Chapter Twenty: Pre-Flight Check
August 6, 2016. BAINE Headquarters.
Even on the other side of the glass, the entire room vibrated as the collider spun, forcing the particles into their new forms. The three of them watched as the warhead began to take shape, the center of the mechanism crackling with raw power. Pearl wasn't kidding about this thing being volatile.
"Ninety-eight…ninety-nine…there. The core of the shooting star has reached a hundred percent stability," reported Rhodes. "Well 'stability' is relative in this case. We could nuke the whole base just by looking at this thing wrong!" The centrifuge gradually slowed to a stop, though the glow remained.
Valdain observed the newly-formed core. "All the more reason for us to be careful then, yes? And speaking of, are you sure you trust me enough to fit it into its casing? I could easily set it off at this stage if I so desired…"
"Hey, you haven't done anything untoward so far," Gina said. Besides, you're the only one here who can survive in there for long without a hazmat suit. Just be sure to de-rad before coming back out, 'kay?"
"I shall. Wish me luck." Valdain made his way through the sealed passage and into the chamber. From there, he began the process of fitting the warhead into its protective shell. Just in case, numerous cameras were present inside the room, to make sure he didn't do anything to sabotage the device.
While he worked, Gina tapped Rhodes on the shoulder, taking advantage of the soundproof window. "Quick, while he's busy–so, you remember about a week ago, when Rook went nuts, and I proposed we hide the shooting star in an isolated warehouse in Keystone?"
"I am," replied Rhodes. "Why? Was there a change of plans, or–"
"That's just the thing; there never was a warehouse in Keystone, not a specific one I had in mind," Gina said. "I just said that to plant the seed in everyone's mind. Whether Valdain's a double-agent or one of our own's been bugged, they think there's a place we're thinking about sending this thing. And guess what happened?"
"Hmm, let's see…warehouses in Keystone were attacked en masse?" guessed Rhodes.
"Not exactly, but you're not far off," Gina answered. "Later that day, I had some of our surveillance guys watch the skies, and sure enough, more sightings of strange lights over all sorts of places matching that description!" Her excitement quickly turned to direness. "I hate to say it, but they're listening in. We just need to figure out who's their walking walky-talky."
Both of them glanced at Valdain, who was still hard at work. Then, back to each other. "Gina…"
"I know what you're thinking, but I don't think it's him," she replied. "He's had so many opportunities to sabotage our machine from the inside, but we haven't seen him do anything like that since day one! If his entire plan hinged on blowing us all up with a weapon they tried to prevent us from building, well…I shouldn't have to explain why that's a pretty inefficient plan!"
"I know, and I don't want it to be him either," said Rhodes. Gina expected a 'but' to follow. And sure enough: "But…the only other option is that they placed a listening device on one of our own, and I imagine it'd be pretty hard not to notice something like that, for them and for the rest of us. And maybe he's not trying to sabotage us, maybe he was sent here to keep us busy, to distract us until Alkaria launches her attack. Her plan does hinge on destroying the planet utterly, so she must not see us as big enough of a threat to warrant a direct attack."
"And yet, we only know about her plan because Valdain told us!" Gina said. "Hey, don't give me that look, I double-checked with Garnet! We know where and how the Koh'i'Noor are gonna strike, and we have a rough idea of when, so all we need to do now is make sure they don't know that we know. So be sure not to mention that we're sending this bomb to you-know-where."
"But I-I don't know where," said Rhodes. "You and Mills never told me."
"Exactly."
The hissing sound of de-rad being sprayed alerted the two that Valdain was finished. The two quickly dropped the conversation, and shortly after he emerged through the door. "The shooting star is completed and ready for detonation," he reported. "But by all means, please check my work if you are unsure."
He certainly sounded genuine. "That's…that's okay," said Gina. "We have plenty of time to double check things before the attack. Besides, we're busy enough as it is…"
The robot's head cocked to the side. "We are?" he asked. "If I recall correctly, this was our last step before we were ready."
"Oh, hardly," said Rhodes, catching on. "It's going to take weeks just to get our planes even remotely ready for flight outside of Earth's atmosphere, let alone training our pilots for high-altitude combat."
"Yup. Until then, we're pretty much sitting ducks," Gina continued. "So the sooner we can get this shooting star shipped out to our Siberian Sea base, the better off we'll be."
By now, Valdain was pretty sure he wasn't being let in on something, but didn't say anything yet. "If I may, I might not be from this planet, but the Siberian Sea does not seem like the ideal target for a crust-buster. Far too shallow relative to other bodies of water."
"Ah, but that's what makes it insidious," Gina said with a sly grin. "Because we won't expect them to attack it, it's the perfect place for them to strike! Ahem…Rhodes, help me get this thing loaded onto the plane."
"I…That is certainly something I need to participate in," Rhodes said, as the two of them slowly left the room. "Hey, do me a favor and double-check some of our data, yeah? I'd really appreciate the help!"
And then they were gone. Valdain shook his head. "I sure hope they know what they're doing…"
BAINE Air Base, Silverstone.
For all being called together, Falcon Squadron was expecting something much bigger than the trinket that Fitz had unceremoniously slapped down on the table. For that matter, they were expecting news as important as this had seemed to be delivered by pretty much anyone other than Fitz. But, both of those are what had happened, followed by them waiting for him to explain.
The man in question sighed. "Alright, it's early, and I don't wanna be here anymore than you want me to, but Packard was busy with something or other, so she sent me instead. And the reason she sent me here was to present this to you. Behold:'' He enthusiastically flourished his arms towards the small device. "The pocket warp system!"
The five of them contemplated the machine placed before them. "And?" asked Sara, leaning in closer to inspect it. "What exactly does it do?"
"Well, from the sound of things, it's a warp system that can fit in your pocket," said Vlad. Sara shot him an unamused look. "Did I about get it?"
"Eh, sorta." Fitz picked it back up. "The way she explained it, it's a sort of failsafe in case you run into problems up there with your new planes. She said something about you complaining that they had no ejector seats? It's kinda hard to make those work in space, so this is the next best thing."
This was definitely a welcome development. The concept of having a safety net out in the vacuum of space was certainly a welcome one. As for the device itself, Oscar seemed the most interested. "Instant teleportation in such a tiny package," he said. "I can't imagine the engineering it must have taken to get it working. Now, do these teleport only the pilot, or the entire plane?"
"Yeah, well, I doubt anyone wants a flaming hunk of metal suddenly appearing at mach 3 in their lab, so I'd wager it's the first one," Leon said. Fitz pointed to him as an answer.
Throughout all of this, Emett had remained silent. He was the one who had brought this concern up to begin with, and he was the one who had been introduced to the prototype. But given what Gina had shown them, that it was based on Xevellan tech, he knew there was a catch. "So…how many of these do you have?" he asked.
"Huh? Enough for each of us, I would hope!" said Sara, looking at Fitz for confirmation. "They wouldn't just send us up there without them, right? I mean, it's the fate of the world here, is there really anywhere better to divert funding!?"
Fitz sent an uncomfortable look off to the side. Immediately, the others knew something was wrong. "About that…" he said. "See, the pocket warp system is based on salvaged Xevellan technology, which isn't really something we have a lot of. Gina had to stretch what little she could find just to make as many as she did. As it stands, there was only enough to make one per squadron." The five pilots looked at each other. "This here, this is all you get."
Vlad spoke up almost immediately. "Well, in that case, gotta give it to the boss, right?"
Sara nodded, turning to Emett. "I agree. If any one of us needs to come back from this alive, it's Vortex."
"Well, hang on, wait a minute, let me get a say in this!" said Emett, standing up. "Just because I'm the commander doesn't mean I'm any more important than you all are! We're a team–we all have our parts to play. Don't immediately foist this on me just because I lead you!"
"But it's the obvious choice," said Oscar. "As captain, you're the most qualified to lead new recruits if one of us doesn't make it back. I hate to say it, but compared to you, the four of us are…expendable." A lack of reaction from the others indicated that they agreed, at least enough not to object.
Emett shook his head. "Why are you all so willing to throw away your lives like this? Yes, it's the end of the world and all, but none of you deserve to die!"
Leon was about to get up, but Sara beat him to it. "Yeah, we know," she said quietly. "It's not that we want to die, nobody does. But like you said, the fate of the world is at stake. If we do die, at least we'll do it fighting with everything we have."
"Plus, it isn't like a fiery death is guaranteed: just really likely," added Vlad. "None of us have died yet, so as long as we keep doing what we've been doing, we'll be fine!"
Fitz raised a hand. "Uh, hey, I know this conversation isn't really about me, but might I offer a solution? If this is about preventing a possible death, wouldn't it make the most sense to give this to the person who's most likely to crash?"
"Oh, if that's our strategy, give it to Leon, no doubt!" said Sara, attempting to lighten the mood. Her ribbing, however, didn't resonate with Leon himself, who wasn't amused.
"Is that all that I am now?" he said, miffed. "I just try to do my part, and now I'm some crazy kamikaze guy, is that how it is?"
"Woah, woah, that's not what I meant, buddy, chill!" Sara said. "Sorry, I didn't realize I struck a nerve."
But Leon wasn't finished. He stood up, approaching Emett. "And I know you were thinking it too. 'Give it to Leon, he's the one with the death wish!' I don't want to be protected. I don't want to be coddled! I don't want–"
"Do you want to die?" snapped Emett. "Because the way you're going on, it sure is starting to seem that way!" The others in the room, especially Fitz, looked around awkwardly. "What will it take, huh? What will it take to realize that throwing yourself blindly at the enemy won't. Solve. Anything?"
"I…" Leon struggled to find a response. "I told you already, I want to save people. And if I have to die to do that–"
"But you don't. There's a way for you to fight the Koh'i'Noor while also surviving right here." Emett held up the pocket warp system. "Look: you feel guilty, I get it. But dying won't solve anything. It won't make you feel less guilty, it'll make you less living."
For a moment, Leon stammered, eventually settling on a sigh. "Sure. Whatever you say. But I still think you should take it. Jump's right, you're more important than we are." Without another word, he left the room.
"So, uh…" Sara inched towards the door as well. "I'd say I have to use the bathroom, but I doubt you'd believe me, so…later." She, too, stepped outside. "Hey, this is for the best, trust me!"
Vlad, meanwhile, was already gone by the time Emett realized he was standing.
"I'll go talk to him," Oscar said. "Sometimes he listens to logic more than feeling, but I don't know if I can convince him to drop this entirely. I really do think you're the best choice for the device, though." He left as well.
Then, Fitz and Leon were alone. "So…again, I know it's not my place to ask, but…what was all that about?" asked the former. "Seemed pretty heavy for a couple of flyboys."
"Well, I suppose it isn't exactly a secret," said Emett. "Leon's carrying a lot of guilt. What happened was, back when he was a kid, his whole house went up in a gas fire. He was playing in the yard at the time, so he survived, but everyone else…wasn't so lucky."
Fitz looked down. "That's…awful. No wonder he's like that, poor fella."
Emett nodded. "He's always been one of the most heroic people I know, but he's always thought it was his fault, that he should have saved them. It's gotten worse these last few years–he seems to have the idea in his head that…well, that dying in the line of duty would somehow make up for it. I've tried to talk him out of it, but he just won't listen." He sighed. "Come on. Let's get this thing set up."
Before following him, Fitz took a moment to ponder what he had just heard. Soon, something steeled inside him, and he reached a conclusion. "Yeah. Let's."
BAINE were not the only ones preparing for war. Miles away, hidden behind the moon, a pair of Koh'i'Noor warships drifted silently through the void. Even the machines themselves were still, as though they were waiting for something. A door hissed open, and she walked onto the bridge.
Alkaria carried with her a commanding presence, as most Primums did. Her four legs carried her over to the main window, overlooking the expanse of the universe just beyond this solar system. Her fellow Koh'i'Noor stood at attention as she passed. One approached her, speaking something unheard.
"No matter," she said, her gaze returning to space. "We have something far greater than those stone-age brutes could ever hope to wield, with or without Valdain's aid."
In less than an instant, where moments ago there had been nothing, an enormous shape materialized. A dreadnought, larger than the other ships due to heavy modifications: in particular, its entire front had been fitted with a cannon that spanned the whole of the vessel. As it eclipsed the sun, Alkaria's lifeless eyes seemed to sparkle as she took in the starship before her.
She turned to one of her subordinates. "Begin firing preparations. The locals have already caught wind of our operation here, and I would rather not have our victory delayed by gnats who think they can stop us." She gazed down at the blue marble beneath her, which all three ships slowly approached. Soon, she would take her rightful place as Teptromina's right hand. Soon, Valdain would regret crossing her.
It was only a matter of time now.
