Omega [REDUX]
Chapter 52
"Same design?"
"Identical."
"You're sure?"
"Positive. Same guys who tried to kill us in Cradle Alpha." Elsa sighed. "Though I suppose we would have better answers if we didn't have to kill them."
"Don't blame yourself," Kristoff said. "You needed help. Anna had no choice but to kill them. This isn't your fault. Still. . ."
She could see Kristoff frowning through the holocall as she leaned back against the bedrest, gazing at the handheld projector that lay beside her. Frustration was a common look on him, but rarely genuine worry. For the first time she could actually see him crack under pressure. Not by much – he was still a well-trained operative, after all – but enough to make a difference. That was enough to make her worry too.
"I've got no intel on any other black ops movements. Though I suppose that's the whole goddamn point."
"But targeting our own people?" Elsa gritted her teeth. "Kidnapping children, for crying out loud. I don't know if the senselessness of it all makes it better or worse."
"Worse, for sure." Kristoff sighed. "But we both know they aren't doing this senselessly. Maybe it's an elaborate ploy to draw us out. They could know where you are."
"Then they'd target me directly, wouldn't they? Why go through the effort?"
"They might bank on your tendency to help people. Empyrean has access to your psychological evaluations. Though if that really was the case, I'm surprised you weren't attacked with more than just the soldiers deployed to that location. There should have been some kind of ambush. Not . . . three random soldiers."
Elsa watched Kristoff wipe down his equipment through the holo, methodically addressing each piece thoroughly before setting them aside. "I don't know which is worse," she eventually managed. "If this is a ploy to target me. Or if this is something else entirely, and way more sinister than. . ."
She swallowed. "I thought I'd seen the depths of cruelty Empyrean could go to. But this, this is worse. Far worse."
"Not the kind of surprise you want, for sure."
She filed aside her consternation for now. "Alright, if you don't have anything, that means we'll need higher clearance and intel penetration."
"Charles."
"Best lead we've got now. The rest is laying low again. Real low."
Kristoff closed his eyes for a brief moment before opening them again; she could see the worry splayed across his features once more. "I take it you've prepped contingencies?"
"Can't rely on the drone, given that I can't turn it invisible anymore. Any attempt to get airborne will be intercepted within five minutes, and that isn't a viable timeframe for an escape vector." Elsa twirled an arrow idly between her fingers, contemplating her plans. "Collectively we figured our best bet was to parachute off and try to disappear. Harder for UIF response forces to get a lock on us."
"Guess all your academy training for urban warfare will come in handy."
The academy. It seemed like forever ago. But wistfulness could wait. "That, and Anna's circuit jammers haven't failed us yet. So we've got that in our corner too."
"And each other, whether you like it or not."
A test statement. Elsa chuckled. "We're fine now, but thank you for being sensitive."
"Oh? So all it takes is a foiled kidnapping and problem's solved, huh?" Kristoff's poker face failed after a few seconds. "I'm glad things are better."
"Me too. I don't think I could do this without her."
"I'm sure she feels the same."
Days passed.
Elsa never thought she'd be particularly interested in retirement plans any time soon, but these were extraordinary times. In between her training sessions she found herself looking at news articles, live reports, anything that she could find on the bureaucratic workings of the UIF.
"This is what we're going to end up as eventually," Anna had remarked one day. "Out-of-touch old ladies trying to stay relevant."
"Assuming we survive all this, yes."
Anna had merely rolled her eyes in faux annoyance. "Way to set the mood, killjoy."
For a time, there was still nothing, and Elsa thought she might go stir-crazy waiting for things to happen. As much as she would have loved to dive into training like before, over-commitment would curtail her awareness, and that was not something she could afford if UIF units could break down her door at any minute. It was difficult to remain calm when the situation demanded her to be on her toes, both mentally and physically.
Anna's presence, with their now-mended relationship, proved to be a godsend. Not only did she have one less psychological burden to factor for, Elsa realised she could still confide in Anna, to talk about their fears and worries, just like they did so long ago. There were still some kinks that needed to be worked out, but she figured it was probably for the better that they were starting on new ground too. Their relationship was never perfect; all the better for things to improve this time around.
When the opportunity finally came, Anna was lying in Elsa's lap, fast asleep. The latter of which was busy trying to meditate, focusing on Anna's presence, and her own, within the room they inhabited. Then the holotable, tuned to pick up reports on UIF activity, sent a notification her way.
UIF VETERAN CHARLES PRINCE ANNOUNCES CANDIDATURE FOR COUNCILLOR
She sucked in a breath as she read it. At some point they were going to have to quit playing in the shadows, and this was the first step towards that. Hans, Empyrean, and God-knows-who-else in the UIF might not yet have picked up on Elsa and Anna's involvement, but she was sure that Charles' persistence – not to mention his previous ties to them – would draw suspicion, if not outright danger. Charles had accepted that. She was not sure she had just yet.
Elsa resisted the urge to call; that would draw attention to both herself and Charles. Better the other way round so it was less noticeable—
Another notif. Speak of the devil. Elsa triggered the interface to bring up the holocall.
"Well. . . I take it things have changed."
The Ascendant looked down at the redhead in her lap. "For the better."
A raised eyebrow. "Is that confidence I'm detecting?"
"You know I don't do that."
"By all means, please continue. It's a refreshing change of pace." She watched Charles drum his fingers on the wheelchair's handlebars. "I take it you've seen the news."
"Congratulations?"
A rueful chuckle. "Sure. That'd be one way of looking at it."
"We've played our hand, now for them to play theirs," Elsa said, before following up suddenly: "Charles, I've been thinking, and I hope you don't take this the wrong way, but—"
"You're worried."
She blinked. "Yes. I—" I suppose there's no need to hide my concern. "They will know something is up. Especially after your first request was denied. They might. . . try things, to say the least."
"I know," Charles replied. A sad smile occupied his features, and he gestured to his legs. "I'm not prideful enough to be delusional about my combat ability. Not anymore at least."
Elsa resisted the urge to chuckle.
"You are correct. As much as regulations dictate that I will be assigned a protection detail, we both know whoever is orchestrating all this is not beneath trying something direct. Unfortunately, like we've previously discussed, this is the only way forward for now, and thus this is an unavoidable risk."
"I just don't like putting my friends in danger." Elsa looked down at Anna and ran a hand across her hair ever so slowly. "What am even I talking about. It's never going to feel right."
"I do appreciate your concern. And I hope you believe me when I say that."
She nodded. "I'm getting there."
"That's the spirit." Charles tapped his palms against the handlebars again. Nervousness, tempered with steel. "I must go. We should limit contact as much as we can, but I will still contact you again. Take care. Watch yourselves."
"Back at ya."
Through the screen, Elsa watched him give a small salute, before terminating the call.
She leaned back into the cushions, releasing a breath she failed to realise she had been holding. She wanted things to happen, and they definitely were. Now to keep her ears out for what came next.
It was never going to feel right, she thought, looking back down at Anna, still content to snooze away. And yet, they had all signed up for this. Agreed to do what was right. That required risk, but if they could save more children from ending up like her and Anna, and the rest of the Ascendants, then it would be worth it.
It had better be worth it.
The next time they needed to act, it was drastic.
"Why do you need to host this thing again?"
"It's called tradition, Elsa."
"It's practically a formality," she exclaimed, chucking a cushion into the air, "and a useless one, given that no one else wanted to run for Councillor against you."
"You realise my campaign had supporters before that became a certainty, right?" Charles sighed. "Besides, any more connections I can make is a wider net we can cast."
"I still don't like the idea of—"
"Believe me," Charles cut in, "I don't like the idea of a public, highly visual event any more than you do. I know this could be risky, even dangerous. But this is procedure, and we need to follow it if we want our plan to work."
"You'll turn yourself into a sitting duck just for our strategy to work."
"You may have forgotten, Elsa, but if you take a look at my legs, you'll find I've become very accustomed to being a sitting duck."
She didn't know if she needed to curse or laugh after that one. "Christ."
"Has nothing to do with what comes next. Look, I called in just to keep you abridged. If this drags anyone out of the woodwork, hell, if there's actually an attack and I do wind up injured or worse, at least we have something to work on."
"Charles." Elsa gritted her teeth. "That can't possibly be worth it. You need some kind of contingency. Get Kristoff involved or something."
"I considered that." Charles sighed and leaned into his chair. "But that would likely be suspicious, for both him and me. I'm not yet a Councillor, so this is a delicate down time where I wouldn't be able to protect him, even if I asked him to protect me."
"There has to be something else—"
"There's no time left, Elsa. I'm doing this. Just keep an eye out."
"Wait!" She leaned forward sharply, managing to stop him before he cut the transmission again. "What if I don't see you again?"
"I think we've prepared for that eventuality long enough, my friend." She found herself transfixed by his gaze; his eyes were tired, scared, but resolved. "You and I have been through a lot. You and I have given just as much. Now let me give just a bit more."
"Nothing I can do to change your mind?"
"We both know the only people that can change our minds are ourselves." Charles seemed to glance away for a brief moment, then refocused to her. "With any luck, this won't be goodbye, Elsa."
The feed cut off.
It was a while before she realised she'd practically been frozen there for far longer than she should have. A lapse of focus, one that, given their current predicament, could have been fatal. But practical downsides aside, Elsa found herself deeply unwilling to let a friend go. Not like this, anyway. There had to be more that she could do.
"There has to be more that we can do."
Her head snapped around. Anna was leaning against the doorframe to the living room. "I know how you feel."
"Then you know that we have to help. Somehow."
"Oh I know that much." Sighing, the cyborg made her way around and plopped down next to Elsa. "Question is what to do to help."
"We can dig up the location of the event easily," the blonde reasoned, already interfacing with the holotable, "and we'll naturally get the details from there. But if something were to happen—"
"We wouldn't get there in time," Anna finished.
Elsa nodded. "And we wouldn't be able to maintain our cover. This penthouse suite would be outed immediately the moment we rush out of here, not to mention our identities and whereabouts. What the hell are we supposed to—"
"You could just show up to his event, you know."
They both turned. Merida made her way down the stairs, tossing her bow between both hands. "I don't know about you, but I'm ready to show up and bring hell if need be."
Elsa watched Anna frown and lean towards their friend. "You want to just arrive at their doorstep and just what? Pretend like no one's going to recognize us?"
"It's not like they're expecting us to be there. Element of surprise and all."
"That is far too great a risk to take."
Arguments for and against the plan were thrown back and forth, and Elsa drowned out the sound for a brief moment as she pulled up the event details. Charles was holding a ball. Gratitude for his campaign supporters, and consolidation of his network. She chuckled at the irony of someone confined to a wheelchair holding a ball, a choice that was almost certainly deliberate on Charles' part.
Her eyes narrowed. There was something they could do. "You know, I'm pretty sure we still know how to infiltrate most places pretty well."
The other two turned to her, quizzical. Elsa shrugged.
"How'd you like to infiltrate a party?"
Charles' event took place later the same day. The ball was hastily organized within one of the older, historically important cathedrals that had managed to avoid demolition. Sector 5 was known for preserving specific buildings despite its rapid pace of development over the last few decades, but the particular venue had managed persist. There was probably a reason Charles had chosen that, but the trio figured they could ask him later.
For the time being, Merida took position on the shopping center opposite the cathedral. The denizens of Sector 5 would be far too busy with their lives and routines to notice anything out of the ordinary, which was exactly what Merida needed just then. Bow in hand, she crouched behind the rooftop parapet and peered over to the streets below. She watched local law enforcement cordon off sections of road for VIP arrivals, taking note of traffic diversions, pedestrian chokepoints, and additional areas that might escape others' notice. Useful both for and against their agenda.
"All clear for now," she mouthed into her earpiece, kneeling back behind the parapet and pulling up a system diagnostic. "I have my sensors in place to cover me, and additional sensors along the cathedral perimeter. We'll know if someone else is here."
"Thanks for covering overwatch."
"Was never much of a party girl anyway," Merida replied. She pulled an arrow from her quiver and checked its tip; an old habit borne of her training days. "Besides, I figured I should let you two love birds get some one-on-one time."
"Fuck off, Merida." Anna's voice crackled in her ear, and Merida laughed.
"Any sign of Charles and his entourage?" Elsa suddenly cut in. "We'll take advantage of his entrance to make our own. Should be able to slide in nice and smooth."
"That's what she said."
"Fuck off, Merida."
"All right, settle down," came Elsa again. "Anna, how's our electronic interference working?"
"I've got a lock on all surveillance devices in the area. I'll be able to selectively alter our digital presence on any individual camera or scanner that captures us. We won't do an area blackout unless everything goes to absolute shit."
"Knock on wood."
"It's all concrete here, so you're shit out of luck."
Merida risked another peek over the parapet, engaging her glasses' zoom function to inspect the street again. She sighted a black armoured vehicle gliding its way to a halt before the cathedral. Out came a series of bodyguards. One of them broke out a hoverchair.
"Found Charles," Merida reported, just as she saw a figure grab hold of the handlebars and lift himself into the seat. "His entourage too. He's moving in now."
"Copy that," Elsa replied. "Moving in now. Keep an eye out, and stay safe."
"You too." Merida smirked as she notched the arrow to her bowstring. "Don't get too distracted by each other while you're in there. We actually have an asset to protect."
"Fuck off, Merida," came two voices in unison.
Oaken had kept his promise. Anything that they needed, he'd do his best to procure.
He was certainly surprised when they had asked for formal attire, but he had delivered regardless.
Now, after feeling for the weight of concealed gear strapped to her body, Elsa straightened her tuxedo and adjusted the eye-mask, then stepped out of the shadows into the ballroom. Not exactly the best of disguises, but it certainly matched the dress code. With luck, she and Anna would blend right in.
Years of training to blend in kicked in. Her whole life had not just been an exercise in military infiltration, but also how to conform among her peers, how to hide her powers. Every instinct came flowing back to her, a significant relief that she had not expected. Her eyes darted to each and every individual within her proximity, all while scanning for guards that were keeping watch themselves. Social settings were not her strong suit, but this wasn't a party for her. Elsa's gaze briefly lingered on the hoverchair that glided in to a crescendo of applause, then turned away to blend into the crowd once again.
Well if Charles didn't manage to recognize me, maybe there's hope for us yet.
As she traversed the event space, Elsa ran a hand over the pistol concealed within her jacket. The format of the event helped her agenda significantly; the lack of designated seating meant that guests were free to roam and mingle, which allowed her to traverse the area without drawing attention. Most guards were concerned with potential external threats, and not looking for suspicious individuals within the venue itself. You can never quite find what you're not looking for, can you?
"Anything yet?"
"All clear outside."
"Everything's good on my side of the room." A pause. "I forgot how good you fill out a suit, Elsa."
"Jeez," came Merida's voice. "Keep the flirting off our designated channel, will ya?"
Elsa realised she'd been so preoccupied with her surroundings that she had lost track of Anna. They had deployed to opposite sides of the cathedral and vanished into its shadowy corners. The plan was to link up back inside the ballroom, and Elsa didn't really need to track somebody that she knew was fully capable of handling herself, perhaps more so than Elsa right now. But now it meant that Anna could see her, and Elsa needed to adjust to that too.
A few glances around the room later, she could feel her heart flutter as she caught sight of Anna.
In the same split second, she realized the last time they'd been at a ball together, Anna had been kidnapped for augmentation. The memory did not quite hurt anymore, but there was a tinge of regret there. And yet, whatever hurt Elsa was feeling was quickly washed away as she watched Anna approach her, clad in a sparkling turquoise dress that left her shoulders and collarbones exposed, its train a delightful blend of blue and green shades. Tiny gemstones peppered across the fabric made Anna glow even more than she ever had.
"Focus," she could see Anna mouth, a smile tugging at the corners of her lips.
They closed the distance to each other and began a leisurely perimeter patrol. "Sorry," Elsa began, "was just blinded by—"
"My beauty?"
"I was going to say the gems," Elsa laughed, "but yes, that too."
It was so much easier now. No more mind games, no more hidden hurts and lumps in her throat. They were better, and their shared history made things lighter and brighter. She almost could not believe Anna was being flirty at a time like this, but she'd take anything to soothe her nerves right now.
"Don't be fooled," Anna continued, "those are just nanobots designed to reflect light."
"That's one way to outsource your jewelry."
"Hey, if it works, it works. Now keep an eye out."
They watched an emcee take the stage and begin the slew of speeches that would no doubt define the rest of the event. By now the cathedral doors had closed. Elsa tried to think of viable attack strategies, things she would do if she was trying to target an asset in this area. Direct attack? Infiltration? Air strikes? The last was the most unlikely, and her and Anna's presence would mitigate the previous two possibilities. As nervous as she was, they were about as prepared as they could be.
"Managed to smuggle your package in under all these layers." Anna's voice brought a natural end to her train of thought.
Elsa smirked. "My my, Miss Faust. Is that a shotgun under your dress, or are you just happy to see me?"
"You're incorrigible."
"Guess you rubbed off on me."
"I think we both did a lot of rubbing off on each other, in more ways than one."
"Good grief."
The sound of static on the mind briefly but sharply cut through the air. The two of them watched everyone else flinch, scanning the area for the source. Soon after, it was Charles' voice blaring from the speakers.
"Thank you, one and all," he began. "I cannot begin to express my gratitude and appreciation for your support during my campaign. I would give you a standing ovation, but you'll forgive me if I don't for obvious reasons."
A few chuckles passed among the crowd. Elsa rolled her eyes, earning her an elbow from Anna.
"As you know, I began my campaign out of a deep sense of duty to the UIF." Charles had now hovered into the center of the ballroom, continuing his spiel. "I believe that this is something that each and every one of us here shares. We are all here to do the best that we can, in the best way we can."
He levelled his gaze at Elsa. "Even if that leads us down a difficult, arduous road."
He knows.
Charles turned away from them, addressing the crowd again. "While my road to Councillor turned out to be uncontested, the work is far from over. In fact, after I am officially sworn in tomorrow, it will only have just begun. I may no longer be a full person in a physical sense, and I do not shy away from the reality. But my heart is full, of that there can be no doubt. I dedicate it in service in all under the UIF. I dedicate it to you. All of you."
A wave of applause erupted from the crowds around them. Elsa found herself clapping too, not just to blend in, but out of a genuine belief. It surprised her. Yes, the world was cruel and terrifying. And yet, every now and then, the goodness in the world continued to find ways to surprise her.
"I'd vote for him if we could," Anna said.
"We can do the next best thing for him now," Elsa replied.
"So now," Charles carried on, "if you would all do me a favour and take to the dance floor, I would be deeply, deeply honoured. Please do. I will sit here and live on vicariously through all of you."
More laughter, and the shifting of chairs back as people moved toward the floor.
Logically, Elsa realised that the safest place for them would be on the ballroom floor. Sure, her sight lanes might end up mildly curtailed, but between Merida's overwatch and Anna's electronic surveillance, she had little to worry about. And yet. . .
No, she eventually decided. The tactical advantages weren't even that great. This was a matter of principle.
Elsa exhaled deeply, then turned to Anna, offering her hand. "I believe we still have some unfinished business."
Anna turned to stare at her arm for a brief moment, then looked straight into her own eyes. "Yes please."
Elsa felt fingers intertwine with her own. The fluttering intensified. But, trained soldier that she was, she maintained her cool, pulling Anna ever so gently to the center of the dance floor. Like all those years ago, she slipped her other hand around Anna's waist and pulled her close. She could almost feel Anna's breath on her face; she could almost get lost in her eyes. Something outside her mind seemed to pull the two of them along to the music, and they settled into the rhythm smoothly, easily, naturally.
"I'm really glad I'm not wearing heels to dance right now," Anna blurted out. "It would have been shite back then, and it would be right now too."
"You're still thinking about that?" Elsa laughed.
"Of course I am." Anna's face fell and her voice softened. "It was magical, getting to be there with you, having gone through so much of our academy lives together. And just as that happened, I . . . I thought I would never see you again."
Elsa's grip around Anna tightened. "But we weathered that storm. And so many others. We'll weather this one too."
"This feels different, somehow," Anna said, as they continued to waltz around the room. Their gazes travelled around the area, scanning for threats, but invariably landed on each other once more. "This time it feels like . . . like we've grown and it still isn't enough."
"Doesn't help that I lost my powers too, huh?"
"I wasn't going to say it, but—"
"Yeah. I know." Elsa sighed. "I'm not really looking for denial either right now."
"So where does that leave us?"
The music seemed to hang in the air as Elsa thought about it. "I've lost you almost too many times by now. And we're somehow still here. Together. So I know that my fate, whatever the outcome may be, is simply to be with you. That's more than enough for me."
She could almost see Anna's eyes shimmer. "I'd be okay with that too."
"Then no matter what happens—"
"It'll be okay. Because I have you."
Elsa almost didn't feel herself close the distance, and suddenly they were so close, so very close, their lips just a tantalizingly tiny distance away from—
"Guys?" Merida's voice sliced through the moment like a razor. "Something is up."
There was no panic. Just ice in her veins. Elsa pulled away, continuing to hold on to Anna, but interfacing with her HUD within the contact lenses she wore. Drawing on their integrated sensor feeds, Elsa watched the proximity radar light up red. "Shit."
"They're coming now!" Merida yelled. "And they're coming in fast!"
Hands shoved a light, metallic package into her hands. "Go," Anna said. "Go now."
Elsa bolted without thinking. Gripping the nanobot package, she dashed towards Charles' position. At the moment the package fully morphed into the energy shotgun she had requested, the stained-glass panels lining the walls of the cathedral shattered in perfect, chaotic unison. In her peripheral vision, black shapes swung into the building, weapons at the ready.
Her instinct was to dive, recover, and open fire. But there was no time for that just yet. Elsa lunged, tackling Charles off his hoverchair and onto the ground. Gunfire exploded all around them, as did the screaming. Elsa shot her hand out and pulled a table down sideways, and almost immediately their makeshift cover splintered and cracked from bullet impacts. She pulled Charles close to shield him with her body.
"I figured you'd do something like this," Charles managed, rolling his body around and onto his hands.
"You're awfully calm for someone in the midst of being assassinated!"
Black shapes in the corner of her eye. Flanking them. Out for blood. Elsa grabbed Charles and pushed him under and behind her, bringing the shotgun to bear in the same motion and squeezing off three shots in quick succession. Each collided cleanly with its target. Three smoking piles of armour collapsed to the ground. "Could use a little help here!"
After Elsa had bolted, the world seemed to explode around Anna. Glass flying. Tables overturning. Bodies falling. For a split second it was simply too much to take in.
Then her senses acclimatized, her machine-infused neurons compensated, and she was off. The 'gems' on the dress receded towards the back of her hand, nanobots coalescing into a larger blaster. Anna's hand shot out, and the blaster module primed. Her HUD registered target after target with a reticle for each, and then—
"Could use a little help here!"
Anna opened fire as she ran, ducking for cover behind an overturned table as bullets sailed overhead. That had always been the plan: they had no way of knowing if incoming units were equipped with the Ambrosia signal, so they needed to fight as if it were on its way. Now all her modules – her blaster, Elsa's shotgun – all operated as independent pieces of weaponry, no longer reliant on her augmentations. As hellish as it was about to be, she needed the first few seconds to—
Morph her free hand into a grenade launcher, coalesce the smoke grenade, fire—
Anna leapt over the table, barely avoiding civilians as they scrambled for safety, deciding that now was the time to go on the offensive as any. She tore off the dress, her body's nanocells hardening to deflect and withstand incoming bullets. As the smoke landed in front of Elsa and Charles, Anna's vision switched to thermal mode, and the cloud of grey before her suddenly lit up with heat signatures. Her hand swept across in an arc, firing off at every target in range with pinpoint precision.
More targets felled, but they weren't remotely close to safety. "Alright," Anna managed as she slid to a halt next to Elsa, charging up her energy shields. "Everything's gone to shit. Now what?"
"Well—" The sound of Merida exerting as she released her bowstring in quick succession reached their ears. "I've got waves of them rushing the front. They've just pulled up in two more trucks. And I'm hearing dropship engines nearby."
Anna detached another module from her body and slapped it onto Elsa's back. A bluish hexagonal coating expanded rapidly from the device to envelop Elsa entirely. "Good thing I brought protection."
Elsa coughed. "Save the quips when we actually pull out of here."
"Ha ha! I got that one!"
With no Ambrosia signal just yet, Anna decided that offense was the best defense. Leaping over the table, Anna's newly sprouted shoulder-mounted cannons delivered rapid payloads of explosives to the front door, shredding the incoming combatants with abandon. Better to get as much damage in as she could before someone got the bright idea to trigger the Ambrosia signal.
Merida cursed herself for not watching the sides of the cathedral more closely, allowing so many hostiles to breach the building before she could give the duo inside a proper heads-up. But there was nothing she could do about it now.
As quickly as she could, Merida fired off more arrows at the targets rushing into the sides of the building. Some managed to connect, but the distance and darkness seemed to hinder her. "You've got more incoming through the windows," she barked out. "Watch your flanks—oh shit."
A dropship roared overhead, engines flaring as it arced slowly across to deploy its payload. A contingent of armoured soldiers leapt out, slamming into the roof around her. Merida dove for the closest one before he could get his bearings. She remembered the analysis Elsa had done on the soldiers that had attacked them on their shopping trip – her eyes scanned for the weak point between the helmet and torso, where the neck was only protected by cloth.
Merida drew an arrow from her quiver and slammed it into the soldier's neck; she blocked out the gurgling as she stepped quickly behind the soldier, letting the limp body fall onto her back. Shots followed almost immediately; Merida could feel bullets slamming into her makeshift body shield, the soldier on her back thrashing with each impact until ultimately falling silent. Already she had drawn more arrows, grasping them between her fingers, and loosing them at the soldiers trying to flank her.
As soon as she had felled another soldier Merida dashed out from under her previous victim, rolling behind a vent and firing another shot. This one knocked her target's helmet back, exposing the neck for a clean follow-up that she delivered swiftly. She spun around the end of the vent to avoid incoming fire from the direction she'd started from. She could hear muffled yelling from the soldiers. They hadn't expected this. Information for later, but a good tactical advantage.
Merida contemplated her options as she scrambled for better cover. She was tempted to unload all her explosive arrows on this squad, but she might quickly deprive herself of options later on. Split arrows would do little more than burn their charges without being effective – better to aim each individual one. More importantly, splitting the attention of the invaders might buy Elsa and Anna more time, but the pressure would ramp up, and Merida was no Ascendant. She was no good to them dead.
"I'm getting overwhelmed here!" Merida managed to get out between shots. "Gonna have to bring the party to you soon."
"Get out of there!" came Anna's voice in her ear. "We can coordinate a response if they're all funneling in!"
Merida let the next soldier round the corner, attempting to fire on her, before she loosed an arrow into the rifle being aimed at her. The impact sent the weapon flying, and she loosed another one into the side of his knee, then one more to the other knee. She dashed forward, getting close enough to slam the final arrow in her hand straight through his neck. Still using his body as cover, Merida drew another arrow, tuned it for grapple mode, then fired it quickly toward the side of the cathedral.
She could hear the soldiers trying to maneuver around her, scrambling for a better angle. They had caught on. Merida turned to let the body fall into her arms, peeking her head over the corpse's shoulder. With one hand wrapped around the torso and holding her bow, she tilted her body to face the incoming soldiers, praying desperately that a stray round would not tag her exposed arm. From behind, her other hand loaded, tuned, and fired explosive arrows in rapid succession, knocking back her attackers and shredding her armor.
She'd bought herself five seconds at best. Merida dropped the body, seized the grapple rope in her hand, and leapt off the edge of the building.
It felt like the stream of hostiles was never going to stop.
Maybe it was the utter lack of augmentation. The original Ambrosia signal had only neutralized her powers, then whatever Hans did to her wiped everything out. No enhanced senses. No fortified resilience. No special powers.
Elsa fought through the sensory overload and fatigue to keep her mental state stabilized. There was a flow to combat that she was learning to adapt to again. It was new; even in training, she had engaged in large-scale combat with a heightened ability to filter and process information. With none of that, and only Anna's limited shielding to protect her, she realized how precarious a situation she was in.
Through the smell of gunpowder she forced herself to breathe. No time to ruminate, no time to break down and panic. Charles' life, and the lives of untold others, were counting on her, Anna, and Merida. There was no room for worry nor error. There was only now.
Elsa racked the pump to dissipate the heat on her shotgun, shut her eyes for a brief moment, then swung out of cover to reacquire her targets and fire. Almost immediately her shield blossomed with bullet impacts, straining the integrity of its surface in waves of luminescent blue. Ignoring the rising fear in her throat Elsa sighted target after target, squeezing off shots where she could. There was no overarching strategy, no grand plan in mind. Just the need to make the best possible decision at every single moment.
Her shield integrity dropped to critical, prompting her to drop down once again and check on Charles. "You doing ok?"
"Feeling like a sitting duck."
"Ha ha, very funny."
"Could at least give me a weapon or something. I'd like to be able to defend myself somehow."
"This isn't time for heroics—"
"They're coming from everywhere, Elsa." Charles flinched as a hail of rounds landed particularly close to where they were. "And our cover is turning into Swiss cheese. We need to move, and I need a weapon."
More rounds close by. They were pushing up, and Elsa wasn't pushing back hard enough. She pulled Charles closer to shield him, willing the shield to recharge faster, because it felt like an eternity right now.
"I'm in the building," Merida's voice crackled in her ear, "but we've got way more incoming! Likely from the roof!"
From one of the shattered glass panes, Elsa watched Merida swing into view, managing to somersault in the air and fire off an arrow before touching down. She heard the arrow connect, and a body dropped in the corner of Elsa's eye. "Need cover fire. We need to reposition backwards."
"Sounds great, cause I'm getting overwhelmed here!" Anna stepped back from the entrance, having re-morphed her augments into a heavy turret. Elsa could see the blue smoke wafting from its glowing hot barrel. Anna was panting; her whole form showed signs of wear and tear, with smoke trails and bullet holes across her body. She fired a few more shots into the dark of the cathedral entrance, prompting another few screams, before a deathly silence filled the air.
Elsa swallowed the urge to panic once again, and took advantage of the lull by grabbing Charles and pulling him backwards. "Pull back while we can. They're almost certainly prepping to engage again."
"I'll keep watch," Merida said, seizing a rifle from the floor. "Anna, you should pull back and recharge. God knows we'll need your firepower."
"But—"
"No buts," Elsa and Merida chimed in simultaneously.
Deflated, Anna de-morphed her weapons and pulled back, scavenging the bodies for weapons and ammo.
Elsa leaned Charles down upon the pulpit's front side. "I don't suppose you know how this is going to end," she said, handing Charles a rifle scavenged from the strewn corpses.
"Ideally, without us dying."
"You're really quippy when you're close to death. Has anyone told you that?"
"Way I see it," Charles began as he pulled back the slide to inspect the AAR, "we need to hold out long enough until they're either wiped out or pull back. They don't want to be seen by first responders just as much as you."
"You don't think Hans will have his own operatives among the first responders?"
"Unlikely, considering the resources burnt here—"
"They turned my friend into a walking bomb. And she was a combat medic."
She could see Charles face fall. "Okay, I guess I'm in a lot more trouble than I thought I was."
"The scale of destruction will almost certainly give away the fact that we were here. But they can't do anything to you openly, because they can't reveal that they tried to kill you and detected our presence. So we have the optics covered, but we just need you to get out of here."
"My sudden reappearance at the ceremony tomorrow will be a surprise for sure."
"Contact whoever's survived, and whatever allies you have left." Elsa handed over a few more mags to him. "We might not be able to show up then, but they will. If that many of you show up tomorrow, they can't keep it quiet. Even Kristoff will be able to intercede without drawing attention."
"So now what?"
Elsa signaled for Anna and Merida to huddle over. She swore she could hear movement outside, and Anna confirmed it. "My scans say we've got a few minutes at best."
"We need to get Charles out of here. That's for you, Merida."
"You need help," came her quick retort. "If it's just the two of you—"
"A risk we have to take. Our plan is contingent on Charles surviving, remember?"
"I don't like this."
"Neither do I. But it's the best chance we've got."
She could see Merida clenching tightly on her bow, before finally looking back up at them. "I better see you guys again."
Elsa nodded. As did Anna. They both knew better to promise more than they could guarantee, but this was the closest to reassurance Merida was going to get.
Merida hoisted Charles onto her shoulder. He thumbed the safety off the assault rifle. "I've got your back." He turned towards the other two. "Stay safe."
"Go. Before it's too late."
Anna could see the outlines of the soldiers surrounding the building. No further reinforcements were inbound on her longer range scanners. But the force outside the building was still not to be trifled with.
She watched Merida and Charles' signature disappear from the back of the cathedral. Merida hadn't lost a step. She evaded detection from the death squads outside despite carrying Charles on her back, and now she was securing transport outside, free from detection.
That just left the two of them, and a couple of black ops soldiers prepping for entry.
She found Elsa curled up in a stairwell. Her chest rose and fell heavily, and her eyes were shut. Wordlessly she knelt beside her. Anna placed a hand on her back, overcharging the shield module that rested there, but she realized Elsa needed more than just physical protection right now. "This feels familiar."
A snort, and a soft laugh. "I seem to recall the roles being reversed." Elsa managed to raise her head. "Now look at you, my knight in shining nanomachines."
Anna couldn't stop herself from smiling either. "Here to serve, my queen."
She helped Elsa to her feet, reaching out a hand to recharge the shotgun slung across her lover's shoulder, even as Elsa reloaded a scavenged assault rifle. "I think we both know that you still remember all your training. So even as we are—"
"I'm so much weaker than before, Anna." The blonde sighed, leaning against the wall and looking at the open ballroom. "I don't know if I can do this. I . . . I'm just scared."
"You were scared before, and it never stopped you then." Anna clasped Elsa face in her hands and affixed her gaze with her own. "You were always so much stronger than everything that was thrown at you. You showed me how to be strong. And I know you haven't changed in that regard."
A hand pulled Anna's head inward as Elsa nestled her forehead against hers. They held each other for but a moment, one they wished would never end.
Footfalls broke the silence.
Elsa broke their embrace, checking for the shotgun on her bodice and flicking the safety off her rifle. Anna nodded, and moved up the stairwell.
From where she hid, Elsa sighted the squads in full view, who were now combing the ballroom with methodical precision. There were too many for Elsa to completely rely on her shotgun, as effective as Anna's nanotech was. She'd have to rely on what she had. Just as she'd always done.
A whine, then a blast. Anna had opened fire from the rooftops on the soldiers below; Elsa could see her energy blasts colliding with the squads in front of her, stray blasts burning craters into the hallowed ground. Soldiers began yelling and turning upward to retaliate.
Elsa brought up her rifle and opened fire. Rounds clattered into the first soldier she sighted, knocking him to the ground. Cursing the rifle's inability to penetrate reinforced armour, Elsa dumped the full mag into the soldier, knocking his head far enough back to land a lucky shot through his neck. She ducked behind the wall and dashed up the stairwell to avoid the return shots. The enemy was aware of her now, and how woefully unsustainable her method of attack was.
There were silver linings to this, Elsa realized as she reached the upper floor of the cathedral and ducking behind a pillar. Enemy overconfidence was almost always something to count on, and she had already laid the groundwork for it. But she'd also learnt that under specific situations, conventional weaponry could defeat fortified soldiers. Close quarters was the way to go.
She attained this realization as she pulled out her shotgun, racking the pump with grim satisfaction.
Elsa closed her eyes to focus. She could hear the rapid footsteps of soldiers ascending the stairwell; as quiet as they tried to be they were still heavily armoured, which made them easy to track. As they entered the upper floor Elsa gripped her weapon tighter, willing herself to maintain trigger discipline and resist the urge to start blasting. She would get one shot at this; failing to make it count would be life-threatening.
She held her breath as the soldiers split up. The upper floor was much dimmer than the ballroom below, but the darkness would do no disservice to helmeted hostiles with HUDs to compensate. It only served to hinder Elsa, as she lay in wait, eyes desperately searching for the barrel of a weapon or a turned back. She needed an opportunity, and she needed it fast.
Footsteps next to her. A soldier rounded the corner.
Elsa knocked aside the rifle with her own weapon and brought it to bear faster than her adversary could, squeezing off a shot before darting back around her original pillar, sliding behind cover just as the body hit the floor. The next soldier would not approach as closely as her previous victim, so she readied her shotgun a little higher than she did before.
Another lull in the fighting, punctuated only by gunfire above and below.
When the next soldier came into view, Elsa fired almost immediately, before running forward and tackling the body to the ground. She rolled forward, dodging most of the incoming fire but still having her shields pinged more than she would have liked. Elsa darted around the next pillar, quickly dispatching another incoming soldier, then slamming weapon first into the next one. Her eyes darted around the room as she struggled, trying to gather what information she could. Seven soldiers in total, including the one she was currently fighting. All closing in on her rapidly.
She'd been distracted a little too long – the soldier managed to shove away her shotgun and swung hard, scoring a clean hit across her face. Stars exploded into her vision as she felt herself knocked sideways, but she fought through the pain, letting go of her weapon to catch the follow-up blow. Elsa shoved the fist away, using one hand to block another attack while using her free hand to seize her rifle, still slung across her shoulder. She jabbed the barrel underneath her enemy's helmet and held the trigger down. Round after round sliced through his neck, sending blood spraying across the room.
Through the gore Elsa pushed the body off her and into yet another soldier, leaving them to tackle the new weight as she shot the rifle out of another enemy's hands, then knocked their hands aside to deliver the killer neck shots. With her shield now dangerously low, Elsa dashed for the soldier she had previously attacked, dropping her rifle and seizing him with both arms, using him as a shield as rounds clattered around her. Two down. Five to go.
Elsa managed to draw her pistol and put a bullet into the soldier's neck once more, then ducked and wove between her remaining adversaries. Now she knew what to do, and she had a reasonable number of enemies to execute her strategy. Using every soldier as cover against each other, Elsa baited out shots from her enemies. Stray rounds would send weapons flying, or knocking limbs out of natural motion. Chaos created openings, and she exploited each one as they came.
As she disarmed the final soldier with a well-placed kick, Elsa shifted her strategy from misdirection to attack. Her pistol became an extension of her arm; firing to dislodge her opponents or repel incoming attacks, Elsa worked her way inside her enemies' defenses. Just as she delivered the kill shot to another soldier's neck, she flicked her wrist to eject the magazine. The projectile collided with her next opponent, causing him to flinch; it was all the time she needed to reload, rack the slide, and block his blind swing with her elbow. She jammed the barrel into the crook of his neck and fired, not bothering to wait for effect as she whipped around and fired one round into the next soldier's helmet, and a second round into his neck just as his head was knocked back.
The final soldier stopped mid-charge, suddenly fully aware of his predicament. It was his final mistake; Elsa was upon him in a flash, heated steel barrel pressed up against his neck.
"Alright then," she began, applying more pressure with her gun. "You can tell me what you know about this operation, and I can grant you a quick death. Choose to stay silent, and I'll show you my extensive knowledge about the structural weaknesses of your armour. You can fill in the blanks."
Elsa descended the stairwell with a single hand trailing the handrail. Less for elegance, more for stabilization. She was exhausted, overwhelmed, but she'd gotten what she needed. Information. Details that she could share with Anna, Merida, and the rest, but that could wait. Now they needed to bug out.
Anna waited for her below, still scanning the perimeter with her morphed weapons. She too was covered in soot and blood. Not the prettiest sight, but Elsa was nonetheless glad to see her. Come to think of it, she would probably always be glad to see her. "Rough night?"
The cyborg looked up, giving her a tired laugh. "You could say that. Didn't manage to finish our dance. Again."
"We'll have to keep that in mind." Elsa paused as the sound of sirens began to reach her ears. "That's our cue."
Anna nodded. "Charges are set."
"Then let's ditch these suckers." Elsa took Anna's hand as they moved to the back entrance of the cathedral. "Shame about this place. It didn't deserve this."
"It's the only way." Anna produced a detonator from her palm and held it out to her. "Don't want to leave anything to chance. Do you want the honours?"
"No, I'm good. You were always more of a firecracker anyway."
"Hey! What's that supposed to mean?"
Edward kicked the door open and threw his rifle to the side. Their intel room was already a mess. A few more things strewn about would not make much of a difference to its tidiness.
"Don't break another rifle again," Elaine chastised as the weapon clattered to the floor. She remained unfazed, slouched in a chair, gazing at a holoprojection. "We don't need an inflated equipment budget on top of our problems."
"Not now." Edward growled as he pulled up a chair and sat himself down at their common table. "I don't need the jokes right now."
"Alright. My bad." Elaine cleared her throat and sat up. "So we can add Sector Three to the list of areas crossed out, I assume?"
"What do you think."
"Whoa, ok. Just trying to be sure, big guy. Didn't mean to come across as sarcastic."
"If I'd found them, I would be in a completely different mood."
Elaine rose from her chair and stood beside Edward, placing a hand on his shoulder as they gazed at the mess of intel. "Hey. Relax. We'll get them. We just need time. I'm only asking in case you found any leads on where they might be."
"What leads? We haven't found any leads in any of the areas that we raid. They're either political dissidents, red herrings, or Empyrean cells that we're forced to shut down. We're either actively hurting our cause, or wasting our own time."
"What else are we supposed to – ah!"
Edward whipped around and stepped away. Elaine was clutching at her hand, reddened by the burn she received from touching his shoulder. "I—" he stammered, "I'm sorry. I didn't realise—"
"Could give me a warning next time you know," Elaine snarled as she walked away to get some medigel. "Get your goddamn temp under control."
Edward stood up from his seat, ignoring how the metal of the chair glowed from heat. His specially-designed heat-channeling outfit was the only reason why his clothing was spared a similar fate. The sound of the medigel canister spraying its contents reached his ears.
He reached over and hit another button, bringing up the news report. Edward scanned the images and paragraphs, noting the grisly details. Between the explosion that engulfed the old cathedral and the blackened bodies left behind, the area was completely devastated. Disproportionate amount of activity for an area that should be effectively safe. Even the news was able to pickup on the signs of Ascendant activity, noting the presence of plasma burns on the ground. There were no survivors from the squads deployed to kill Charles, and logs of their chatter pointed to Anna being there.
Nothing made sense. How could they be there? How could they re-enter the city center while avoiding detection, especially with all the extra countermeasures in place? "What if we're going at this all wrong?"
Elaine set the canister aside. "What's that supposed to mean?"
"I mean, it doesn't make sense." Edward punched a few buttons and brought up their sector maps, eyeing the red-highlighted sectors that they used to mark out thoroughly searched areas. "We've basically covered everywhere they could have gone, even accounting for the timeframe since their escape. We should have found them by now. And now they show up at our doorstep?"
"You of all people know how good they are—"
"And so are we." He sucked in a breath, taking a second to glance at his fellow Ascendants. "We've swept everything that we can think of. We need to think differently. I just can't – can't think of how."
A pause. The metal hissed in protest from the heat.
"What if they didn't go far?"
He looked up from where he stood. Elaine was fiddling with the projection, busy clearing out redundant sectors. "They were underpowered, outgunned, at a loss for what to do. They're smart, but not smart enough to obtain anything with a longer range than what they escaped in."
"That doesn't help; we'd have seen traces of them within our search area—
Elaine stepped away from the console, fiddling finished. Edward looked up. She'd left the inner circle of their search area highlighted. Edward wanted to scoff – it was so close to the area where they'd lost them that there was no way—
He caught himself. There was no way they should be in that zone. And that would be exactly what Elsa would be counting on, wouldn't it? "You smart son of a gun."
"Probably should get Edmund on the line. He's gonna want to hear this."