Chapter 43 - Puzzle Pieces

Ursula sat at her desk and argued with some other Commanders about unimportant things. Helian was mostly quiet, waiting for the client to finally connect to the call. Ursula felt the stress in the call. Several Commanders were interrupted by adjutants, and many had to leave the call to attend to an alarm on base. It was rather odd how busy they had been lately.

The client connected, an old man who looked far too happy. Helian opened her mouth to introduce him, and he interrupted. "You can call me Havier. I run IOP. A pleasure to work with you again. Shall we get down to business?" He said with a huff. Ursula decided she didn't much like him. Helian nodded and turned.

"Mr. Havier has a request for Griffin. There is a package that he needs retrieved from Neo Karis. It is a delicate mission with a short window and the situation in Neo Karis is a bit tense, so this will be an undercover mission. You all have been chosen for your field experience in this area. This is a volunteer job."

"What's going on over there?" One commander asked. Havier spoke over Helian.

"Between the party for the world's wealthiest, a strange upsurge in advanced security armaments, a verifiable SF army, and some other assorted shady activity? Why there is quite a bit 'going on'." The call was quiet as the gravity of the situation settled. This was more than a simple pick-up mission. This was something more suited for State Security agents, the military espionage unit, or literally anyone else. Why contact a PMC for such a mission?

"Sorry ma'am, count me out then." one of the commanders said as his adjutant gently grabbed his shoulders. "The ELIDs are pushing hard. Something has them riled up. I can't leave until I've dealt with this."

"I need to decline as well, ma'am. There is an SF artillery position nearby. Just popped up last week...took out all aircraft in the area. I'm grounded until that's dealt with."

"Daniels, Archibald, and I are finishing a joint op in the Red Zone. I'll need time to quarantine afterwards, so I won't make it."

One by one the commanders gave excuses. However, the odd part was they were also true. It was suspicious that everyone was bogged down by something. Helian sighed. "Ursula? How about you?"

"Sorry Ma'am, but I have an assignment with the AR Team. I can't just leave them alone on the field." Helian made a sour face.

"Well where is Bryant?"

"He left late last night, ma'am. He left a note, something about an emergency."

"Connect him to the call." Ursula nodded and punched in Bryant's cell number. A smaller box appeared with Bryant's Griffin profile picture. A ringing sound followed for a few seconds before a click.

"This is Bryant, what's the problem?" His voice was rough, and the sounds of a party and crashing waves could be heard in the background.

"Where the hell are you, Bryant?" Ursula asked before anyone else could react.

"Stuck on a cruise ship. You?"

"In a meeting with Helian. Why are you on a boat?"

"I didn't have permission to use Neo Karis' airspace, so I needed to take a ferry. What's up with Helian?"

"Why are you heading to the resort? You said it was an emergency!"

"Calm down, calm down." Bryant started softly. There was some shuffling and the background noise became slightly muted. "Look, a friend of mine is there, and he has intel on an active threat."

"What do you...nevermind, we have a client that has a rather important assignment."

"Important, huh? Better not be that old bastard again." Ursula and Helian paled slightly. Havier huffed and stamped his cane loudly on the floor.

"It is that 'old bastard', thank you very much." He replied. Bryant was quiet for a moment.

"And a good morning to you too, Havier. How have you been?"

"Oh, fine, fine. Thank you. Now, back to business, shall we?" He said with a huff. Helian cleared her throat and repeated the briefing to Bryant.

"Well well, isn't that convenient." He said quietly. "Alright, I'm in. Send Yulia, and see if you can get in touch with the chief of security. I'll meet them at the monorail station on the mainland side. Havier; I need to talk with you privately for a bit." The old man nodded quickly. The other commanders said their farewells and disconnected. Helian left last. Ursula waited a moment, and then reconnected on a secret channel. The two of them were using hushed tones, making it hard to hear clearly.

"...weird that this is all happening at once."

"Agreed. And are you certain about the threat?"

"Nearly positive. Andrew doesn't lie."

"Hm…" Havier paused to scratch his chin.

"Can what you have in those cases...ya know?"

"Impossible." He said with a shake of his head. "Absolutely impossible." He scratched his chin and grumbled again. "Well...in theory, yes. But they would need a password, one that only I and a colleague know." He nodded curtly.

"Alright. I got it then. I guess this mission is getting more exciting." Bryant grumbled. Havier smirked. "And are these reports accurate?"

"Like your contact, mine does not lie. If she says there is an SF army, then it's probably more like two armies."

"Just wonderful. Alright, I have to go. Shuffleboard starts in five." The two of them gave a dark chuckle.

"Listen, Bryant…" Havier was quiet for a moment. He scratched his chin and grumbled a bit, as if he wanted to say something. "Nevermind, just get it done." Havier finally muttered before closing the line.

The screen faded to black when Havier ended the call. He turned to look out the window into the training room below. Teams of dolls moved heavy equipment and several ex-military personnel instructed them on their usage. A representative from WAVE technologies hastily scribbled notes as he inspected the facilities. Persica and her chosen dolls continued their exhaustive work on modifying the weapon imprinting software. Everything was coming together nicely, so he thought. Havier smiled to himself as one of the doll crews finished setting up. The instructor barked an order, and the dolls jumped to work. Within seconds, the testing room was filled with a deafening boom as a TOW missile connected with a target on the other end of the chamber.

His monitor filled with static for a brief moment before a man's voice came through. "Havier." The old man huffed and turned off the monitor. Another one across the room flickered shortly. "Don't be like that. I have a proposition."

"I do not wish to invest in your damn company. Goodbye." Havier said and turned away.

"I think you'll change your mind, dear Havier, after my display at Neo Karis." Havier narrowed his eyes and turned.

"So...it was you." He shuffled closer to the monitor. The screen shook briefly. "I did wonder why my package was…redirected."

"You are dealing with strange things, Havier. I was curious to see what you had in mind, but I have bigger plans now." The room was quiet for a second. "If that is all, I suppose we are done, sadly." The screen flickered. "All the pieces are falling into place. Soon, it will be checkmate." And the call ended. Havier huffed to himself.

"Checkmate indeed."