Blank Maps

by maevestrom

During reconstruction efforts in the homelands, Jess monitors a friendly enemy as they discover the price of a miracle, one that could heal their nations at all cost. The road maps she builds through Green Earth slowly become dictated by a world changing faster than they can comprehend, but perhaps there is a human touch after all. Post-DS.

4. United Nations

"You know we're going to have to talk about this, right?"

Lash stops singing Go Your Own Way and looks at me. "Like, what do you mean? They know, right?"

"Eagle mentioned he'd heard about it," I tell her, "but not specifics."

Lash snorts. "I'll say. Live-chatting your girlfriend's not a super scientific source." I glare at her, but I can't hide the smirk. She giggles, saying "someone's gotta check up on him."

"You're telling me."

She fakes a vomit. "Seriously. Like, all I actually gathered between chatspeak and gooey heart emoticons was that apparently it's spreading to other fight sites. That place the first factory was is practically a botanical paradise."

"So it's calculated."

"Yepper. Specifically the spots from the Macro conflict. Then it spreads from there."

"What do you mean 'spreads?'"

Lash squirms so much even in my seat I feel it. "What do you mean, what do you mean?"

"I mean, do you think this will get out of hand?"

"Well…" Lash shrugs. "Honestly, I don't know. But I'd rather overcompensate than go too small. You know, getting machetes and hacking it down a bit will be easier than planting and waiting."

"Ideally," I say, and the silence lingers with the implications. In my head, I try and think of how to handle this, but it's hard to combat something you don't quite understand. I can only think of one way to research this, but it's a bit cumbersome and relies on a friend I haven't talked to in awhile.

Someone who can barely use a phone, at that.

I make a mental note to give them a call. For now, I tell Lash, "I'd like to bring the commanding officers together to talk about things. You need to be completely honest about all that you know. That includes the incomplete details. Even if it sounds silly. Even if it's painful to share. Even if you're scared. If we're going to do this, we're going to do it right."

Lash nods. "Yep. Sounds about right." She's silent for nearly a minute and says, "you know, I can't tell if this whole reconstruction business is super easy or really hard."

I force a smile, but I can feel the solemnity as I move. "I'd say it's both."

~MoD~

I'm sitting at the desk, transferring the road plan to an updated map that better tracks the growth. Heavy forest topography now covers the area around Brahm's Port, and every time I think about updating it I realize that the area changes by the day. It's enough to make me leave it alone and pull out my cellphone to make my first call.

As expected, Javier picks it up, his voice distant. "Fair maiden?"

"Wrong way," I speak into the cellphone, and likely into his slack-jawed mouth. Leave it to the master of Comm Towers to not know how to use a rotary phone.

"Oh! But of course!" Some audible fidgeting and five seconds pass before I hear him. "Sincerest apologies," he returns, too close for comfort. "This is still taking some adjustment. I most certainly had no access to witchcraft like this during my upbringing."

I chuckle despite myself. "Don't get worked up about it. I just wanted you to do me a favor."

"Anything for you, madame!"

My amusement turns to endearment despite myself. "Don't be a doofus," I tell him, but I know he can't help himself. The guy's a teddy bear in a suit of armor. "I just wanted to know if you've heard about the recent anomaly with the plant life going on."

"Rumors have spread up here," he explains, "but I daresay even I, as a faithful Christian man, have been skeptical about the idea. I've yet to get any specifics on it, as the newspapers have not made their way up here in ages."

I shake my head. He has a row of technicians with computers in the base camp up there. "Understandable," I lie. "In the meantime, I'd like you to keep an eye out." I quickly rack through my mind for battle sites, but it's not until I look over at Eagle, who still seems too preoccupied with his computer to be doing actual work on it, that I remember the battle site of Adder's four laser cannons. "How far are you away from the Sademara region at this point?"

"Just a few moments of your patience…" And with that, I sit here in near silence save only Javier spending a good minute rummaging around for and then unfolding his map. I find myself humming Go Your Own Way while I wait. "Ah!" he says. "We seem to be only seven miles south. If you fancy, I will send a few troops up there."

"I'd appreciate that," I tell him. "If you happen to have any visually recording technology…" I pause. "Never mind, I forgot who I was asking."

"Ah, but madame, that's where you've erred!" he interrupts. "I believe one of my younger lieutenants has one of those modern phones that has a video recorder on it. I don't see where the recorder is- it strikes me as being a rather bulky addition- but I can ask him to loan his service to the cause."

I shake my head, but I'm smiling like a fool. "That'd be excellent. In the meantime?"

"Yes?"

"I'd appreciate it if you kept in touch with the HQ back in Smaragd."

"Consider it a humble service well worth keeping. Take care, madame."

"Later, Javier."

I smile and hang up. Even if it's rarely too in-depth due to our radically different upbringings, a talk with Javier is always a good way to lift the spirits. I settle back into observing the road map uselessly until I hear Drake's voice.

"Jess, it's high tide for the crew meeting."

"Oh." I almost forgot about it, despite being the one who set it up. "Everyone's ready?"

"Can't say, I just noticed the time, but they should be. I also invited a few other special guests that could be of use in the meantime, just to make sure we have solid perspective on things."

I smile, knowing full well what he means. "Had I known they were coming, I'd've baked a cake."

"I'd be serving drinks," he adds as I walk along with him, "but I fear I might find a highway named after my habits if I drink around my peers again."

I laugh at the idea, but make a mental note to check the names of all the roads later on. "The intersection of Alcoholic Drake and Can't Bake for Shit Jess is where I'd build a damn cabin at."

We reach the room. Opening the door to the old war room, I'm immediately greeted by Grit, who finishes off a smoke into the ashtray and waves quickly, a cane next to his seat. I take the seat next to him, immediately comfortable. I look across the table surrounded by maps of the Allied Nations and see Eagle lounging just to the side of Drake's seat at the head of the table. Along the side, I see Jake, who looks enviously energetic as he always does, and Sonja, who has not ceased to be an unmovable statue of a woman since the last time I saw her. Finally, huddled three empty chairs away from everyone else is Lash, who uses her trenchcoat as shelter from the peering eyes of everyone who isn't looking at her. Drake bounds to the seat at the head of the table, sitting down and smiling as warmly as he can manage.

"My fellow captains, it's a pleasure to invite you over to our station," he says. The rest of us nod politely- I don't know why I am, I practically live in this building. "I wish I could make you more comfortable, but this is of short notice concerning a very bizarre matter, so I hope you don't mind."

Grit nudges me, handing me a cigarette and the lighter. Talk about a man who knows the way to my heart. I take it, kicking his leg softly as I light up. He winces, and I remember, so I apologize. He chuckles, brushing it off

"Figured this was some unreal stuff," Jake says, wrapping his headphones around his neck. "Sorry that we couldn't get the top dog Nell down here herself, but she's busy with stuff. Pretty sure Rach said Nell was getting hitched."

"So Maxie's doin' well for himself, I reckon," Grit replies. Despite his uneasy smile, the bitterness shows in his twang as slow and easy as molasses. I take a drag, and Grit doesn't mind, used to it. Jake, unaware to the past history, nods emphatically, smiling.

Grit speaks up. "Yeah, truth be told I'm in the same boat. Old Vikingbeard didn't have time to make it out. He's got pet projects and harbored grudges to tend to. Figured to keep the peace it'd be best to send the one guy who actually felt like taking it easy."

Lash shrinks even further within her coat at the mention of Olaf, Blue Moon's Prime Minister whose hometown she obliterated during the Macro campaign out of a twisted game. I heard they're still not even close to done even over the last two years, so it makes sense why Grit would want to keep him away from the girl. Grit sees her tremble, finally looking like a scared little girl after fifteen years of being a defiant brat, and he puts on a smile. She doesn't react, but I do. His gesture's enough to make me move a couple of chairs over to her, stroking her hair.

"Take care, pretty miss," Grit tells me, adjusting his hat to shade his eyes and slowly lifting his legs up onto the empty chair.

Sonja is the last to speak. "Good evening, my fellow commanders. Originally the plan was to have my father attend this meeting; however, I requested to go in his stead so I may experience for myself the story of the first-hand account of this strange phenomena."

The transition is silent, before Grit says "Had I known Sonja was going to be here I'd have brought a damn dictionary." Sonja tries not to react, but I can see her smirk.

She's been called a mirror darkly of Lash, and it's clear to see why. She sits perfectly upright, wearing a formal skirt and button-up coat, both camo green, while Lash huddles into a ball under a messy trenchcoat with knee-high boots and an outfit that leaves more bare than covered. Still, they both have technical prowess and dangerous pragmatism that makes them more dangerous than their youth would imply. I'd probably not be far off to guess that Lash is the strange phenomena.

Lash looks up. "Hi," is all she squeaks out. It's clear that no one's overly comfortable with her presence, either because of who she was then or who she is now. Eagle also gives a quick, brisk wave before crossing his arms, leaving the floor for me.

"Thanks for coming," I say, looking up from Lash, who still looks like she'd rather be anywhere else. "I don't know how widespread the news has gotten, although my only basis for this is Javier." That gets a few laughs. Good. "However, I know this anomaly has become less so. Commander Sami has already conveyed news that this has affected Lockley Range in Orange Star. Today, myself and our Technological Expert Lash went out to a field observation to witness the phenomena ourselves. Unfortunately, we were unable to record it, but needless to say the rumors were real. Forestry has been growing at specific points right before our very eyes."

"Whoowee," Grit replies, and that's all that really can be said. I watch the others quietly process it. Jake looks at me with astonishment, Grit's grin looks painted on, and Sonja pretends that this doesn't fascinate her, looking straight ahead to the point that her eyes could bore holes through the wall. Lash peeps up from her little bubble, expectant.

I continue. "At the moment, we're playing it by ear. We have rudimentary recording going on in a mobile base camp from Javier's defensive post in northern Green Earth. Otherwise, we have a tangible string that connects the sites together. That is, all of the sites that have undergone this transformation were old, war-torn areas still recovering from the Macro Land Conflict."

Jake looks up at me. "Okay, so you think the love's gonna spread all over?"

I nod. "It's within the realm of possibility. Then again, at this rate, not much isn't."

Grit speaks. "Well, I'll tell you what, from what I know the flower fairy hasn't hit us up yet. However, we have been able to make a pretty damn snazzy effort on most of the buildup thanks to charitable donations from Sasha's company. I think the only city still struggling for a buildup due to being all but wiped off the grid is Chair-snag. Share-sneg. Chersnaig."

"Chersneg," I correct.

"What she said." Sixteen years of being a resident commander still hasn't taught non-native Grit anything about pronouncing Bluski better than a nonresident, but I know the only reason he bothered with the pronunciation was because he's again referring to Olaf's hometown, as if he expects Lash to not know what the city is. Indeed, she wraps the jacket around her completely.

"What I'm goin' on about," Grit finishes, "is that maybe if we haven't gotten a shot of magic, whether it be replanting the trees or doing other things even God drops his jaw at, whoever's doin' this is sentient enough to know where the supply and demand is. Hence this here concentration in Green Earth, which has seen better days to say the least."

Eagle glowers, as if it's an insult that we suffered the most in the Macro Conflict.

"No offense," Grit adds awkwardly, covering his face with his hat.

I know now is the time we need Lash to speak up, so I tap her on the head. Her groan is muffled by the jacket. "Having the advantage of someone once on the other side of the battlefield has been beneficial. Lash here has made a few theories she'd like to share with you all. If you would."

Lash doesn't react.

"If you would."

Eagle glares at her, arms further crossed. The crowd is restless and more than a little confused, save for Sonja, who continues to try her hardest not to care.

"Lash."

Slowly, she peeps out of the jacket like a child hiding under a pillow fort. "Uhm…"

"It's okay," I whisper, guiding her out. Lash finally opens the jacket just enough to stick her head out. We finally get a reaction from Sonja- it's just the raising of an eyebrow to most, but her eyes aren't chilly enough to freeze air anymore.

Lash sighs. "Okay, so… just hear me out, okay? I know you all hate me and whatever, and I can't really explain much because this is, like, a zillion years beyond science, so it's be just blurting out stuff I'm thinking. And I can't stop thinking about it, and there's nothing else to do right now, so I've just been a big ball of think."

As eloquent as ever, Lash.

The more she talks, the more animated she gets, sitting normally. "So, after the whole icky Macro business, we had the Omega Conflict. That's when that old geezer took over Sturm's old job and sucked the energy from the land. Heck, it was worse over there than we've ever seen. So where'd all that juice go?"

Grit shrugs.

"Hardy-har, scarecrow," she replies, glowering at him. "But the only thing I can think of is that when we first found out what Von Bolt's plan was, he was in this creepy building where there was this machine he was rejuicing from. It's the same place that got janked when the war ended and we took Von Bolt prisoner. The chair and all its energy was just left there as the building collapsed upon itself, but someone else got trapped in there too, just them and the chair."

Jake's eyes widen, as if Lash had awoken a lost memory.

"Hawke!" Eagle shouts in horror, as if awoken from a dream. Lash nods weakly, only setting him off worse. "If Hawke is the one behind this, how could the intents be anything but nefarious?"

"Calm down, Commander Eagle." Sonja of all people gets to silence Flyboy before I do. "These are simple theories, possibly improbable. Let her finish."

Eagle still looks peeved, but lets Lash continue.

"Maybe, like…" she falls silent again before stuttering, "I don't know. I mean… maybe it's just wishful thinking for me. But I know that if you had that chair, that chair alone could leave little droplets of energy that in a concentrated form could just make crazy nature stuff happen. I mean, Von Bolt didn't fart around. He had that stuff pumping in pure and unconcentrated. Like, with science even I don't get. So yeah, like I said, this whole Hawke saves the chair and restores the land idea is probably little more than just a bad fanfic, but I like it."

Jake, still looking caught in a flashback, finally speaks. "Damn. Like… wish I'd called or something, cause I remember Hawke saying he had one last job to do when the citadel collapsed. And, like, I didn't think it through because I thought the dude was pavement at that point, but I gotta wonder if he knew what he was doing."

"Hawke always knew what he was doing," Lash whispered.

The room gets uncomfortably silent. It's Sonja of all people who breaks it.

"Lash," she says, causing the girl to look her square in the eye. "This sort of energy functioned as a serum for life, both to the human body and theoretically to plant life. I also believe he used the same power to help his battle units function via the Obelisk and Crystal and power the Pipelines Black Hole constructed. If that's the case, is it possible that whoever used that energy could launch another offensive against the Allied Nations?"

The idea had honestly never crossed my mind. Jake tilts his head, Grit lifts his cap off of his eyes, and Eagle slams his fist on the table. Even Drake looks a little nervous. Lash leaps up, saying "but why would he do that? Like, he already built the forests up. Why would he do that first? We're all weaksauce right now, it'd be better to launch ghost units at us now."

"Has Hawke needed any motivation for his nefarious acts?" Eagle counters angrily. "If there is any threat to our soil at a time like this, we need to be mobilized!"

"You're not listening!" Lash screeches. "It doesn't make sense for him to do that!"

"I'm with her," Jake adds. "The Hawke in his final days was not the Hawke that went on the offensive. I could sense it. Like, I've talked about Moms before she died, like she was just waiting to pay her final tab. That's how Hawke was. Just defeated. It was weird."

"But now!" Eagle continues, and I look anxiously for a coat hook I can string him up by his goggles. "Now he has power! Now he has the ability to make whatever he wishes happen! We could be looking at war all over again, at such an inopportune time!"

"Stow it, you damned fool!"

Surprisingly it's not me who yells this, it's Drake, who gives him a glower so nasty even I feel uncomfortable. Everyone looks like they witnessed a murder, even Sonja, who has raised an eyebrow in surprise, which is basically a full mental breakdown in the mind of Sonja. Eagle looks disappointed, like he's speaking and no one else is listening, and turns away, dejected.

"May I continue?" Sonja asks.

"Please do," Drake responds, exhausted.

"Thank you. Again, the idea that Hawke has returned is not the concern, because we are unsure if the theory is even correct. Perhaps the energy was harnessed throughout another matter- after all, there's no telling if that was the only storage area. Regardless, the energy has managed to supply many forms of power- potentially limitless. My inclination is that if this branches out to other forms of power, then we have a lead. If it stays strictly botanical, it could be other phenomena just as otherworldly that we could research."

"Thank you," I say. "In conclusion, I want you all to be alert and vigilant. We'll establish contact with each other, and keep an eye out for future behavior. Prioritize any reconstructive efforts on the homefronts of course, but if anything suspicious happens, don't hesitate to let the other nation's defense know."

"Is that all?" Jake asks.

"...yes."

Jake shakes his head. "Yeah, I get this is important, but it seems like a waste of airfare to just talk about something that could have just been a conference call away."

"Still working on the comm system here, Lash is," Drake explains. "Poor Javier's holding the fort but we still need to back him up somehow. And there's only so much the girl can do with so little progress overall. Our phone communications are decent inland. Outland, it's a miracle Eagle can even send a chat message in a bottle to his sweetheart."

Eagle shrugs, not bothering to disagree.

"Also," Lash pops up. "Like, I was thinking about it when I was, like… hibernating. Might not be impossible to actually bring you to see for yourselves. Brahm's Port isn't far from here. Maybe we can drive back and actually see how the progress is."

"If it's an excuse for a party, I'm so in," Jake confirms. Sonja nods, always willing to do any length of unwanted socialization for the sake of research. Grit kicks the chair back, and buttons up his coat.

"Sounds like a fine idea," Drake replies. "Eagle, you?"

Eagle shakes his head. "Business I must attend to."

"At the rate you've been procrastinating, I'd imagine!"

Again, Eagle can only shrug.

I hand the lighter back to Grit. "Thanks for the smoke."

"You needed it, missy," he responds with a laugh, taking his cane and hitching himself out of the chair. "You looked like a snake ready to strike."

We follow everyone else out of the War Room. "At this rate, I think all of us are high strung by a disturbance in the system. Especially one so unexplainable."

"Naw," he replies, taking a seat in the main office next to my computer. "I'm pretty sure it's just y'all who are disturbed. Me? Just greatly amused."

"Amused." It's a statement, not a fact, because I'm not surprised.

He kicks his legs back as I log out of my computer. "The world's a funny place, sweetheart. Better to laugh with it than cry for it."

I shut the computer down. "I suppose." Seeing me walk away, Grit follows. "It's a nice idea, though, to say the least."

"What is?"

"The idea of an easy fix."

Grit laughs. "Honey, you don't have to tell me twice." He slowly lifts himself up, groaning. He looks exhausted from too much activity, so I help him up the rest of the way. "Thank you, sweetheart," he drawls, straightening his jacket.

I smile, hand on his shoulder. "Meet you downstairs. I'm gonna go check on the others."

He pulls his hat down and waves, leaving with "thank Christ your elevators still work or I'd've sent Sash."

I watch him leave my sight and turn back towards the War Room to make sure everyone's on their way out. I don't know when I became the Team Mom who felt the need to do that, but honestly I wouldn't want to end up left in here for longer than I need to be either. I peek my head over the door to see if we've left anyone behind.

Sonja's still in there, talking with Lash. They're too quiet for me to hear, but I can see Lash is near tears, and Sonja stands next to her, looking more comfortable than I've ever seen her. Lash is gesturing like she's attempting poorly to speak sign language. Sonja moves her hands in the "calm down" motion before finally giving up and placing her hands on her shoulders. I'm so alarmed by the development that I feel like I'm intruding, so I back out just as Lash settles down. Trying to pretend I was never here, I walk away as quietly as possible, taking a seat near the door and checking my phone. Nothing yet from Javier, not that I expected it. I set it on the arm of my chair, and it disappears from memory.

Eagle sees me waiting from his computer desk. To my surprise, he actually is doing work. "Can I help you?" he asks.

"Just waiting for the crew to empty out," I explain stiffly. He nods and turns back to the computer like nothing's going on. I close my eyes to find some inner peace, but seeing as my last solid visual was Lash looking two steps away from a breakdown, I can't quite get there.

"Eagle."

He turns back to me with a sideways glance.

"If we're going to get through this, you're going to have to be calmer than you are," I tell him. He looks resigned, but I'm not sure if it's because he's sick of being told this or he knows I'm right, so I take pity on him. "I'm worried too, but Lash is the key here, and she's still a teenager."

He nods, still looking disinterested, but as he turns back to the computer he looks the slightest bit remorseful. That's the closest I've ever seen him get to apologizing. He returns to his work just as Sonja and Lash leave, a suspicious distance apart. Lash still has the tracings of tears on her cheek, and Sonja looks entirely too flushed, but I don't address it.

"There you are," I say. "Just wanted to make sure we had the gang together."

Lash forces a smile. "Yep. We're here. Tada."

I clap her on the back. "Let's see if we can't get into our get-together with a little more optimism." I guide her to the elevator, Sonja following like a ghost I'm not entirely sure is real. As the doors close, Lash is still trying to smile, but is shaking like a leaf next to me. I look down at her, wondering if I'll ever quite understand her.

Chapter length imbalance is a bitch. I haven't finished any other chapters in... quite some time, so it might be awhile for the fifth one. And if you both play certain Survivor ORGs while reading my fanfiction, a) you're an Earth Angel, Carby/Connor/Wendy if somehow you made it, and b) oops you're spoiled. That does mean I have a plan for this shit, I just gotta put it to paper.

There's a reason most of my fics are short fics. I have low impulse control. I chase shiny reviews.