The Myrmidons had been called by Williams for an emergency meeting the next day. Gabriel was reeling slightly from Ghuvi's death, though he also concluded that it wasn't as suspicious compared to Rodrigo's. There really were Fire Nation soldiers in the base, though Gabriel wasn't there for the fight.
The five remaining members of the squad walked to their commander's office and sat in from of him.
"I've called you here because I feel like there's something suspicious about Ghuvi's death," said Williams. "The only conclusion is that we've been infiltrated. I mean, how else were the Fire Nation soldiers able to get past security?"
"There must've been an inside person," said Kipmi. "There's no way a power outage that big could've been an accident. There also haven't been any earthquakes that could've disrupted the generators."
"This infiltrator could be anyone, civilian or soldier," said Williams. "The orders haven't changed, and your squad will remain here. Just be aware that there is a high possibility that someone infiltrated. Be on high alert throughout the day, and report to me if you find anything or anyone suspicious."
"We've received reinforcements," said Kipmi. "How does that change our operations?"
"Yes, the 50th Division has arrived," said Williams. "We now have over 20, 000 soldiers in our force. That will enable us to conduct search and rescue operations, and hopefully return anyone who went missing. It will also enable us to launch an offensive against the Fire Nation, except most of our ground troops are on the spaceships above, scanning the planet."
"What does our squad do?" Kipmi asked.
"You squad is still staying here," said Williams. He paused. "Everything will proceed as planned after your vacation. It's just now that we realize there is an internal threat that is working with the Fire Nation. We'll concentrate most of our troops on or near the colony, but we'll also be sending troops to go on reconnaissance missions."
Williams had a screen behind him, and he was using his laptop to place symbols of different military units on different places on the map. There was a three-dimensional map showing Polus as a globe on the screen. There were a few named locations and markers for all the mines that the company ran. The big collection of buildings represented Amlin, where most of the soldiers would be stationed.
"The idea of someone within our ranks working for the Fire Nation doesn't seem so ridiculous anymore," said Kipmi, turning to Gabriel. "Hoodman has come up with some crazy theories because he claimed that Corporal Rodrigo's death wasn't by the Fire Nation's hand."
"What makes you think about that, Hoodman?" asked Williams.
"Well, we performed an autopsy as we didn't see him die and it had been a while since the last Fire Nation raid, sir," said Gabriel. "It was a knife wound to the neck. It seems highly unlikely that there was a Fire Nation soldier hiding in the camp. The only thing I can think about is that one of the Myrmidons must've killed him."
"I admit, your theories may have seemed crazy at first," said Kipmi. "But I think you're making a bit of sense now. I believe I owe you an apology, and I want to give it to you later."
"It's all good," said Gabriel. He wasn't mad about Kipmi not believing him for a while, especially when most of the squad was suspicious of him. He was now a bit happy that his commander was willing to give him a chance and might even help him in his detective work.
"Well, given how quickly your squad's numbers are dwindling, some of the deaths might be an inside job, even though this mole is trying to cover their tracks by making the Fire Nation do the dirty work," said Williams.
"Have any other squads in this platoon had to fight with the Fire Nation?" Kipmi asked.
"Two other squads had experienced three raids between them," said Williams. "One squad lost a member, while the other lost two."
"Must've been big raids," said Kipmi.
"Yes," said Williams. "They reported having to fight multiple vehicles and sometimes the mine was surrounded on all sides. They estimate that they've killed just over a thousand enemies between them."
"Yeah, we probably only fought a couple hundred," said Kipmi. "Though we also had to fight some tanks, though we were able to take them out with well-placed rockets."
"We haven't located any Fire Nation bases," said Williams. "I will speak to the colony leaders tomorrow about all the Fire Nation attacks. I will need your squad there so you can explain your experiences. Everyone is dismissed now. Just remember our next meeting time."
Everyone stood up and walked out without a word. They returned to the colony after walking out of the base.
Kipmi approached Gabriel. "Hey, is it okay if I talk to you alone for a bit?"
"Sure," said Gabriel.
"I would like to apologize if I ever considered your theories ridiculous," said Kipmi. "I now believe that the nature of Rodrigo's death is suspicious, and maybe there's someone leading the Fire Nation to vital Earth Kingdom bases."
"It's alright," said Gabriel. "I understand."
"I think I went too far with jumping to conclusions and detaining you when a few other people thought you were guilty," said Kipmi.
"What should we do if we find the inside person? Also, there could be multiple people that are working against us."
"Capture them, if possible, then we try to get information from them. It might be hard if they're trying to kill you, and maybe the only way to survive is to kill them first. Now's a good time for me to investigate as well."
"Sounds good, sergeant."
Kipmi paused, then Gabriel noticed that he thought of another thing. "I see you're getting close with Siu," he said with a bit of a smile.
"Yeah," said Gabriel. "Ever since you kept pairing us together when you were suspicious of me. It was only during this vacation that I was able to share a bit of my personal life with her, though I'm still a bit careful around her. I'm trying to tell myself not to be surprised if the mole turns out to be her."
"Well, I think I've been quite a matchmaker," Kipmi teased.
Gabriel felt himself warm up, though he didn't know if he was blushing or not. If he was, then his face wouldn't look as red as a cartoon character's. He was also a bit surprised that his commander would tease him about feelings that he was grappling with. He rarely experienced getting teased about someone he was attracted to.
"Well, I've been debating internally about my feelings for a bit," said Gabriel. "I guess there are things I like about her."
"I don't blame you. She's supportive and quite helpful with your detective work. She's quite beautiful too. I can see why you're attracted to her. I was guessing that you had some feelings for her."
"Well, I'm not too sure right now, and my feelings aren't too strong. Right now, I need to focus on being a detective."
"Good point. Duty first."
They then returned to the base. Gabriel felt a great weight get lifted off his shoulders now that his superiors were supporting his detective work, and it doesn't seem so ridiculous anymore. He could now continue investigating people in the squad to find anything interesting. Since he wasn't going to be deployed for the next few months unless orders changed, he would be able to spend more time investigating and trying to find their enemy. With newfound confidence, he was now entirely focused on investigating and hopefully thwarting the enemy's attempt at defeating the Earth Kingdom from the inside.
The squad had been called for a meeting with Williams, a few other senior officers in the Marines, and some of the colony leaders. Williams told them that at least a dozen men and women of different ranks were asked to meet with them. The top executives at Amlin had also called some electricians to the meeting.
The soldiers took the elevator up the tallest tower in the center of the colony. They were on the 97th floor in a building that was a hundred floors tall. On that floor was a big office, with multiple meeting rooms adjacent to windows that provided a great view of their surroundings. They were called to a big meeting room where there was a table in the middle, with a projector in the front and rows of chairs in the back.
The room had a big window that started from the floor and ended at the ceiling. The sky outside was dark, but there were a lot of stars, and it was still bright enough outside to provide a clear view of the city and the surrounding plain and cliffs.
They were greeted by ten executives. They had the logo of the company on their chest. They were wearing dark grey long-sleeved suits with matching pants. On the upper chest, the suit was colored with a lighter shade of grey. The suit didn't have a zipper or any buttons, but it had a small collar around the neck.
"Welcome, Myrmidons," a woman from the head of the table walked up to the group.
She was the most senior executive. She was a middle-aged woman who was a bit short, and her face had a few wrinkles. Her brown hair was tied back in a bun, and she had a few grey hairs on her head.
A few minutes later, the other guests arrived. Colonel Kuruk arrived, and so did another officer, whom Gabriel guessed was the major general in charge of the 50th Marine Division and Kuruk's superior. The officers were accompanied by five electricians. The executives were already seated, while everyone else was free to sit anywhere at the table. The table could seat them all with two seats to spare.
"My name is Alexa Lodizyk," the lead executive said. "The leadership called you here because of the recent attacks that threaten our colony. I've summoned some soldiers and electricians who might have some information that could help us. They have experience with fighting the Fire Nation, and the electricians might know a few things about what caused the power outage.
"I'm heartbroken by the losses of fifteen miners on the team you were in charge of, Staff Sergeant Kipmi. There seems to be little hope that the Fire Nation spared them, and my hope dwindles every day. I keep hearing reports of Fire Nation raids on mines, but no one else has gone missing. I also don't know what to say about Private First-Class Tanbur going missing."
"They did everything they could, ma'am," Williams cut in. "If they stayed any longer, they would've all died. My goal was for them to retreat, to live to fight another day. Private First-Class Tanbur fought bravely and covered the retreat based on what I've heard from the squad."
"It's not your fault, Lieutenant," said Alexa.
"We are going to send search teams now that we've received a division of Marines and a battalion of Myrmidons earlier this month," Kuruk said. "We've scattered them around different mines and we're scouting for Fire Nation bases. Some of them are still up on spaceships."
"It's best to scatter your forces," said Alexa. "The colony still has extra spaces in its residential zone, though it cannot accommodate all the extra soldiers."
"We'll be scanning everyone's documents and collecting biometrics," one executive said. He was a tall and skinny man and he sat at Alexa's right.
"We'll do the same with all our troops here," the major general said.
"Staff Sergeant Kipmi," Alexa turned to the commander. "What do you and your squad know about Fire Nation activity on Polus and tell us all about your experiences."
"Not long after the first Fire Nation raid on our base, Corporal Rodrigo was killed, though not during the battle," said Kipmi. "He had a knife wound on his neck. Private Hoodman found him."
"It seems unreasonable for someone to easily and stealthily take down a Myrmidon," Alexa commented.
"That's the thing," said Kipmi. "We think it's another Myrmidon. I'll let Hoodman tell his story."
"I was the one who found the body," said Gabriel. "I was quickly accused by Private First-Class Tanbur and Sergeant Choi, though the evidence was lacking. The accusations against me were quickly dropped, and no one else had been accused or investigated.
"My commander had paired me with Private Siu a lot, and I've shared a bit of my theories with her, though there's a part of me that suspects her too, so I don't want to be too comfortable around her."
"Well, this mole is clearly sowing seeds of distrust and hoping to break the effectiveness of the squad," Alexa commented. "Go on, squad. Tell the rest of your story."
"The next raid was much bigger, and it happened when Sergeant Choi and her team were escorting the miners to the refinery," said Kipmi. "Our squad was divided, and it was a great time for them to attack. We probably spent around two rotations fighting off the Fire Nation forces.
"We successfully evacuated half of the mining team, though we were overrun and lost Corporal Johnson, despite inflicting heavy casualties on the enemy. If we had stayed any longer, we would've all been killed, and we probably wouldn't have been able to rescue the other miners."
"I knew they would feel guilty," said Williams. "I reassured them that the goal was always to retreat so they could live to fight another day."
"The only thing we can do now is move forward and stop the Fire Nation," said Alexa. "That recent Fire Nation attack was quite clever."
"Yes, it was," said one of the electricians. "It happened so quickly. I got stunned, while standing by a generator, and next thing I know, it got dark."
"Yeah, it got dark out of nowhere," said another electrician. "I wasn't near any of the generators at the time."
"That was when Private Ghuvi was killed," said Larsen. "It was a Fire Nation soldier. Someone must've let them in."
"What's our next move?" Williams asked.
"I'll pull some troops from the mines and replace them with some of the troops who just arrived," said Kuruk. "I'll keep my brigade here."
"Sounds like a good idea," said Alexa. "I'll make sure every worker gets a biometric scan and I'll let you know if everyone's scan is fine and that no one is being impersonated. If you find any suspicious activity, you must report it. The cameras will be doing their job, though they were obviously down during the power outage, and we didn't get any footage of the attack."
"I'll do the same with my troops," said Kuruk.
"Well, I think that's everything we need to discuss," said Alexa. "We now have more security protocols and more strategies that will help us get one step closer to wiping out the Fire Nation."
Everyone turned and left. Gabriel didn't feel much safer now that there were going to be identity tests and more security measures. He was understandably a bit more paranoid about the next possible move by the Fire Nation. He chose to stay quiet and walk with his squad.
The squad lined up next morning after breakfast for their biometric test. They had the option of either providing a fingerprint or a scan of the eye. Gabriel had his eye scanned before waiting for the others. He watched as some people provided a fingerprint.
"Everyone's identity has been successfully proven," Kipmi announced.
Gabriel wasn't too relaxed yet. It was still possible for someone to be secretly working for the other side, even though all their credentials wouldn't provide anything suspicious.
Gabriel also thought about his next move. Maybe he would need to do some spying in case someone in the squad was a mole. He would sacrifice his sleep to do it. Thankfully, on his vacation, he was able to get more sleep, so he could afford to lose sleep for at least one night.
He didn't have any particular suspicions, though. He had gone on with the day, spending a bit of time with Sokka and Suki. He was wearing his body armor for most of the day, only taking it off when he was playing video games. He always carried a pistol.
It was nighttime and it was time for him to sacrifice one night of sleep, or he could get a few hours once he got new information. He wasn't targeting anyone in particular, though he thought it would be ridiculous if Kipmi was secretly his enemy. Though if that were the case, Kipmi would've given ridiculous orders that would made the squad lose intentionally, so that they could all be wiped out in a disastrous mission.
He could also target Choi or Larsen, though he wouldn't have enough reason if he had to explain himself to someone. He hadn't shared any of his next moves with anyone, as he didn't have a particular target. Although duty came first, he couldn't help but think about Siu and secretly wish that she wasn't the enemy. Kipmi had quickly picked up on Gabriel's feelings. He knew that the older man must've had much more experience with women than Gabriel.
He was just pretending to sleep, keeping his phone in his pocket, and it was going to be long and boring night, though he could easily catch up by sleeping earlier and waking up later. Sleep schedules were more lenient during vacations. He spent time thinking about his family, though he couldn't worry about them for too long. His mission was strengthening his resolve to defeat the Fire Nation. He was now thinking about how he would continue this next detective mission. He had a bit of hope that he would accomplish it and eliminate every spy.
Gabriel wasn't sure what his goal was this time. He would probably wait for someone to wake up, though there was a slim chance of that. Maybe he wouldn't follow anyone, but instead observe if someone was acting strange. He hoped that he didn't need to wait for the next Fire Nation attack.
Gabriel kept his eyes slightly open. He didn't know how much time passed, but he saw someone get up. He waited a few minutes before following them. There was a high risk, and his heart was pounding. There was a possibility that there was nothing suspicious going on and that the person he was following would get angry at him.
He recognized the person as Choi, as she walked down an illuminated hallway. She was standing and he could hear her voice from where she was standing. The hall wasn't too long, and he stayed around the corner where she couldn't see him. If she went around the corner, he could easily follow. He then started recording the conversation on his phone, occasionally peeking to see if Choi moved.
"What do you mean your base was taken?" Choi asked. "Well, in that case, you need to regroup. You must surround the colony."
Gabriel chose to slip away quietly after she stopped talking and began texting. He had chosen to flee with a little information, but it sounded suspicious enough. Choi had no reason to speak with someone from another base. If she were to communicate with other units, she would do it with the rest of the squad. He was a bit relieved and excited, taking long strides and keeping his footsteps quiet. He then slipped back into bed, a bit happy and satisfied with the intel that he had gathered. He went to sleep and was planning to investigate Choi further.
Gabriel awoke and did his best to stay calm, though he was also feeling a rush of excitement as he gathered some intel that may come in handy. Choi's conversation was vague, though he could conclude that she was probably discussing a way for the Fire Nation to take the colony.
After breakfast, Gabriel called Kipmi to talk to him privately.
"I spied on Choi last night and here's a recording that I found," said Gabriel.
"There's no way she should be talking to another commander like that at her rank," said Kipmi. "It sounds like she's giving intel to the Fire Nation, but don't jump to conclusions. Keep an eye on her."
The squad headed to the colony. Gabriel walked near Choi while the others split up a bit, though Kipmi ordered the squad to be near each other at all times. They were all wearing their civilian clothes but were carrying pistols and wearing their body armor.
"So, Choi, how's your family from Seoul doing?" Gabriel asked.
"Everyone's doing great," said Choi. "Out of all places on Earth, I miss Seoul the most."
Gabriel was now much more suspicious. He had intentionally asked her about Seoul, knowing that she and her family were from Busan. The fact that she hadn't corrected him is enough to confirm his suspicions, though he didn't know what his next move was, though. There were few people near him, and Gabriel texted the rest of his squad to back him up. He also knew there were cameras, so he wanted to make sure that he didn't look like he was in the wrong.
"Wait a minute," said Gabriel. "You're not Choi."
Gabriel paused and waited to see Choi's next move. He was hoping to take her alive, though if she was confirmed as the impostor, it would be better if she died.
He watched Choi reach for her pistol on her hip. In a split second he grabbed the arm that was reaching for the weapon and kicked the side of her legs. Her legs bent slightly.
Choi refocused her energy into punching Gabriel in the face. Gabriel was dazed but he didn't allow himself to slow down. Gabriel threw a punch across her jaw, slightly hurting his fist, while her face barely moved. He knew he was fighting someone with physical enhancements, but he didn't expect her to be this strong. She showed no signs of slowing down and didn't react to pain.
Choi then threw a kick directly at Gabriel's stomach, but he was able to twist, and her foot grazed him. He then grabbed her leg to swing her around. Choi spun quickly and threw a punch, which Gabriel was able to dodge by tilting his head to the left.
Gabriel pulled out his knife. Choi grabbed his shoulder while trying to go for his neck, and he plunged the knife into her exposed forearm. Although the cut went deep, it didn't draw blood. The sides of the wound were red as Gabriel slashed toward her hand. He could see something silver beneath the skin. Gabriel then kicked at Choi's stomach, knocking her back and releasing her grip on him.
"A robot's impersonating Choi!" Gabriel dialed his team.
"We're moving to your position!" said Kipmi. "Grab all your weapons!"
His only option now was to stay alive long enough for the squad to arrive. Gabriel jumped back so that he was a few feet away from Choi. He pulled out his pistol and emptied a magazine onto unprotected parts of her body. One bullet hit her in the cheek, destroying the skin and revealing the metallic interior. No one else was around, so Gabriel wasn't afraid that he would hit a bystander. No one was helping him, though he understood that, as it would do more harm than good. Civilians could be injured or killed.
Choi pulled out her pistol as Gabriel made a grab for it. The gun was pointing towards the ceiling as they both fired a few rounds. Emptying the magazine, Gabriel reached for her belt and threw the magazines all over the floor to prevent her from reloading quickly.
Gabriel wrapped his arms around the robot's neck, even though there was no way he could choke the machine impersonating Choi. Choi managed to elbow him and flip him over her shoulder. Gabriel landed on his back, fighting the pain, and rolling aside as quickly as he could before Choi could follow up.
He then grabbed Choi's leg to make her lose balance before following up with a punch to her side. She was about to charge forward again before her clothes were set on fire.
Out of the corner of his eye, Gabriel saw that Siu had fired an incendiary grenade from an assault rifle's grenade launcher. That gave Gabriel enough time to back away from Choi.
The fire spread quickly, eating through Choi's clothes, and crawling onto her skin. She pressed on, clearly unfazed by the attack and not even reacting to the flames.
Gabriel pulled out his pistol and knife now that he had enough distance from Choi to do it without needing to worry about blocking an attack. He emptied a magazine onto her, even though his pistol rounds would barely do any damage. With every shot, the robot was slowed down slightly. She had also been slowed down by the countless rifle rounds that Siu was shooting at her.
The flames consumed her skin, leaving a grey skeletal frame behind. He got a brief glimpse of the red eyes staring at him, and the robot's metallic grin before he threw a knife between the metal plates of its flexible neck. A bolt of electricity shot through the machine before the eyes turned dark and it fell a few feet in front of Gabriel and behind Siu.
Kipmi and Larsen came running a few seconds later. Smoke was rising from the machine. Gabriel carefully pulled the knife out. Once he was sure he wouldn't get an electric shock, he removed the robot's clothes. The fire had burned the entire robot's flesh.
Gabriel tossed the robot's clothes aside. The robot lay on its back. Its head resembled a skull with visible teeth. The neck was flexible and had multiple gaps. The body had a square in the middle. Gabriel guessed that it was the power core, which used to be lit. The machine's torso was armored with multiple plates of metal surrounding the core. The limbs were a bit thin, with a few plates of armor surrounding metal rods. He could see a little bit of wiring. There were countless joints that resembled those of a human's. The foot resembled a smaller boot more than a real foot.
"That's quite a machine," Kipmi commented.
"What do we do with it, sergeant?" asked Gabriel.
"I think we should take it to a lab," said Kipmi. "We need someone to take it apart for research."
"I think I know someone who would want to play around with a robot," said Gabriel.
"You mean Sokka?"
"Yes, sergeant. He's a genius in science and tech."
"I suppose since he's in the space cadet program. Tell him we found a robot and we would like it if someone studied it."
Gabriel contacted Sokka and led him to the place where he had destroyed the robot impersonating Choi.
Sokka ran and paused to look at the fallen machine. "Well, look what we have here," he commented.
"Cadets get free use of the labs, right?" Gabriel asked.
"Yeah, we're on vacation right now," said Sokka. "We can do whatever we want in the robotics lab. Well, obviously nothing dangerous. I'll just need to see if it's fine with the teacher."
"Great," said Gabriel. He then explained everything to Sokka, from how he figured out that there was an infiltrator to fight that happened minutes ago.
"Well, that robot must be very sophisticated if it was able to hide for a few days," said Sokka. "The skin may be all burned, but it's fine. I'm guessing whoever built this must be able to replicate skin quite well."
"There was no blood," said Gabriel, "though the inner part of the skin was red. I guess you don't need it for your research."
"Well, I can take it apart to see its insides," said Sokka.
"You should also find out what material this robot is made of," said Kipmi. "Can you do that?"
"We have devices that can check for types of metals, sir," said Sokka.
"Great," said Kipmi. "You would be a great help."
Gabriel had paused to relax for a bit. He had figured out that a robot infiltrated their squad, though a part of him was worried that Choi had been killed. He had a newfound hope that they would be able to prepare for the Fire Nation's next attack if they could gather information from the robot.