A/N: The author has edited this story to correct a research failure. Air Base Dugan is now and always has been located in Tashkent, Uzbekistan, instead of Ashgabat, Turkmenistan - as Ashgabat is two thousand kilometres from Bishkek and Turkmenistan does not share a border with Kyrgyzstan. Echo Nine plays fairly fast and loose with reality, but there is a limit!
We Will Stop Them
This is James Seabury, reporting with the BNN Warfront Team from the Battle of Bishkek. We've been granted exclusive access to a Chinese supply centre at the city's train station, from which the PLA claims they will distribute desperately-needed aid to the war-torn civilian population. As you can hear, the sound of gunfire and explosions is constant, even deep within what I'm assured is safe territory.
In a few moments we'll speak to our- dear God!
[A loud explosion, and the crash of a collapsing wall. Gunfire and screams. The feed cuts off for a few minutes, then turns back on to reveal a reddened, pox-scarred face with dark, feverish eyes, partially hidden beneath a brown scarf.]
Hello there! Doctor Thrax here, making a little house call, heh-heh.
Your spies are being kept for observation. I've got just the medicine for their disease. I'd advise you to be a little more careful with your bombs from now on - understand, General Liang! General Townes! You never know which structures my new patients will be in!
Don't worry though - your own dose is coming, very soon.
[The view switches to a close-up of James Seabury, gagged and blindfolded, standing in front of a large missile. A green skull and crossbones stenciled on the missile hovers over Seabury's head, the international symbol for poison.]
All foreign forces: you have two days to end your invasion and flee my territory in defeat. Otherwise, your prognosis will become terminal.
-Hostage video sent to ARC, BCTV, BNN, and WWN by the GLA.
November 7th, 1995 - Tashkent, Uzbekistan, USA Air Base Dugan, 1200 hours
General Townes loved Command Centres.
Life was messy, life on the battlefield doubly so. All the fire and dust, the emotions and chatter, it cluttered up the proper analysis a General needed to strategize effectively. The systems of Air Base Dugan's Command Centre assigned order to the chaos, meaning to the noise.
Tidy grids of monitors dominated the central Control Room, pulsing with data and statistics. Every scrap of available strategic information was processed here, from drone feeds over Bishkek to maps of Chinese troop movements to graphs of Aldastan's estimated GDP. The analysts staffing the monitors had been handpicked by General Townes, just as he had personally directed the upgrades to the Command Centre after taking command of Air Base Dugan. 'Pinpoint' prided himself on having documented a ten percent increase in efficiency.
The best of his analysts was in Townes' office now, setting up for the impending videoconference. Lieutenant Eva Lee had already drawn the blind over the window overlooking the Control Room, and had commlinks ready for the big screen dominating the wall across from his desk. Young, blonde, upbeat, and with a presentation as sharp as her mind, Lee had never let him down.
There were three monitors on the General's gray composite desk, each displaying different data. One showed the GLA's hostage video, showing proof of life for famed BNN news anchor James Seabury as well as his cameraman, assistant, and driver. The second monitor showed the neat, precise sketch of Dr. Thrax's alleged main base in the mountains outside the city, complete with measurements provided by Kulov, the GLA engineer Echo Nine had debriefed.
The final monitor displayed casualty projections, estimating the impact of sarin-loaded Scud missiles raining down on Bishkek, or on China's nearest base, or on Russian forces in Kazakhstan, or on Air Base Dugan itself. The numbers were grim, although Townes was confident his prototype laser defenses could zap the obsolete Scuds out of the sky if they flew his way. The other prospective targets would not be as lucky.
"General, we're ready," Lee said. She took her seat off to the side, ready to record the call. A lot would be decided in this room.
Townes checked his digital watch. "Forty seconds early. Not bad, Lee."
"Thank you, sir." She smiled brightly.
Precision was important. Townes used the extra time to double-check his own presentation: dark green uniform neatly crisp, officer's cap straight and correct on his head, round glasses clean, and an appropriately commanding look on his pale, angular face. The General did not initialize the call a moment early or late. And thankfully, at least one of the attendees was on time.
Captain James Solomon appeared on the left-hand side of the main monitor, connecting from his own little office aboard the Rorqual. Townes had mostly adjusted to seeing the former Cadet in a tan GDI uniform, instead of the West Point grays he'd worn in the General's lecture hall.
"Captain. I hear you've been trying to talk to me for a while now," Townes said. "Well, here I am."
"Good to see you, General. I think we're close to ending this thing."
Solomon looked pleased with himself. As well he should, after humiliating the famed Colonel Burton twice in as many days. Townes had stopped tracking his former pupil's career after the Sinai Massacre, but clearly Solomon had bounced back. His so-called 'fact-finding mission' had raised Hell deep behind enemy lines, and returned with game-changing intelligence.
Lee glanced down at her own screen. "No signal from General Liang's Command Centre yet, sir."
Townes snorted. "It's a cheap power play, Lieutenant. Tigress thinks keeping us waiting puts her in charge. Let's get started with a situation upda-"
"Sorry, General. General Liang is connecting now."
Townes suppressed a growl.
The face that appeared on the screen next to Solomon's was most definitely not General Liang. Fresh-faced and bright-eyed, with her uniform neat and her dark hair tightly bound in a tidy bun, Lieutenant Zhong Lin looked ready to staff a PLA recruitment booth.
"Good afternoon General, Captain," she said. "My General sends her regrets for being unable to attend this important call with China's valued allies. A fresh crisis has arisen requiring her full attention."
Townes clasped his hands in front of him. "Are you referring to the abduction of the BNN news team, Lieutenant?"
"Unfortunately not."
A new image appeared on the screen, beneath Zhong and Solomon: file photos of Scud ballistic missiles, each one more than eleven metres long and weighing over fourteen thousand pounds. Their pointed tips were painted a toxic green, like poisoned arrowheads.
"We've confirmed that the GLA has at least nine long-range Scud missiles operational, armed with sarin nerve gas and capable of reaching Chinese territory. In addition to his deadline for troop withdrawals, Doctor Thrax has threatened to launch the missiles if any attempt is made to rescue the BNN captives."
"And he's using the four hostages as human shields," observed Solomon, his voice grave.
"It's a double defense." Townes stroked his chin. "Can't attack the missiles without risking the hostages. Can't rescue the hostages or he'll launch the missiles. And he'll launch anyway if we don't meet his demands."
"Obviously China cannot tolerate another gas attack on our people," Zhong continued. "Fortunately, General Liang has been authorized to take decisive action to destroy this threat. We predict that Doctor Thrax, his missiles, and most of his base will be eliminated by a single well-placed tactical nuclear strike, delivered via-"
Townes was out of his seat before he realized his legs were moving. His voice overlapped with Captain Solomon's and even Lieutenant Lee's, all protesting -
"But that will kill all the hostages-"
"-risk civilian casualties, not to mention the radiation-"
"-absolutely unacceptable!"
"Please understand," Zhong said patiently, her face placid, her voice pleasant. "China cannot risk thousands of our people for the sake of only four foreign hostages. The decision has already been made. You are being informed as a courtesy, out of respect for our alliance against terrorism. We will launch within the hour."
Townes pointed at her.
"Now you listen to me, Lieutenant. The President of the United States has personally instructed me to ensure that those hostages are brought home safely. We will not allow American citizens to be treated as expendable!"
"Your cooperation is appreciated, but your permission is not required," Zhong said evenly. "China's forces do not answer to you, General Townes."
"You launch that nuke, and my lasers will swat it straight out of the sky."
Dead silence. Zhong stared blankly at him for five long seconds. Beside her on the screen, Solomon grimaced.
"Excuse me please, General."
Zhong vanished from the call. Townes straightened his uniform as he sat back down, smirking to Lieutenant Lee.
"That's how it's done, Eva. Having the biggest stick and knowing when and how to-"
A new face appeared from the Chinese side of the call. It was not Lieutenant Zhong.
Earlier in the year, BNN had run a fulsome profile on General Liang Mei, calling her 'the most powerful woman in Asia'. The Tigress looked the part on camera.
General Liang appeared onscreen with her camera tilted upwards at her face, which was dramatically lit. In addition, a large red Chinese flag covered the wall behind her, its golden stars hovering over her right shoulder. The effect was to make China's top-ranked General resemble a giant looming over the other participants, backed by the symbol of Chinese pride.
Townes knew that in person, Liang was actually below average height - precisely five feet, in fact. But he could admit that her face was imposing. She had the flawless features of a Mandopop diva and the eyes of a conqueror, dark and shining beneath asymmetrically-parted hair with artful bangs slashing downwards over her right eye. Liang's blue uniform was a parade of honours and awards: Medal of Combat Mission, Medal of Peace Mission, Medal of Guarding the Frontiers, Medal of Taiwanese Reunification, the Order of the Dragon, even an Order of Topolov from allied Russia, alongside a battalion of service ribbons.
"Ah, General," he began, but Liang immediately cut him off with a swelling voice that rolled over his own, her English flawless.
"General Townes. Any interference with China's self-defense will be considered an act of war. My forces outnumber yours five to one, and your reinforcements are on the other side of the world. Reconsider your position, before you anger me."
Townes gaped for a moment, leaning back in his chair as though shoved.
"You can't seriously be willing to risk starting a world war over this-"
"To protect China, I am willing to win a world war," she said, running over him again. "It would be a simple matter to drop an artillery strike on your base's electric grid. Without power, your precious American technology will be useless. Do not test me, 'Pinpoint.'"
His hands curled into fists on his desk.
"If you do that, you'd better factor in a hit on my runways too," Townes warned. "Otherwise a flight of supersonic Auroras will be visiting your Command Centre with a special armour-piercing package, just for you. So don't you test me, 'Tigress.'"
"A losing strategy. From a commander with an intellectual reputation, it's embarrassing to see you act so foolishly."
"I've drawn a line in the sand, General. Do you really want to cross it?"
Solomon burst out laughing.
The noise startled Townes. His entire world had shrunk to just the contest of wills between him and Liang, his vision narrowed to her glaring face. Captain Solomon's harsh, booming laughter burst into his focused thoughts, bringing him back to where he was: in his Command Centre, in his office, with Lieutenant Lee, who looked deeply concerned by how close this strategy call was to global war.
"Is something amusing, Captain Solomon?" The Tigress' voice could have caused frostbite.
"Sorry, General," he said, getting himself under control. "Just laughing at myself, really. I came here thinking that Doctor Thrax was just another two-bit maniac with delusions of grandeur… but I've underestimated him. He's played everyone here, including two of the world's greatest Generals, like a cheap fiddle on a street corner."
"Explain yourself, Captain," Townes demanded.
"This is his plan," said Solomon, gesturing to the two Generals. "Not the gas. Not the hostages. Everything from the attack in Beijing to this moment has been about setting the USA up against China. Millions will die all over the world, and the GLA will have lots of new failed states to take over, just like Aldastan.
"All because when a terrorist threatened everyone, two of the smartest people-" his gesture became two pointing fingers. "-in two of the greatest militaries from two of the greatest nations on the planet decided to have a pissing match instead of working together."
It had been a long, long time since anyone had spoken to General Leonard Townes this way. Especially someone with the rank of Captain, especially someone not wearing a USA uniform.
But Solomon wasn't wrong.
"I am a reasonable person, Captain." Liang's voice had risen a few degrees in temperature. "If you have other options to suggest, now is the time."
"My team got you the details on Thrax's hideout," Solomon said. "And we can do more. We'll infiltrate the GLA base, locate the hostages, and disable the missiles. When we give the signal, both your forces can drop the hammer and end this madness once and for all."
Townes snorted. "You're seriously going to do all that with a team of five people? Six, counting the GLA member? Forget it, Solomon."
He shook his head, and took a deep breath.
"General Liang, I propose sending in Colonel Burton and his Special Forces. They're experts in hostage rescue."
"But not in disarming chemical weapons," Liang pointed out. "While Black Lotus is unmatched in that field, as well as infiltration. And I remind you that Colonel Burton's recent missions have fared badly."
Partly because you set him up as a distraction to launch your invasion, Townes thought.
But going down that road would just lead them back to where they'd been a minute ago, moments away from ordering strikes against each other's bases.
Privately, Townes thought Burton was a buffoon, clinging to his glory days in the field instead of acting his age and his rank. For all his fame and bluster, Burton hadn't delivered Thrax as promised, spending his energy pressing grudges against China or the UN. War hero or not, there were reasons that Colonel Burton hadn't been invited to this conference.
"Use my team as scouts," Solomon urged. "We'll get the intel you need for Burton's troops to hit the right buildings and extract the hostages safely. Black Lotus is everyone's best shot at handling those missiles, too."
Townes ran a hand over his chin, analyzing the situation. He could see in Liang's eyes that she was doing the same.
James Seabury was a household name in the United States, and generally speaking, the American people did not like it when their celebrities got decapitated or turned radioactive, especially not on TV. Such a humiliating display would devastate President Fielding's political capital, which Townes knew full well was the real reason he'd been ordered to rescue the hostages alive at all costs. If the GLA had captured four anonymous local civilians, the USA would have already bombed the base to rubble without blinking an eye at the cost.
Yet on a strategic level, the Tigress was right. Risking a nerve gas attack to save four people was absurd. Risking war with China over it was an outright strategic blunder, and Townes hated strategic blunders.
In Townes' analysis, leaving the Allied Forces after the GLA attack on New York had been a long-overdue course correction for American foreign policy. By acting independently, Americans could pursue their own security interests and ignore the quagmires of the Allies' endless crusade against Communism.
President Fielding had been elected with the promise to restore American pride after the Allied-backed debacle in Mexico, and his administration had adamantly focused on hunting down terrorists instead of fighting Europe's interminable Cold War. Townes knew that antagonizing China would jeopardize all that progress.
China hadn't attacked New York. The GLA had.
General Townes steepled his fingers in front of him, and made his decision.
"If you're discovered, we risk a launch and losing the hostages," he said. "But I can position a quick-reaction force of Avenger laser vehicles to intercept the missiles, and have Burton's Achilles unit on standby if the hostages are in jeopardy."
"Which carries the same risks if those forces are discovered," General Liang cut in.
"Not if the QRF doesn't seem like a threat," said Solomon. "The GLA loves tricks and traps - let's use that to our advantage this time. Make it look like we're off on a wild goose chase nearby, hunting them in the wrong spot. The enemy won't pull the trigger if they don't realize the forces are really aimed their way."
Liang smiled, and raised an eyebrow.
"You impress me, Captain. We'll arrange a suitable diversion. But I insist on one final contingency, to ensure China's security."
"That seems fair, General," Solomon said.
"Our strategic bombers will be on station, high above the enemy base," Liang dictated. "The moment we detect a launch beginning, they will be ordered to commence full carpet bombing of the area."
She paused and looked to Townes, as though daring him to object.
"With tactical nuclear warheads."
"That will kill the hostages and my team," Solomon protested. Townes and Lee exchanged glances.
"In that case, Captain, you'd best ensure that you succeed," Liang said with a small, cold smile.
Frowning thoughtfully, General Townes idly tapped at his keyboard. Chinese cyberwarfare was supposedly top-notch, but he was confident that they couldn't intercept the message he had sent to Lieutenant Lee.
Get REVELATION ready to activate. We're going to need it.
"This op's codename is Operation Caduceus," Captain Solomon said an hour later, in the Rorqual's briefing room. "We're assuming that Thrax's deadline is meaningless - he could launch anytime. So we do this fast, and we do it right. If we fail, a lot of people are dead."
Another hasty mission, Black Lotus thought, as she scrutinized Adilet's paper map of Thrax's base, spread out on the big table. Short planning, no training.
Perhaps this would simply be standard procedure while she was with the GDI team. It was a discouraging thought.
"According to Adilet, this base is defended by Thrax's best forces," Solomon continued. "We're looking at fortified buildings guarded by hundreds of veteran fighters, armed with armour-piercing bullets and upgraded rockets. There's tunnels and booby traps everywhere, plus multiple Stinger Sites surrounding the perimeter. Then you add in armoured vehicles and of course, chemical and biological weapons."
He paused, swept the room with his gaze, taking each team member's eyes in his own. His rich voice swelled with the confidence of someone who knew how to inspire.
"It won't be easy, but I know we can do it."
"Just get me to the launch assembly," Black Lotus said, pointing at the map, indicating the big square structure in the South of the base. "I'll hack the missile systems and give us control of their weapons. Mister Kulov will guide me."
She nodded to Adilet, who returned the gesture from the far end of the table,
Toyama frowned. "He's a civilian."
"Adilet's volunteered," Solomon said firmly. "He knows the base, and he knows the enemy. He goes."
"All right, but just how the fuck are any of us gonna get there?" Keller objected, arms crossed. "It's over thirty klicks away from the city. Bit iffy just drivin' up to the front door."
"Sounds like a question for a military liaison," Solomon said. "Ben?"
Standing beside his brother, Ben 'King' Solomon looked out of place. Along with his always-present silver shades, he still wore US Army fatigues instead of the GDI tan worn by everyone else on the plane (excepting Lotus herself with her eternal blue coat). Recent events had left him less than welcome within Colonel Burton's unit, and Captain Solomon had happily offered Ben a spot on the Rorqual, coordinating between the UN 'fact-finding' team and USA forces.
"General Townes is loaning us a stealth Nighthawk," King said. "Can you fly a helicopter, or do you just do big yellow cargo planes?"
That put a gold-toothed smile on Keller's face. "I can fly anything. Nighthawk's an older bird, but she'll do fine. Just get me a decent weather map, wouldya? Some tricky winds around those mountains…"
"On it." Lotus already had her laptop open and was calling up meteorological databases. She'd get Keller the information he needed to fly them in.
"Stopping the missiles is the primary objective," Captain Solomon continued. "Secondary objective is locating the four BNN hostages. Smart money says Thrax will divide them between key structures as human shields. We're expecting that Lotus will find some at the Scud launch site."
He pointed at the map, indicating the next-largest structure, right in the heart of the base.
"To find the rest, we need to hit Thrax's Command Centre. If they aren't there, their location will be."
"Storming a terrorist headquarters? Sounds fun," Parker grinned. "I call dibs."
"Not so fast," Solomon said. "The hostages will need medical attention - that means Toyama goes to the Command Centre, with Ben escorting her. The two of them will also rig the tunnels beneath the Command Centre so that this time, Thrax doesn't slip away."
King and Toyama nodded to each other from across the table, while Solomon pointed at the rocky hills surrounding the enemy position.
"Parker, I need your sniping in overwatch over the base. You'll cover the rest of us in and out."
Lotus kept her face professionally neutral. Inwardly, she recalled the last time Parker had been trusted with providing sniper support. He'd abandoned his position to go on an unauthorized rampage, leaving Burton's team pinned down.
"Babysitting, huh?" Parker leaned over the map, examining the terrain. Doctor Thrax's base had been built within a bowl-shaped depression amongst the mountains, surrounded by rocks and trees. It provided concealment, but also offered a buffet of firing positions for a sniper shooting down into the base and its numerous targets. He grinned again. "Oh yeah. I can definitely do that."
Adilet, sitting off to the side from the rest of the group, said something in Russian. Black Lotus translated for him.
"Mister Kulov asks that we also protect the workers at the base's Supply Centre," she said, pointing at a smaller L-shaped building to the North of the Command Centre. "Most of them are conscripted civilians, like he was."
"We can do that," Lieutenant Toyama put in. "We'll mark civilian targets with infrared strobes. That way, our allies will be careful when we signal for the main attack."
"Beauty," said Keller. "So I fly us in low and quiet, and drop you all in the bush to the West, around here." He indicated a clearing West of the base. "Then you split up, fuck their shit, come back with the civvies, I fly everyone home for a cuppa."
The Solomon brothers exchanged glances at Keller's colourful language, but Captain Solomon nodded. "That's basically correct. I'll be aboard the chopper with you, coordinating the op. But if things go wrong, we might need you to fly into the base for a fast extraction."
Keller smirked a little. "Nighthawk's got a fucking chain gun, boss. I'll get 'em out, all right."
"There's something else," Lotus said, and looked at Parker. "This is the final phase of Doctor Thrax's plan. He will use every asset he has. In this battle, we must expect to face Jarmen Kell."
"Hell yeah." Parker held up a clenched fist. "I owe that guy a bullet."
"Sounds like a sniper duel," King observed. He looked doubtful, but Parker just seemed pumped up.
"Is he as good as they say?" Parker asked. "Did he really take down a helicopter with one shot?"
"Kell is the best in the world," Lotus said, trying to burn away the young man's attitude with her eyes. "You must take this man seriously, Parker. He's more experienced and more familiar with the area. He will defeat us if you don't stop him."
"Hey, don't sweat it." Parker started to say something else, but the look on Lotus' face stopped him. "You sure you don't want him for yourself after Beijing?"
"He's nothing to me. The mission is all that matters." She held Parker's green eyes a moment longer, then turned back to her laptop. "I'll give you the best information I can find on his tactics. You should study it carefully, Lance Corporal."
Parker surprised her then. He came around the table, and knelt down next to where she was sitting. Not getting in her space, not making any wisecracks, just looking at her.
"Lotus. I promise. I'll take him out."
"Good," she said. "Too much is depending on us."
Solomon stood back from the table, looking satisfied. "Good talk, people. If no one's got any more questions, we've got a lot to do and no time to do it in."
He surveyed his team again with his steady, commanding eyes.
"We all know who the GLA are and what they've done. Everyone here has seen their brutality firsthand. They say they're liberating the world, but they're nothing but criminals. Let's hit 'em hard and show them what real soldiers look like."
Lotus frowned, feeling objection itching in her. She remembered the last time she had questioned a superior. She had overruled the Tigress' plan to destroy the GLA cell in Beijing with an incendiary airstrike, deciding to take them down herself. Over five hundred people had died afterward, and Black Lotus had been banished to GDI's experimental team of misfits.
But more would die now if she didn't speak. Their last mission had edged on the brink of disaster, with considerably smaller odds and much less at stake. This one would be harder - much harder. She stood up from her laptop.
"Captain Solomon." Lotus slipped into a formal posture, chin lifted with hands behind her back, hidden behind her blue coat. "We know that if we're detected, the enemy will immediately launch their missiles, with catastrophic consequences. Therefore, we should take every possible measure to not be detected."
He raised an eyebrow. "With you so far, Agent Lotus."
She took a breath. "On our previous mission, you vetoed the tactic of impersonating GLA members. You said that even as a secret unit, we must still act like soldiers. I respectfully disagree. We are not soldiers."
Lotus looked around at the gang around the table. Keller was an ex-military contractor. Adilet was a civilian with ties to a terrorist group. Lotus herself was a spy in civilian costume. Toyama and Solomon were disgraced peacekeepers cast aside by their countries, and Parker would be on his way to prison now if Solomon hadn't recruited him. Aside from King, no one on Echo Nine wore the uniform of a legitimate national military.
"Our team is secret because it is illegal. General Sheppard has no authority to form a black ops unit, but he did it anyway- because it was necessary for the world. We are GDI's poison dagger, working in the shadows, more assassins than soldiers. We must act accordingly, or we will fail. And we should start with dressing ourselves as the GLA to infiltrate their base."
"Excuse me, but that's perfidy," Toyama objected. "A war crime."
"It is," Solomon allowed. "And those rules exist for good reason."
He paused, looking between Toyama and Lotus. His eyes landed on Lotus.
"But with the stakes this high, we've got to bend the rules a little," the Captain said. "We'll do it your way, Lotus."
Lotus blinked for a moment. She had fully expected to be shut down. But aside from Toyama's frown, the rest of Echo Nine was nodding along with her words. It took her a moment to remember to sit back down.
There were no more stirring speeches from the Captain. He told the team to get to work readying Operation Caduceus to launch at a moment's notice.
While the rest of Echo Nine dispersed, Lotus stayed in the briefing room, working on her laptop with Adlet's map spread in front of her. She was focused on her work, but not so much she couldn't overhear the Solomon brothers just outside the room.
"So that's Black Lotus," King was saying. "I like her."
"Because she got me to change my mind on something?"
"Damn straight."
Captain Solomon chuckled with a warmth Lotus hadn't heard from him before. She had marked Solomon as a gracious man from the moment she first met him, but he seemed especially uplifted now with his brother aboard the Rorqual.
"I'm looking forward to this," King added. "This is what I always wanted, Jim. The Solomon boys, side-by-side, storming the walls together."
"We'll knock 'em dead, Ben."
The brothers moved out of earshot, and Lotus refocused her mind on summarizing the decades-long career of Jarmen Kell, legendary mercenary, in terms that Lance Corporal Nick Parker could use to kill him.
She began organizing a chronology of Kell's recorded activities, starting from his rumoured origins in the Kazakh Civil War, to the spectacular 1988 assassination in Damascus that made him a legend among the GLA, on to the Baikonur Incident where he slipped away from Colonel Burton, right up to today's Battle of Bishkek. Including the attack in Beijing, where he had disgraced Black Lotus and killed over five hundred people.
Just as she was arranging her sources, a call came in over her laptop's commlink. Lotus was surprised to see it was from a secure channel of the People's Liberation Army. She had not heard a word from her comrades since Beijing.
"Comrade Lotus," Lieutenant Zhong's voice spoke into her earpiece, inaudible to anyone else in the room. "General Liang will speak to you."
"I'm listening." Lotus almost stammered, but managed to discipline herself. It felt deeply good to hear and speak Chinese again, after days surrounded by English speakers.
(Lieutenant Toyama had tried to learn some basic Chinese phrases to make her feel welcome, but her efforts had been so embarrassing that Lotus had dissuaded her as politely but firmly as she could.)
"Agent." Lotus automatically straightened up at the first word from the Tigress. "I hear that you've done well with your time as a 'technical consultant' for the United Nations' little unit."
"Thank you, General."
"In light of your work and the evolving situation, I am willing to forgive your previous error," Liang said. "China needs the Black Lotus. After this battle, you will return to your prior duties, answering to me personally. Together, we will ensure China's future."
She could come home. She could stop living on an airplane, surrounded by foreigners who didn't talk or look like her. She could stop working with a handful of amateurs planning impossible missions on the fly, and rejoin the disciplined, professional, and competent ranks of China's forces. She wouldn't have to deal with Solomon's speeches, Toyama's sentimentality, Parker's immaturity, or Keller's foul mouth any longer.
She would feel happy about this when she was less busy, surely.
"Before you can return, there is one more task you must complete," the General continued.
"Disarming the missiles," Lotus said. "Leave it to me."
"On the contrary, in fact. I need you to fail the objective."
Lotus stared at her laptop.
"General?"
"You will reach the missiles and begin reprogramming them. But tragically, you will be unable to halt the launch in time." The Tigress spoke plainly, but with unquestionable authority. "The Scuds will be launched westwards into Uzbekistan, where they will bypass General Townes' laser defences during a power failure caused by GLA sabotage. The missiles will strike and destroy American Air Base Dugan.
"China will of course provide aid to our American allies after this terrible attack… which will permanently weaken their influence in the region."
Black Lotus sat very still, listening to her own breathing, keeping her face carefully controlled. Lieutenant Toyama passed through the room carrying her medical bag, and gave her a friendly smile and a wave, bearing no visible grudge about the outcome of the meeting. Lotus gave her a very measured nod back.
She understood the General's strategy, of course. Solomon had told them about the near-catastrophe that had arisen during the earlier call with General Townes, and China had long been skeptical of USA military bases so close to their borders. After today, it was clear that the Americans would be an obstacle to China's interests in Central Asia. And General Liang always dealt with obstacles to China's interests in a very particular manner.
The Tigress' plan would destroy both the GLA and the Americans in Aldastan. Leaving the People's Republic free to reshape the region and ensure China's security and prosperity for years to come.
"Tell me you understand, Agent Lotus."
She realized the General was waiting for her to speak, and cursed herself for the slip-up.
"I understand, General. I take it then, that nuclear weapons will not fall on our heads when the missiles launch?"
"Of course not," Liang assured her. "Communications breakdowns do happen in the heat of battle. Matters are already arranged. I wouldn't want to vapourize my most valuable agent."
Lotus wondered about that. While Liang did not spend lives as casually as some other Generals she could name, Agent Lotus had always known that she was ultimately an expendable asset. And her death would eliminate one of the only witnesses to Liang's plan, the truth of which could be devastating to both China's interests and the Tigress' famous career. Lotus also wondered if this plan had been approved by anyone in Beijing… or if the Tigress had become used to answering only to her own legend.
But all that wondering didn't change that this was a direct order. And her only way home.
Liang must have taken her silence as acquiescence, because she kept speaking. "Succeed in this task, and you'll return to China as an honoured hero with a bright future. But if you fail me for a second time, there will be no third."
The General cut the call without another word, leaving Black Lotus to stare at her laptop, alone with her thoughts - and her choices.
She had only a few hours to decide what she would do when the time came. And Echo Nine had only a few hours to ready themselves for what would be the decisive engagement of the Central Asian War.
A/N: In Zero Hour, James Seabury is very clearly British. This story assumes he has dual US citizenship.
Next time: the confrontation at Doctor Thrax's hideout! Thank you very much for reading this far.