Chapter Fourteen: Desert Warfare

December 8, 2017.

Still not believing what he was seeing, Rhodes rewound the CCTV footage they had acquired for the fifth time. Just like the past four times he had watched it, the grainy video showed what was unmistakably a horde of Rhinestones surging into a Polaris facility. In broad daylight, no less.

"They're certainly getting bold," said Gina, saying what they both were thinking. "Either that, or Echo's getting desperate. Could he be on some sort of timetable we don't know about?"

Rhodes rewound the footage once more, stopping it when the automatons were in full view. "Maybe he knows we're onto him. He somehow got into our systems, so maybe he figured out we know." He sighed in exasperation, slumping back in his seat. "This would be so much easier if we just knew what he was trying to do!"

"That's the million-dollar question, alright," said Gina, nodding. She turned to the Rhinestone they had been studying. "We've been looking at this thing for how long now, and we still haven't found anything out? Maybe we should just try brute-forcing it."

"How's that?" asked Rhodes.

Gina walked over to the case. "Well, we figure he's in the Middle East somewhere, right? Maybe we should pack up everyone we can muster, head on down, and comb the place top to bottom for any sign of his hideaway. He can't hide a robot factory and a nuke that well, can he?"

But Rhodes wasn't that sure of her plan. "I don't think that's such a great idea. Remember what happened when we sent in an aerial assault? He knew we'd come after him, so he set up an entire fake ship to distract us. Who's to say that was the only one he has? And if he gets word we're on his trail, he'll probably pack up and jump ship."

"Jeez, you make him sound like some sort of mastermind," grumbled Gina. "I guess he pretty much is, though. Maybe we should send in a smaller team, then? Something a little less inconspicuous, who can search without him noticing. Would that be feasible?"

"That…could theoretically work," he said. He brought up a satellite map of the area. "As long as we keep it under the radar, we could strategically send them to suspected areas where he might be hidden. But I…" Echo had somehow found out about Project Aftermath. What else would he be able to listen in on? "We'll need to make sure he can't know about this ahead of time."

"Okay, but how can we do that if we don't know how he knows? It feels like a gamble to pick which channel to go through if one of 'em is compromised."

Rhodes thought for a moment, observing all of the pings he had detected in the area of interest. Any one of them could be Mr. Echo's base. "Then we'll have to do it old school. I'll request an audience with Mills, and only Mills, and float the idea. If we do go through with this, we'll need to move slowly–pick up all the info we can without spooking him."

Gina leaned against his computer. "But the slower we move, the more time he has to cook up…whatever he's cooking up. Are you sure we can afford that level of discretion?"

"We don't have much of a choice," replied Rhodes. "We either work with what we've got, or we don't work at all. Speaking of which, Valdain's program should have cracked into this thing's database by now. Hopefully we can get something substantial out of it before we send our guys out into the field."

Decoding what was on the Rhinestone's hard drive had proven more difficult than anticipated, even with their new friend's alien know-how and technology. "Call me crazy, but…do you think it might be possible to synthesize our own one of these?" Gina asked. "We obviously can't make them on the level Echo is, but if we had even one, we could theoretically infiltrate his operation. It might take some trial and error, but if we're already taking our time…"

Rhodes grinned. "Once again, you prove why you're no longer just my assistant! I'm sure with a little help from Valdain and Pearl, we can figure something out. I'll float the idea to the Director when I mention our plans to–"

"Actually, maybe it's better if we kept this one off the books," Gina said hurriedly, to Rhodes' confusion. "I mean, you're the one who said he might find out about our plans, right? We still have no idea how he's listening in. If we keep this secret, we can make sure he's none the wiser."

Although he wasn't entirely comfortable with this, Rhodes had to admit she had a point. "I…okay. For now, this'll stay between us. I'll be sure Valdain and whoever we get help from can keep a secret, too. But we should make sure to focus most of our efforts on the teams we send in."

"That actually seems like it should be our plan B," said Gina. "We'll send some people out there, and we'll hope they won't be discovered, but we'll be prepared if they are. Meanwhile, while Echo is distracted dealing with them, he'll have no idea when one of his many Rhinestones turns out to be a fake created and controlled by us! We can find his secret lair and swipe his nuke out from under his nose in one fell swoop!"

"Now, that, I'm not sure I like," Rhodes said. "I get that these are desperate times, Gina, but we can't use our own teammates as bait. Things are bad enough with Homeworld hanging over our head, we don't need to resort to things like that."

She waved her hand. "No, no, not like that! We won't be putting them in any dangerous situations–not any more dangerous than usual, at least, but I just mean that Echo'll be more focused on them if he finds out. And that's 'if,' remember that. Now c'mon, what are you waiting for? Mills needs to hear this!"

Even though he was starting to have second thoughts, Rhodes knew there wasn't much time left to be picky. "Ah, alright, I'll go and see him," he said, getting up and exiting the room with Gina in tow. They already knew Echo would be one step ahead, but hopefully, it would remain at one.

December 19, 2017.

"Alright…suit me up."

Vargas stood in place as mechanical arms placed his Quartzbreaker suit onto him. With a hiss, his helmet clicked into place, and its HUD appeared. Finally, a blaster was placed into his hands.

A technician checked the suit's diagnostics. "Vitals look good. Systems are green, and the power is stable. You're go for weapons test."

Several holographic targets appeared before Vargas. Raising his blaster, he shot each one with expert precision and no small amount of firepower. Once they had all been obliterated, he shifted his blaster into sword mode, a long energy blade emerging from the barrel. He gave it a few test swings, imagining himself carving through a legion of Rhinestones.

"Perfect."

"Your next assignment," Mills had told them, "is one of the utmost importance. You will not be simply deployed at the location of engagement as you are used to, but will instead be engaging in a campaign of espionage and sabotage.

We do not know the exact location of Mr. Echo's base of operations, so it falls to you to find it. You are one of several teams who will covertly and systematically infiltrate potential locations of the enemy stronghold. Unfortunately, we cannot know what awaits you within, so you will need to proceed with the utmost of caution.

Furthermore, it is extremely likely that the slightest whisper of our actions will lead to Echo moving against us in kind. We will have teams vigilantly watching the area for anything he might try to pull, but ideally, you will be able to move without him being any the wiser. I know this is a lot to put on you all, but BAINE has never faced an enemy quite like this. And with Homeworld's arrival growing more likely by the day, we do not have time to leave this up to chance.

Each Fireteam will be deployed to a different location, where they will rendezvous with an agent. From there, you will be sent the first area of interest via a closed channel. Slowly clearing out sites where he might be hiding, we will gradually lock him into place, before moving in for the kill. I shouldn't have to remind you that Echo is an incredibly devious foe–he's had almost six thousand years to prepare for a moment like this, and he has been watching BAINE since before our founding. You must be careful not to not only alert him to your presence, but not to fall for any of his traps.

I wish there was more I could give you, some way I could help you better prepare for what lies ahead. But as of now, you are all on your own. You will have to rely on yourselves and each others' expertise now more than ever. Godspeed, ladies and gentlemen."

There were the words that echoed in the heads of Fireteam Victor as their plane took off. It resembled any other cargo plane, in part because it was–BAINE had simply arranged for a little extra cargo to be carried along. While deployments like this were nothing new, this was the first time any of them had been on such a long-term mission before. It could be weeks, even months, before they returned home.

December 20, 2017. Dubai, Saudi Arabia.

The flight touched down without issue, with no reason for anyone to give it a second glance. Bridge doubted they would happen to stumble across one of Echo's moles or informants all the way out here, but one could never be too careful. He and the others disembarked, unnoticed by the workers. As they made their way to the designated location, they were greeted by a familiar face.

"If it isn't my second-favorite American!" Farouk said cheerfully. He walked over, clapping his hand on Bridge's shoulder. "It's too bad you're here on business, otherwise I'd show you around!"

Bridge just coughed awkwardly. "Yes, we'd better get going. I'm sure you know what we're up against."

He nodded, leading the team out of sight to a spot outside of the city. "There's a safe house out here that'll be our temporary base," he informed them. "Some basic provisions and equipment, but I have to warn you, we'll be travelling light."

"Nothing we haven't prepared for," said Luke. "...Jeez, it's hot out. How are you not melting right now?"

Taking a drink of water, Hester didn't seem to be bothered by the heat, though she was sweating as much as the rest of them. "I've always wanted to go to Dubai," she said, looking over at the skyscrapers in the distance. "Maybe when this is all over, we can come back here for a night on the town."

"I'd be down," Ichigo said. "Here's hoping we survive that long, eh, James?"

James was focused solely on what was in front of him. "What? Oh, yeah, 'course." He glanced over at Vargas, who stuck out like a sore thumb in his Quartzbreaker armor. Hopefully, with everyone cooped up together for who knows how long, cabin fever wouldn't cause any problems…