immediately, I will be diverting resources into manufacturing of the Quartzbreakers."


The Next Day.

"Is it me, or was Daniel really vague when he called a team meeting?" asked Ichigo. "I mean, I know he can be pretty concise, but today he seemed…You get what I'm saying, right?"

"Maybe he's still disappointed in me," James muttered.

Nobody other than Ichigo had noticed anything out of the ordinary when Daniel had called for an impromptu gathering. He had just gotten back from a meeting with the Director and all the other captains, so they just assumed he had learned something important.

"You're right about him being concise though," said Luke. "Whatever he's sharing, I'll bet you ten-to-one it's bad news. Probably another robot attack somewhere."

Daniel was standing by the projector screen when everybody filed in. He faced the wall, his mind evidently elsewhere. Everyone sat down, waiting for him to break the news. "So, whatcha got for us, Danny Boy?" asked Ichigo.

Daniel turned to face his team. "Well, no point in beating around the bush," he said. "You all know just how badly the Koh'i'Noor have us beat. Even with the shooting star in production, they have a few million years on us in terms of technological advancement. So, Director Mills authorized the usage of a new weapon to deal with this threat." He turned the projector on, revealing video footage of a testing room. The door on one end slowly opened, and someone walked through.

The five of them were quite impressed as the video played out, some more than others. Rhodes and the Director could be heard commenting as the person in white armor decimated a series of holographic targets using an energy weapon. Vargas almost leapt out of his seat when the gun transformed into a blade. By the time the footage had ended, everyone was feeling a bit better about their chances against the Koh'i'Noor.

"Well, looks like I lost that bet!" Luke said excitedly. "You're telling me we've got one of those things on our side?"

"Better: several," Daniel replied. "Mills has commissioned several dozen of these Quartzbreakers built, based on Rhodes' revised designs. He has tasked us Captains with selecting which single member of each of our fireteams we think is best suited for wearing one."

Almost immediately, everyone's gaze turned to Vargas. "Huh? Well, if you insist," he said, getting to his feet. "It's a high honor, to be sure, but also a heavy burden. One that I will bear with the strength and grace of–"

"No," Daniel said, almost aggressively. "No, Vargas, but it isn't you."

"What?" both Vargas and Hester said simultaneously. "But Daniel, Vargas has always been our point man. Not to mention, the most, er, physically direct. He'd be the perfect candidate!"

"He is 'physically direct,' yes, but that's exactly why I want Lucas to wear the suit," said Daniel. "He is the one who has the most to gain from its enhanced attributes."

"Well, hang on now, I ain't exactly weak!" Luke said. "Just because I–"

Vargas interrupted. "Look, Captain, no disrespect intended, but that's a BS call. I'm the best suited for wearing that instrument of destruction, and you know it! So what's the deal!?"

It was now that Daniel was starting to actually get angry. "That violent attitude of yours is exactly why I don't trust you with a Quartzbreaker. If Luke doesn't want it, fine, it can go to Ichigo, or Hester, or James. I'll wear it myself if I have to."

"James? You'd trust James with the thing, but not me? Question: when's the last time I pulled a gun on one of our allies!?" James was almost certain Vargas was moments away from throwing a punch. "You've been treating me differently for these last few days. Are you sure it isn't you who we shouldn't be trusting?"

"That's enough!" Daniel shouted. "You are not allowed within ten feet of a Quartzbreaker, and that's final! It should be enough that I let an ex-Child of Homeworld stay on the team!"

Silence. From everyone. Vargas and Daniel continued to glare at one another. Luke could only gape. James looked away, but it was clear that it had still hit him. Ichigo and Hester weren't sure what had just happened, but it sank in when Vargas failed to react. "So…how long have you known?" he asked, speaking quietly.

"Less than a week," Daniel replied. "I had a chat with Aster. He seemed familiar with you. More than he should have been."

"That's what he told you?" asked Hester. "Daniel, I told you that he can't be trusted…"

"No, he's right," Vargas said, turning away. "I…I used to be one of the Children. I was young, and I needed to figure things out. Like who I was. White's teachings, that I was a part of something greater, it spoke to me. But like I said, that was the past."

"And you didn't think to say anything?" said James. "Back when the Children were trying to unravel us, why didn't you bring this up?"

"That's why! Because of exactly that!" snapped Vargas, pointing at Daniel. "How would it have gone if I told you I was a member of the people trying to end the world!? You wouldn't have reacted any better than you did now!" He threw his hands up. "No. You know what? Screw this. Screw this, screw the Quartzbreaker, and screw you all. I'm outta here." With that, he stomped out the door, leaving silence behind.

"Vargas, wait!" said Hester, chasing after him. Once she was gone, the four left sat quietly for some time, unsure of anything to say. They weren't sure whether to confront this issue directly, or ignore it entirely. James figured on a different approach.

"So, Captain," he said, "what was that you were telling me about acting on intuition?"