Humanity's Stand

Not As It Seems

Today was not a good day for Ravi. In fact, if she had the time to reflect on it, she'd say it was likely the worst day of her life. And as yet another explosion rocked the building she was in, she remarked to herself that there was a very good chance it would be her last.

"Get down!" she roared, the other occupants of the room falling to the floor while the walls shuddered and ceiling tiles collapsed around them. The bombardment continued for several seconds more, Ravi praying that the building's reinforcement would hold. Eventually the blasts ceased, allowing her to stand up again and stare out the window on the compound around them.

The compound was set into the side of a mountain several miles (or kilometers around here) from the nearest city, a former Soviet base abandoned decades ago after the invasion ended. Since then it had been upgraded and improved to secure it against the modern era, the old iron fence replaced by fifteen foot high walls of concrete and an implanted steel gate heavy enough to survive the common car bomb. Said gate had been blown clean off its hinges by a huge armored mass having barreled through it, a mounted turret on its roof blazing away at anything that moved.

Soldiers who had been wandering about on patrol reached for their weapons but were forced into cover or cut down by the turret before they could even aim. The assaulting vehicle came to a skidding halt in the central courtyard, crushing a truck under one wheel as it went. A panel at the back fell open and out of it rushed a series of humanoid shapes covered in dark painted metals, all carrying huge guns spouting blasts of purple energy or cracking like thunder with sheer speed of their projectiles.

Conventional fire was returned to them from all sides but it merely bounced off the armored plates and attracted attention, resulting in coordinated counter fire that ripped apart buildings and cover like tissue paper. In short order all of the soldiers in the courtyard were dead or down, at which point the armored enemies started running and leaping about with inhuman speed, some launching themselves atop single story buildings with a simple jump, spreading across the compound in a relentless wave of destruction. The APC turned its gun on the central building, heavy rounds painting a path of bullet holes across the thick concrete.

Snarling, Ravi pointed at the person next to her and said, "Call our operatives in the city. Tell them we're compromised and to make for the secondary escape route, assume the primary is being watched." She shifted her attention to a taller man wearing armored plates who was pointing his rifle at the window nervously. "Lieutenant, get on the radio and tell anyone who's still alive outside to stay down and hide. Use the tunnels to marshall them here. If they can, have them grab whatever heavy weapons are nearby. If not, tell them to get here as fast as they can. We can't let this building be captured."

The man nodded then started barking into his radio in Dari, heading for the door. Ravi glared at the other people in the room and set them to work deleting everything they could from the computers and terminals. Once she was sure they were all busy, she retreated to the back of the command center and into her office, shutting the door firmly behind her.

She had no idea how her cell had been found out, but clearly their enemy was dead set on destroying this place with everything they had. Her group had only the bare minimum of armed guards needed to keep the local warlords from bothering them. Under a coordinated military strike like this Ravi knew they stood no chance. So she needed to call for help.

The room she entered was richly appointed with a thick fur carpet and large decorated desk laden with several computers and maps of the local area. She stalked past all that and headed to the wall safe set into the back wall, swiftly entering the pass code on the adjacent panel and planting her thumb on the fingerprint scanner.

Inside the safe was a very intricate looking headset with a large car antenna sticking out the top. In Ravi's view it seemed exceedingly stupid looking, almost like those damn tin foil hats out of B grade American trash movies, but it was what she needed at the moment so there was no time to be embarrassed in wearing it. Once she was sure it was properly seated on her head, she closed her eyes and tried to clear her mind, filtering out her senses and lurking worries from the attack. She reached deep into her center for that familiar sense of the Plane, that place far beyond normal human sight or conception.

The Plane stretched out around her, an endless field of black punctuated by bright suns in a rainbow of colors. The immediate vicinity was an out of control fireworks show, the known signatures of her own people facing down the shielded presences of the enemy. For a moment she contemplated trying to strike at the other soldiers with her telepathy and break their minds to her control, but discarded it. Enhanced as her prowess were by the device she wore, she could tell that whatever telepath was guarding the attackers was much more skilled than her. Trying to bring them down herself would just attract attention to her and the enhancing device, something she had been ordered to keep hidden at all costs.

Scowling, she ignored the battle around her attempted to narrow her focus, sending her view hurtling through the darkness, following a thin line of dark red. After a time she reached the end of the line and looked up into a roiling star of boiling blood-like liquid, extending a tiny tendril of herself towards the mass. Idly Ravi noted that many of the other lines reaching away from the sun were wavering, some cracked and straining from an unseen pressure. There seemed to be less of them than the last time she had looked.

My Lady, our cell has come under siege by heavy military forces. I am unsure of our ability to hold them. We are preparing evacuation protocols for agents off the base and are clearing our servers of data. What should we do about the collected artifacts? Is there any possibility for reinforcement?

A pulse of light reflected from the star toward Ravi, her mind burning with an intense anger and frustration. Another one! So quickly! Aagh, how did this happen!?

A soundless scream crashed into Ravi, sending her spine shivering uncontrollably. My pardons, Mistress, but what do you mean by 'another'?

What do you think I mean you IGNORANT CHILD! The damnable GDF have been striking at cells across the planet! They've coordinated them all to happen simultaneously so I could not react. Damn Laoshu! Damn Chou! Damn them all to an eternal pit of burning and endless crushing. The roaring voice lost coherency and dwindled into projected feelings of pure rage and malice.

Ravi kept her thoughts from focusing on the power the emanating from the star and said, I had no idea it was this bad, my Lady. It seems the GDF were even more dangerous than you have warned us they were. Do not fear, Mistress. I will ensure that the fascists gain nothing from our compound. We will destroy all the artifacts in our possession and fight them until the last man. We will honor your cause with our lives.

The surface of the star suddenly stilled for in instant, its face becoming smoother than glass. No. No, you won't.

My Lady? Ravi asked.

I just had an idea. An idea that will grant me a hidden and delicious vengeance on the Global Defense Force. And you, my child, will be the patron of my wrath.

Ravi was confused but obediently opened her mind up further. Of course, Mistress. I am yours to command, tool of the forthcoming cleansing. What do you wish of me?

The star grew brighter and started shifting again, a mountainous range of razor-sharp points undulating up and down in rapid succession. Listen very closely child. Here is what I need you to do…

Ravi emerged from her office to a scene of barely controlled chaos. Techs ran about carrying hard drives and smashing terminals as the building was rocked by further explosions. She could hear quick bursts of gunfire erupting every so often outside, answered by an unfamiliar sound that hissed and sizzled when it struck. "Lieutenant, what is happening outside?"

"Nothing good, Staress. We managed to seal off the main entrance with plasma cutters before they could hack through the door, but every other part of the compound is under their control, and I'm not hearing anything from the other outposts. We barely have twenty gunners left in this building, and none of our rifles are doing anything to the enemy soldiers. They have some kind of new armor that- TAKE COVER!"

Barely had the people in the room heeded the warning than a stream of purple energy tore through the armored glass at the front of the place with a surge of heat. The back side of the room fairly caught on fire as the plaster melted from the remaining energy, the windows themselves all but gone from being nearly vaporized. Ravi looked up at the newly gaping hole in their defenses and saw two black shapes zoom through the opening, their loud buzzing ringing in her ears. The forms were circular, blurred at the edges from their rapid rotating, throwing a gleaming shine around like a blinding flash.

"Shoot them!" the Lieutenant cried, panic in his tone. "Don't let them get close to you!"

Every armed person in the room let rip into the two drones, the things whizzing back and forth to evade the incoming fire. One barreled towards the main collection of people behind the consoles, a device swiveling around underneath its cassis and firing into the crowd. Blue waves of static rolled over everything hit by the drone, people unlucky enough to be struck falling to the floor and twitching helplessly as their nervous system was driven haywire.

The other drone wasn't so kind. It flashed around the edges of the room towards the firing soldiers, aiming its rotating blades at their centers of mass. At first Ravi was confused that the drone would take such a suicidal tactic, but then she saw the thing slice clean through both the rifle and chest of the first man it struck, causing him to scream in pain as he collapsed. In seconds the combination of stun gun and flying blades took down half of the people in the room, both drones sparking several times when they were struck with bullets but continuing undaunted.

Gathering her focus again Ravi called upon her center and lashed out towards the nearer drone with a burst of telekinetic force, smashing it into the wall so hard it fell to pieces, saving the life of a soldier who had been in its path. The other drone reacted instantly to its partner's destruction, turning completely around and firing multiple stun rounds toward her. Ravi blocked the shots with a field then reached out with her thoughts and grabbed the drone by its blades. Twisting her hands around she brought its movement to a halt then formed her hands into fists, crushing the metal in on itself till it was a ball of collapsed wreckage. Letting out a breath of concentration Ravi threw the thing back out the window, looking around at the ruin of her former command room.

"We won't be able to hold out much longer like this," she whispered, watching the few people still awake or alive clamber up. "Alright, all of you, I want you to hole up in the safe room. Barricade the door as much as you can and remain unnoticed. I am going to create a distraction. Hopefully it will allow you to use the tunnels to escape. If not…" Ravi took in a calming breath. "If not you know what to do. Capture is not an option for you."

"What about the artifacts?" one of them asked.

"Leave them to me. Your priority is to escape so you can tell the others what happened here. Now get going."

The soldiers all nodded and herded the rest towards the door, guns up and ready for any targets that appeared. Ravi watched them go, mulling over the plan that the Lady had given her. It was insane, dangerous, and all too likely to fail. But regardless, it was the Lady's word, so Ravi did not allow her doubt to cloud her. Instead, she did as instructed.

Reaching deep into her own thoughts she looked at her memories, isolating the ones that had any important knowledge and her conversation with the Lady behind a well hidden barrier. Next, she rewrote several other memories and parts of her psyche, taking special care to ensure the alterations would appear natural to a probe. Oddly enough the sections she removed came away easily, almost as if they shouldn't have been there, but she did not stew on that circumstance. Minutes passed as she felt herself literally change who she was, keeping steady by remembering her Lady's command. Finally, once she was done, she sliced and shredded the memories of what she had just done until they were completely insensible, wiping them ou…

Ravi stood stock still for an instant, blinking and shaking her head. "What was I doing? Ugh, I can't waste time. I have to set the demolition charges before the bastards can get inside."

A deep seated rumbling shook the floor beneath her feet, followed by muffled screams and gunfire. "Spoke too soon," she grumbled. "Have to get downstairs, help the soldiers." It took her a moment to recall where the stairs were, the act leaving her head dizzy for some reason. She shook her head to clear it and ran out into the hall, heading for the stairs.

She felt a pang as she passed by a window, able to see for an instant the mess that had been made of her command. It would be a miracle if any of them survived this. Putting the thought out of mind Ravi fairly leaped down the steps 3 at a time, using her telekinesis to keep her from tripping as she went.

Every second the sounds of the fighting grew louder and more desperate, until eventually she came out on the ground floor and took in a scene of complete carnage. The steel entrance doors, each several inches thick and set into the ground to prevent unplanned movement, had been smashed open as if by a huge set of fists. All around the entrance were scattered several of the armored GDF soldiers, some hiding behind heavy support pillars by the walls, the rest huddled next to a spread out sheet of material stretched between two pylons. Despite seeming as thin as cloth, Ravi could see bullets from her fighters bouncing off without even maring the material. On the other side of the impromptu wall Ravi thought she saw one of the enemy troops lying flat on the ground, but she wasn't sure.

At this distance she was able to see that the armor the soldiers were wearing wasn't completely encompassing, being made up of thick plates overlaid atop a black form-fitting mesh. Each one was wielding a very large weapon, bigger than anything a normal person could carry effectively, and had what looked like dozens of other devices and equipment pieces clipped to their forms. One near the back hefted a massive scoped rifle and fired at her soldiers at the other end of the hall. The hall practically exploded with noise as the hypersonic round from the gun flew through the air and impacted a desk several men were sheltering behind. The desk was annihilated by the hit, throwing her fighters into the air with shards of the shattered wood stuck into them at multiple points.

Ravi turned back to the GDF group and nearly gasped at what she saw walking through the doors. A heavily armored figure, towering a full nine feet high and thickly built, was cleanly walking out in the open ahead of the other troops and carrying what looked like a turret-mount sized gun. The giant was completely unconcerned by the streams of fire hitting it, striding forward slowly and firing quick bursts at anyone who dared to stay out of cover for more than a second.

Ravi was about to step out and throw her power into the mix when she heard a distinctive thump and watched a 40 millimeter grenade fly through the air towards the huge armored soldier. The round landed true, detonating straight on its chest and throwing up a cloud of red flame around it. The gunfire died down for a moment while her soldiers cheered, only for them to fall silent again as they saw the giant walk out of the cloud of smoke unharmed, only a line of thin cracks on its chest showing that it had been hit.

The stunned looks on the Dawn soldiers' faces lasted only for a moment before they shrugged off their surprise and started throwing every grenade they had, explosive or flashbang, at the opposition. The armored troops saw the change in tactics and directed their fire at the flying projectiles, detonating most of them long before they reached their line. Ravi took this moment as her opportunity, stepping out just as the last of the grenades blew up, allowing the fragments to bounce off her invisible shield.

Concentrating on the giant, Ravi telekinetically gripped its armor plate at the front and pulled, while at the same time sending a wave of force at its feet to sweep them out from under him. The end result was the massive soldier face planting into the tile hard enough to smash it to pieces, his gun trapped underneath him. The other GDF soldiers reacted instantly to her appearance and began flinging their own grenades her way. Just as she wanted.

Smirking, Ravi deflected the stun grenades away while directing the explosives upward at the ceiling. Their combined detonation ripped apart the roof, bringing it down in-between Ravi and the giant, who was in the process of standing up when a beam came down on his back. Keeping her shield up against a new barrage of bullets Ravi added to the falling debris as much as she could, tearing apart weakened supports to the point that a new wall formed between the GDF troops and the rest of the hallway. As soon as she was safe Ravi released her hold on her power and sagged heavily, nearly falling to the floor with exhaustion.

She was caught by one of her soldiers, his expression one of awe. "That was… very impressive, Staress."

"Yes, well," Ravi answered with a cough, "don't expect me to do it again. That was… exceedingly tiring."

"What now?" another asked, waving his gun at the pile of rubble. "That's not gonna hold them for very long."

As if to punctuate his statement a rumble echoed through the pile. Ravi shook her head to get some of her feeling back and said, "We make for the artifact room. We must ensure that there is nothing in there that the enemy can use to divine our goals. Maybe even have to use them ourselves."

Several of the soldiers shuddered at the suggestion but nodded and turned off to the right, jogging down the hall with Ravi being half carried along with them. After a minute of travel they reached the storeroom, Ravi inputting the access code and ushering everyone inside.

The room was dark and smelt of dust and ancient dirt. The few lights that were lit were turned down low, giving the place a feeling of late dusk. Strangely shaped items made of oddly colored metals and other, more unidentifiable materials sat on desks scattered about the place. Many of them appeared to be engraved with complex glyphs and runes of an indecipherable script, but were smoother than glass when touched, as if the patterns were a part of the item itself. Most of the items were unrecognizable in purpose, but along the walls were hung a variety of very obvious weapons, ranging from swords and maces to long staves with complex devices sitting at the head. She had no idea what the exact workings of the staves were, but when tied to a generator they could project a very powerful blast of energy at a close range target. Whether or not that would be enough...

Ravi shivered as she entered, trying to keep her gaze from straying to any of the artifacts. Something about the items always struck her as… wrong. It wasn't how they looked or felt, or anything like that. Rather, it was an almost instinctive thing. Like some aspect of them was clawing at her mind. Eroding her will and making her question her beliefs, her very existence. Only focusing on her oath to her cause allow Ravi to keep her cool. "Lieutenant, what equipment do we have left? Explosives, heavy weapons?"

The man shook his head, sending off small droplets of blood from a cut on his cheek. "I am sorry, Staress, but we expended everything we had keeping them trapped in the hallway. Whatever that armor is that they're wearing is immune to any gunfire, even from the snipers. We managed to hurt one with a direct hit from an anti-tank rocket, but I am unsure if they were killed or not. The others dragged the body away and redoubled their fire at us. If you had not arrived when you did, I am certain that giant would have slaughtered us."

Ravi briefly nodded at him before taking stock of her remaining men. Most of them had minor cuts, bruises or even burns, their steel backed body armor cast aside in favor of being able to move unhindered. Their faces were all stern and determined, ready to fight on, but she could see the hopelessness in their eyes. They knew this was a battle they could not win. Indeed it was an open question if selling their lives would even be able to harm the enemy.

How did it all go so wrong so quickly? she despaired. We were supposed to be safe here. Free to carry out our work. Trying to save the world from our own monstrous people. And yet even here the GDF is able to find us and hound us. How can we defeat them when they are so much stronger than us? Did we ever have a chance? Ravi clenched her fists and teeth, anger leaking into her thoughts.

Why?! Why do they fight us so strongly? Can't they see the damage they are doing? This needs to happen, or else Earth is doomed. Whether from our own arrogance or the kaiju wiping us out in self defense. Only by letting go of our 'control' can we find any measure of safety. There is no other way.

Unbidden, images passed through her mind's sight, strings of the news from the last few weeks. The word of the attack on Solgell, with dozens of monsters all fighting tooth and claw, the GDF involving themselves on the outskirts where it was 'less risky'. The Dimension Tide being unleashed, wiping out six of the strongest kaiju, including some of the 'Defenders' who claimed to be allied to humanity, proving beyond a shadow of a doubt that mankind could never be trusted.

And yet, the campaign of revenge she had expected from the kaiju had never emerged. Oh for certain the mutants were just as destructive as ever, but once again the Defenders drove them away from human cities. They even reaffirmed their alliance with the GDF, long after it had been revealed that the very same organization had stabbed them in the back just to gain an advantage over the mutants.

Unnoticed by any in the room, an inaudible hum started to emanate from some artifacts sitting amongst the group. The runes subtly shifted colors and seemed to move ever so slightly.

Ravi shook her head. It didn't make any sense. How could they continue to trust them after that? There had to be something else, something she couldn't see that was influencing the kaiju to be lenient. One didn't just forgive mistakes of that magnitude after all, not after a history of making the same errors over and over again. Humanity as a species was beyond redemption and had to be destroyed.

Right?

"Staress, what should we do?"

Ravi jolted out of her revery, not noticing the faint echoing ring in her mind slowly fading, the artifacts falling inert once again. "I… We need to find a way to make sure they can't recover any of our work here. That supersedes everything. You three," she said, pointing at several soldiers who looked more exhausted than the rest, "start looking for notes and documents and burn them. The rest of you, grab any item that looks like a weapon and set up around the door. They're going to find us eventually, and we need to be ready for them."

Everyone set about their assigned tasks while Ravi fell back against the nearest desk, a wave of exhaustion falling over her. She knew there was no hope of them getting out of here alive. She had accepted that much for herself, but her heart was tearing at the thought of all the people she lead falling with her.

Maybe I should just surrender. If I give myself up as the leader, they might show mercy to the others.

Don't be foolish! A loud rasping voice snarled. They will kill you no matter what you do! Adeline has shown you this.

But we are dead for certain that way. At least by giving up they have a chance at life, however small. Ravi expected another stinging barb but received none, hearing only a soft hum that sounded almost like chimes waving gently in the wind. What… what is tha-

The door to the room was smashed open without warning, causing everyone to turn to the sound. Into the room stepped a single person, garbed in the same armor as the smaller soldiers, only they wore no helmet. The man's gaze was sharp like a sword blade, mouth frozen in a deadly frown. His hair was close shaven to the head in standard military style, dark eyes glaring directly at her with piercing intent. Even before she felt the sting of a mental projection stab at her mind's shields she knew exactly what this man was.

Telepath.

Ravi's soldiers shouted and fired away with whatever they had, assault rifles blazing with fire while others let loose with their staffs, balls of glowing flame flying at the man with murderous heat. And yet even under the hail of lead and fire the man did not panic or crumple, instead simply lifting his hands and pushing them out to either side. A hurricane of force knocked Ravi clean over the desk she was sitting against, while everything her troops had fired was blown away into the walls, scoring and scaring them with bullet holes and burns. By the time Ravi was able to regain her senses she felt another wave pass through the room, this one riding through the Plane's local space.

She was aware that each and every one of her soldiers had been made unconscious as she stood up, staring at the man with confusion. "You let them live?" she asked aloud.

He nodded softly at her and said, "Prisoners are better than bodies. Which one do you want to be?" His voice was as hard as steel, yet she heard an undercurrent of concern… and pity. Pity for how easily they had fallen? Or something else?

Ravi stood still for a time, weighing her options with her little remaining strength against the firm command to never surrender to the enemy. What do I have left to lose?

Again the sharp voice of resistance was silent, so she lifted up her hands over her head. "If I surrender, let be on the promise that my men are treated fairly and humanely. The true meaning of that term, not simply what is convenient for your governments to spout about."

The man gave a huffing laugh. "Despite what you may have been taught, lady, we don't go around murdering people for kicks like your buddies seem to do."

Ravi's eyes flashed with anger. "Our acts have meaning, make no mistake."

"Oh I know," he answered, folding his hands over his chest. "In fact, we plan to find out exactly what that meaning is. You help us figure that out, and maybe you and your people might only end up in a cell for the rest of your lives, rather than having them be cut short. It's your choice."

So that's their game, Ravi thought. They don't know why we act, and thus want me alive. Was that the whole point of the attacks, to capture a Staress like myself? She held her eyes shut and sighed. If so, it seems to have worked.

"Smart choice." The man stalked forward, pulling out a strand of cord from his belt and tossing it at her, the wire wrapping around her hands in midair and pulling them tightly together. "If only the rest of you Dawners were smart enough to just stop fighting us, then maybe we could focus our attention on the real threat that's waiting out there."

Ravi scoffed, allowing her bound hands to fall limply in front of her. "Typical. The arrogance of your organization once again blinds you to the danger you yourself pose to the world."

He didn't seem insulted at all by her words, instead shaking his head and shrugging. "Look, I get that you people seem to think you're the 'good guys', but calling us the problem when you go around blowing up cities and trying to turn kaiju against us sounds just a bit hypocritical." He approached her and stood just barely a foot away, dark brown eyes burning directly into her own. "Think about it this way. Which one of us are the evil ones in this situation if we are willing to take prisoners and let you live, when I can guarantee you would never offer the same to us?"

A sneer fought to appear on her face but she tamped it down. "Why bother to capture, when you plan for all to be gone in but a few short years anyway?" She averted her gaze, looking at one of her men on the ground a few feet away. "Why hope for better when you know humanity can never move past its own darkness?"

To her surprise the man's features grew softer, his stature slumping slightly. "Sounds to me like you have given up on trying to improve things and decided to just burn it all because that's 'easier.' Well, let me give you a bit of wisdom here miss. Failure is only certain once you stop trying to move beyond it."

"Sounds like excessive optimism to me," Ravi said in a haughty tone.

He shrugged again. "Maybe, but it's that optimism that is keeping you alive so maybe you shouldn't dismiss it quite yet. Now, if you would be so kind as to lower your barriers, I'll giving you a nice little nap while we clean up this mess we made."

This was it. The moment of truth. If she lowered her mental shields then she would be going directly against her oath and down the road towards aiding her enemy willingly. Yet it was the only way she could see to ensure her followers would live. Which was more important? Throwing their lives away to no gain, or surrendering in hopes of having a chance to do more later, even if it meant having to be stuck under the GDF's thumb in the interim?

I am sorry my lady, but I am not willing to sacrifice my people just yet. With a mountain of trepidation looming over her Ravi removed her mind's defenses, immediately feeling a foreign presence slip inside. The probe was much gentler than she expected, ghosting through her thoughts with smooth movements.

There's one thing I know for certain lady, the man's voice said in her head, the sound reverbing with a slight echo of spectral distance. No person who is more concerned with the lives of others over their life goals can be all bad. Maybe you ain't as hopeless as you think you are.

The probe flickered for an instant before Ravi felt her consciousness slip away, her eyes falling shut and body going limp. She landed on the floor softly, the man tracking her descent with his hand as he used his telekinesis to make sure she was unharmed. "Just something to think about," he said to himself, a contemplative look on his face.

"Hey brother, is it clear in there?" a female voice called from outside the door.

"Affirmative, sis. All hostiles are down. You can come inside."

A trio of normal sized soldiers walked into the room, followed by the giant whose armor had definitely seen better days. The one at the front carried a huge sniper rifle, which was slung up around their back as they removed their helmet to reveal dark red hair. "Nice job as usual John. Quick, clean, and completely to their surprise. They never see the telepath coming."

John Shepard laughed and shook his head. "Yes well if you had been the one to get in here that whole 'clean' aspect would be thrown right out the window, Jane."

The sniper fake laughed and punched her brother in the shoulder. "Yeah whatever. You do remember these guys are terrorists right bro? They're just lucky we had orders to prioritize capture over kills. If we hadn't I'd have said just bury the place under a B-52 model carpet. They make the most lovely shit sweepers."

"There would be nothing to gain if we did that," John said disapprovingly.

"Sure there would. About two hundred odd dead mass murders. What's not to like about that?"

"Are you sure you two are siblings?" Ramirez asked, his plasma caster hanging from one hand and the other on his hip.

"Yes," John said. "Unfortunately enough." Jane gave him another punch to the shoulder, which he redirected so that she lost her footing and nearly stumbled over.

"Cheeky prick," she muttered. "Guess we should start tagging and bagging. Ram, radio the troops outside, tell 'em to get the labcoats up here. Also, what's the word on Al? That rocket looked like it hurt."

"He's alright. Suit took most of the damage for him. He's got a few fragments stuck in him and his ribs are cracked from the pressure force, but he'll recover. Lucky for him that the secondary explosive didn't go off or there'd be nothing left but a smear on the floor." Ramirez huffed and stomped his foot on the floor. "Seriously, where the hell did these assholes get heavy machine guns and fucking RPG's? Shit that strong is supposed to be proscribed for selling to authorized parties only, and there ain't no way they got themselves a proper PMC license."

"Word is that a bunch of major arms dealers have been using made up groups to smuggle out military grade armaments to illegal buyers, at least according to Chou's people," John answered. "They say they've been aware of it for a while but didn't know the stuff was going to terrorists. Which I am absolutely certain is true and that they definitely didn't turn a blind eye just because they were doing it too."

Jane snorted and spat at the ground. "They are so lucky their boss is in good with the Marshall, else we'd be cleaning up their asses just the same as these idiots. Greedy bastards selling weapons for cash. Why do we tolerate that crap?"

Ram smiled and said, "Cause the GDF is making money off of the license taxes, that's why. This sort of thing's been going on for millennia and it ain't stopping anytime soon. Might as well let it happen so you can have a bit of control over it and make a tidy profit at the same time. Though there might be a few changes coming soon considering…" He waved his rifle at one of the Dawn troops lying nearby.

"We can only hope," John agreed. "Go ahead and call out Ram, then go check on Alcatraz for us. Tell him we expect him to be on his best behavior while in the hospital. No drunken escapades this time."

Ramirez snickered and put his helmet back on, speakers clicking on to portray his voice. "Sure thing boss. Command, this is Omega 3, central building is secure. You are clear to send in the examination crews." The rest of his words were cut off as he walked out, leaving the other three staring around the silent room.

"You okay there, big guy?" Jane asked the giant. "You've been rather quiet."

Master Sergeant Chief grumbled, arching his back to the sound of several of his armor plates squealing in protest. "Telekinetics are bullshit."

John tried and failed to stifle a laugh while Jane threw her hands in the air and said, "That's what I've been saying for years!"

Chief shifted a bit in his armor, the closest he ever came to laughing, then went still and continued with, "More importantly, how does the Dawn have so many telepaths in their ranks? The UN keeps records of every family with Mysterian ancestry. They should have noticed if that many people disappeared and joined a terrorist group."

The Shepards both nodded at the Sergeant's words. Ever since it was discovered that half-and-half children of the two races often displayed super human abilities governments the world over had scrambled to try and make use of them. Thankfully calmer minds had prevailed at the time and mass forced conscription was never attempted. Instead, such families were offered great benefits for military or government service, often good enough that most families agreed. Some didn't, but the most that ever happened to them was a low key shadowing of their empowered members to ensure nothing and no group tried to harm them. Or make use of them.

"You have a point," John said, "and it does beg the question: how and where are they getting these telepaths from?"

Jane looked down at the sleeping form of Ravi, her arms folded over her chest. "Let's hope miss high and mighty here is willing to explain then. I know one thing for sure though. One way or another, the Red Dawn's days are numbered."

Tendo Choi loved his job whenever he wasn't at work. During his breaks hanging out in Hong Kong's wide variety of bars, pubs, and other alcohol delivery services he could brag for hours about his job. Talking to other patrons was always great fun, with him making subtle and not so subtle suggestions as to what the GDF was up to. Nothing too explicit of course, and definitely nothing meant to be secret, but just general gossip stuff and random tech tidbits were always eaten up. Even better was whenever he managed to get one of the Jaeger crews to come with him, make an event of it all. The love and support the people had for them lifted his spirits every time. And being able to flirt with all those appreciative women was a nice side benefit as well.

When he was at his job, though, Choi found few things that he hated as much as his workload. Being the de facto Chief of Staff for the Marshall translated to him having to manage Stacker's schedule, make sure the Shatterdome was running on time and efficiently, ensuring the workforce was content with their pay and support, and dealing with constant pleas for attention from everybody and their grand uncles. News networks, governments, religious associations, private military companies, and just your average internet asshole who managed to dredge up the GDF's official help line. And that was during a normal work week. These last few weeks had been anything but normal.

First up had been him pulled from a lunch date to find Solgell buried under a tide of fighting kaiju, trying to coordinate all the nearby mechs to the island to help out but make sure they weren't overwhelmed at the same time. Next had been the emotional roller coaster of watching the Dimension Tide being fired, and that moment of horrified realization when they all saw who it hit. Choi remembered the command crew all being perfectly silent after that, some covering up their mouths to hide their shock. It had been a severe enough gut punch for himself, as he'd always secretly rooted for Junior to come out on top of his demented brother, only to see them both wiped out before either could react. Learning that they all were fine later was a relief of course, but still…

Tendo had thought that with the disappearance of the Mutations' driving force that things would die down a bit, but he couldn't have been more wrong. Instead, the mutants spend the next week on random rampages across the planet, causing a mad scramble for the GDF to try and contain them all. Thank God the Defenders had been willing to help, else who knows how many millions of people may have been hurt or killed in the fighting. The Defender's assistance had prevented a bad situation from turning into a catastrophe, but it was a very near thing all the same, and Choi well remembered the 18 and 20 hour days they'd had to pull just to keep things on track. At last, the final mutants were pushed away from their assaults and made to go lick their wounds, giving the GDF and Defenders all a chance to rest.

And no sooner did the chaos die down then the Marshall had his insane plan to unite the two factions and take down all the mutants at once.

Sometimes I wonder if Stacker really is a genius, or if he's just insane enough to make everyone think he knows what he's doing.

Whatever the case, saying that the two groups should unite to end the kaiju war for good was one thing. Making it happen was another thing entirely. They'd had to call up their whole reserve of telepath troops and assign most of them to jaegers, mechs, capital ships and more. Anywhere the GDF would be directly work with the Defenders had to have a telepath on hand to provide clear communication between everyone. Then they had to figure out where all of the mutants had ran off to, see if there were any people in the area and prepare to evacuate them or make plans to draw the mutant off, line up military forces to keep the mutant in place until a planned team could get there, then make up said team based on their already limited number of fighters. Every single jaeger and mech that wasn't in hard dock for heavy repairs or upgrades was being pulled up for use, some of them still slightly damaged from their battles during the mutant rampage. Even the Battle Platforms were being called into action, and most of them hadn't yet finished trails, let alone been confirmed for active service.

While all that was going on Tendo had two much more in-house problems to deal with, both of them to do with massive holes in security. The first was one that the world technically already knew about but no one was really acknowledging. The Dimension Tide misfires that had struck out at seemingly random points but had managed to snag up some very nasty kaiju and whisk them away to God knew where. The scary part was that whatever had hacked the DT had not only managed to locate the satellite in orbit and know how to control it with inhuman precision, but also somehow snuck past the defenses of an AI specifically dedicated to protecting the system. The only group with a hacking capability that good was the Coalition, which meant either that they had a force hidden somewhere on Earth that was able to remote hack anything they wanted at any time… or that another, unknown party was able to do the same sort of stuff an advanced alien empire was.

Terrifying did not begin to describe the implications of that information.

But that wasn't the worst of it. Oh no, there was another issue even better than the unknown super hacker.

It started with an already bad event in the form of a group of terrorists attempting to break into Dome for the purpose of using the Dimension Tide for widespread destruction. Thankfully they had been stopped with a minimum of casualties, but during the assault a very disturbing bit of information was revealed. Somehow these Red Dawn guys had access to an advanced piece of camouflage gear that had only just entered prototyping, meaning someone high up in the GDF had been leaking beyond top secret information to terrorists. To say a panic had set in would be vastly unselling the feeling among the command crews when they realized just how vulnerable they were. In the midst of trying to run a war, Tendo was forced to slowly but surely interrogate a multitude of his friends to see if any one of them was a traitor, scanning their history and studying their recent actions to find any evidence of wrongdoing.

And the scary thing was that they found nothing. No one who would have had access to the information released could have been the leaker. Everyone had solid alibis confirmed by others that prevented them from ever having a chance to leak the info, nor did anyone have any sort of motivation to go against the GDF. Tendo himself had submitted to similar interrogation, useless as everyone knew it was, just to be completely thorough. Sure enough, he too had nothing to suspicious about, leaving all of them bewildered. If none of them had done it, who - or what - had? It was an unspoken question that was silently hovering over all their heads, a spectral boogeyman waiting for the right time to strike. Unless the unknown mole made a mistake, there was no way to find them, and considering they'd made it this far without leaving even a molecule of evidence, their hopes weren't high.

All of this and more weighed down on Choi like a continent on his shoulders as he answered a vid-call addressed to the Marshall, who happen to be somewhere he didn't know at the moment. Always a pleasant feeling. "Hello, this is the Shatterdome, Command line, Tendo Choi speaking. Who is calling?"

His screen flickered for a second as the connection solidified into an image of a white haired man who expression bore a look of well disguised distress. "Choi, it's Stenz. I need to speak to the Marshall. It's… well not urgent, but something has come up that has me concerned."

Choi raised an eyebrow. Stenz was well known for being nearly unflappable, even in the face of overwhelming odds or madness. "What's rattled your cage, Admiral?"

The older man shuffled in his seat wherever he was, clearing his throat as he appeared to try and plan out his words. "During my news segment here at GNN, I saw a rather disturbing clip that showed a kaiju capable of shrinking in the same way as Jet Jaguar. I was not aware that any such kaiju existed, thus seeing it walk away with the Council into the Shatterdome was rather… shocking for me. I was hoping the Marshall might be able to shed some light on this development. Is he available?"

No, he's not, mostly because you want to talk to him I suppose. Fate, who must thou troll me so? Vocally, Tendo answered with, "Not at the moment, sir, sorry. He's busy with… stuff. I think I can answer your question though. The kaiju was a relative of Titanosaurus, only with a few interesting features that the public doesn't need to know about right now. Suffice it to say, the kaiju's name is Tytanna and she is pretty much exactly like Jet Jaguar, only not a machine. And I include personality type in that similarity."

Stenz didn't appear much relieved at the description but he did let out his held breath. "Alright, I guess that's not as bad as I feared but still. When I saw the kaiju on television I was worried. It looks human enough but it still was very obviously not human. It's one thing for the kaiju to be large and noticeable, beyond conventional ability to hurt. If they were able to walk among us…"

"What's the problem there?" Choi asked, his shoulders slumped as he leaned back in his seat. "Person's a person, human or not. We integrated with the Mysterians easy enough."

Stenz grew stern in his gaze. "The Mysterians were a stroke of sheer unbelievable luck in that they are practically human in all but skin tone. And they still receive discrimination from some parties who have a grudge against aliens, reasonable or not. How much worse do you think it would be for a creature that is distinctly not human, could never have a hope of pretending otherwise?"

Choi frowned. "So, what, you're afraid of what Tytanna will do to defend herself?"

"No," Stenz said while shaking his head. "At least, not much. We are strong enough to defeat kaiju now, so having one appear in a public place out of nowhere would be bad, but nothing we can't handle." The Admiral closed his eyes for a moment, and when he reopened them they seemed sad, almost resigned. "I worry about what reactions a kaiju like that would provoke out of us. I worry about people, because I know what people are like."

Tendo chuckled. "I think you aren't giving us enough credit there, sir. I've heard her talking and I really don't think most people are gonna be threatened by her."

Stenz blinked. "She can talk?"

Choi stared back blankly at the Admiral for a few seconds, Stenz meeting his eyes with his own confusion. "Um… yeah, she can. Anyway, point is Admiral, you got nothing to worry about. I'll pass on your concern to Stacker but you can relax. He's got the situation under control."

"He always does," Stenz said with a smile. "Alright Choi, I suppose I've taken up enough of your time. Maybe you're right and I'm overreacting somewhat. Might be my phobia of reptiles playing up on me again. Give Stacker my best wishes." The Admiral moved his hand to end the call but paused and gained a smile. "Oh and if this Tytanna does snap at some point and eats one of the Council members, do me a favor and tell the others 'I told you so'. If only to make me feel better in case of a tragedy."

Choi rolled his eyes. "Whatever you say Stenson. Have a nice day." The screen went blank and Tendo rubbed his face, attempting to ignore the long hours that had passed since he last laid down in a bed. "Where is Stacker for that matter? He has to be somewhere around here. I'd have gotten a notice if he'd left." He leaned to look over his shoulder and said loudly, "Any you guys know where Stacker went?"

He got a chorus of nopes, negatives, and not reallys and sighed, facepalming again. Am I really gonna have to consult her? He spared a glance at his work desk/console to see the digitized list of thing he still had to do before his shift was up. "Oh sod it, might as well. Gladness, can I talk to you please?"

His screen lit up again, this time with a singular red light set in a circle of black. "Hello Mr. Choi. How are you today?" The voice was a dull female monotone, but with an undercurrent of emotion that was difficult to fully decipher. The eye flashed a little bit during the AI's speech, the outer circle rotating slowly but erratically.

Tendo did not let himself become unnerved by the visage and focused. "Fine, all things considered. Gladness do you know where Stacker is right now?"

The screen was static for a moment, then the eye started flashing again. "I am sorry, Mr. Choi, but I am unaware of Marshall Pentecost's current location."

"What?" Tendo blinked, unsure if he'd heard correctly. "That's… that doesn't make any sense. He can't have left the Shatterdome, so he has to be here somewhere, and you should be able to find his locator pin if that is the case."

"That is correct," the AI blinked.

A second or two passed while Tendo waited for it to continue, but nothing happened. He resist the urge to smash his head into the desk. "Well? Why can't you find him then?!"

"Because Marshall Pentecost's pin is not within range of my sensors," Gladness said reasonably.

"Well where could he have gone then? I would have received an alert if he tried to leave on an aircraft."

"He has gone beyond the range of my sensors."

"Yes but ho…" Tendo stopped and forced himself to take a deep breath, remembering the common piece of advice that everyone had for dealing with Gladness. Speak as absolutely clear as possible and don't give in to her goading. It just encouraged her. "Alright, new question. When was the last time you knew where he was, and where was he at that time?"

A few seconds passed in silence, and Tendo would have sworn the eye looked almost annoyed with him at spoiling her fun. "The last recorded location of Marshall Pentecost was in the primary Jaeger hanger at the lower loading dock entrance approximately two hours ago. He and the Council minus Tachibana exited the hanger onto the dock and entered the Langoud, at which point signal from his pin was lost."

Tendo ran a hand through his carefully gelled hair. "Okay, that makes sense. Tachi's busy running the Dawn campaign, so the others are going to see all the stuff aboard that whale ship. Would have been nice to be told that but whatever, not that important." He blinked as a thought occurred to him. "Wait a minute, did you know he had gone on that ship the whole time? Why didn't you tell me that at the start?!"

The red eye blinked with an almost amused hue as it said, "You requested information on Marshall Pentecost's current location. The data relevant to your question was unavailable as Marshall Pentecost was beyond my ability to detect. If you wished to ask me where he was likely to have been you should have phrased your question as such."

Tendo glared at the screen, wishing there was an actual physical side to Gladness that he could vent his frustrations on. "For being an AI that claims to have no emotions, you sure do seem to enjoy tormenting us."

"You are permitted to see it that way if you wish. Meatbag."

Before Tendo could respond the eye disappeared from his screen, leaving his with a distinct urge to hit something but having no target but valuable electronics within arms reach. "I hate my job."

"Rough day Tendo?" a voice said from over his shoulder.

Tendo swiveled around in his chair - an extremely comfortable leather one that nearly made up for the hell he had to deal with in it - and smiled as he laid eyes on Doctor Asuza Aoki nee Gojo. "Hey Doc. Yeah, just day wouldn't be accurate. Try the last few weeks being as rocky as the Alps and you might be closer."

"Making history is rarely easy," Asuza said with her own smile. "I should know, I've been there."

"Fair point. So, what brings you up here doctor?"

"I was hoping you could point me in the direction of Stacker. I had an… interesting revelation yesterday and would like to discuss it with him. I tried his office already but it was empty, and the secretary didn't say where he went."

"Well you're in luck then. I just managed to track him down, no help from old Gladness here." He jabbed a thumb at his console behind him, where a mean hiss emanated for a moment alongside a flash of red."

Asuza smiled and shook her head. "Oh yes, I am familiar with our resident AI. She has an interesting sense of humor."

"If by interesting you mean sadistic, then sure. Stacker's down in that ship that showed up yesterday. Supposed to be taking in the sights or something. You can get there by entering it from the loading bay. Just tell them you wanna talk to the Marshall and they should direct you. Hopefully."

"I'm sure I'll be able to find my way. I've wandered farther distances with less to go on. Thank you for your help Tendo."

"No problem. Happy to be able to do something simple for once. Now, back to the gri-" His console beeped and again popped up the red eye, this time the light dimmed slightly.

"Incoming priority message to Marshall Pentecost from retired General Aso," Gladness reported.

"Aso?" Azusa leaned forward over Tendo's shoulder to get a look for herself. "I haven't heard from him for years. I wonder what he's calling about?"

"Put the message through here Gladness," Choi said, to which the AI beep affirmative.

The vid-screen lit up with an image again, this time showing an elderly Japanese man sitting in a dimly lit room. Aso's face was grim when it first appeared but loosened into a warm grin when he saw Asuza. "Doctor Aoki, it's good to see you. I wasn't expecting you to be at the Dome. It's been too long since we've had a chance to talk."

"Far too long indeed," Asuza agreed. "Tell me, how are things? Is our mutual friend doing well?"

"Well enough." Aso's look drew back and his back stiffened, but he maintained his smile. "I've done the best I can to help them, but there are some things one must handle on their own. That said, I do believe it is time we seek a new source of aid. To that end, I must inquire as to where Stacker is."

Tendo facepalmed. "It's always Stacker isn't it? I'm sorry but he's not available at the moment sir. Should I tell him you tried to reach him later and call you back?"

Aso shook his head. "No, that won't be necessary. What we have to discuss is not something I want to talk about over the phone. When you have a chance, please tell him that I need to speak with him in person here at my home. I know that he has a very busy schedule, but I think this is important enough to merit the time spent."

Azusa blinked in surprise. "Aso, are you saying you want to-"

"Not over the phone please, Asuza, but yes. The time has come. If what that kaiju I saw on the news means what I think it means, then now is the moment to step out into the light. Our friend… he is as ready as he can be, and if he can get the help he needs it would be worth the risk."

Tendo looked back and forth between the two, utterly bewildered by what they were talking about. "Could you guys be any more vague than you're being right now? What secret are you trying to protect?"

Aso and Azusa shared a look before Aso said, "One that could change a fair few things about how we see humans and kaiju, and the divide between the two."

"Well that sounds important," Choi said while chuckling. "Alright, if you guys wanted to keep it a secret, that's your deal. I'll send a messenger after Stacker and get him out to you as soon as possible."

"Actually, if you don't mind Tendo, I'll take the message to him. The fewer people who are involved here the better, and I was already heading that direction anyway."

"Sounds excellent," Aso said. "If you wish to come along as well Azusa, I would be delighted to see you in person again. Our friend has missed you a great deal."

"I would love to see him too," Azusa said. "Until then, take care General."

"You as well Doctor. Thank you. You too Tendo. Goodbye." With that the message cut off and the screen went blank again.

"I have absolutely no idea what he was talking about. At all. You seem to be more in the know though. Mind sharing by any chance?"

Azusa shrugged and said, "Sorry Tendo, but I cannot. It is not my secret to share. Rest assured, you and everyone else will know soon enough, just not until we are sure everything is ready. Till then, you'll just have to wait and see."

She walked off to the entrance, throwing a goodbye wave his way and saying hello to some of the other staff was she left. Tendo watched her until she disappeared around the corner then slumped in his chair. He was a curious person by nature, so to have a secret dangled in front of him like that only to be held back was maddening. He knew he was gonna be dwelling on it for a while, wondering and theorizing as to what in the heck they were on about. It's not like he would tell anyone, he just liked to know stuff.

After all, what was the harm of knowing a secret if you never planned to share it with anyone who shouldn't have it?

And welcome back folks. It's the last of the month again but this time it's not quite as last minute. I might actually be improving! (Flutteryay) Anywho, here's a view of some things discussed last chapter as well as a plot element from literally more than a year ago come back again. What, did you think I'd be forgetting about that? Fat chance! In trivia terms, I didn't actually name this chapter for quite a while. Nearly went with More Than Meets the Eye, but that'd be too obvious methinks. As usual, feel free to review or criticize as you wish, though I would ask you do it with an actual account rather than a Guest one. I can't reply to guests unless they send me a PM, so any reviews like that make it hard for me to assuage concerns.

(2017 edit: There were only like two spelling/grammar errors to fix. I really have been improving. [Flutteryay])