Into That Wild Blue Yonder

31. Storm On the Horizon

A hooded figure walked silently through the dark night, its way illuminated by a single gas lantern in hand. The sky above held no stars, no moon this night, for storm clouds loomed ominously overhead. The residents of Rainier remained indoors for it, though for some, the storm was their call to action.

The figure slipped into an alleyway and stopped at the end. In their own home, secrecy was necessary, for foreign forces poised a threat all over the globe. With a quick whip of the head to the left and right, the figure ensured they were alone and knocked three times on what appeared to be a stone wall. It echoed the sound of knocked wood, and the illusion protecting the door faded out of existence.

At eye level, a slat moved to the side, revealing two glowing, orange eyes with snake slits on the other side.

"Name," the eyes asked.

"Recon four, here to speak to the General Egon," the figure answered.

The snake-like eyes squinted, and the slat shut. The sound of multiple locks unlatching could be heard from the other side of the door, and moments later, it slid open to reveal another hooded figure. Recon four nodded as they passed the sentry and the door shut again behind them, reviving the illusion and hiding them once more.

Recon Four descended the dark stairwell into the abyssal catacombs of the city and entered a large antechamber. To either side, lines of acolytes knelt, praying that they may find the Pact-Maker and that he might strike a deal with one of them. Everyone had their own reasons for being here; some sought love, some fortune, some peace, and some even sought sanity. Whatever the reason, they were here, doing good work for their good cause.

At the end of the chamber, standing at a table with a map of the Freelands, a tall man, clad in ornate robes of blue and silver with a staff by his side overlooked the map with a scowl. As Recon Four approached, the man angrily threw several books to the side, shouting out his anger. No one in the room flinched an inch.

Recon Four knelt before the steps leading to the table.

"General," he said. "Recon Four, reporting in."

"You'd best have good news for me," General Egon replied. "I'm tired of these failures. Even the best will have no room for failure any longer."

"I come bearing information of interest," Recon Four said. General Egon turned around slowly to face him.

Recon Four glanced up to see the general's gnarled face and twisted skin, damaged from essence experiments gone awry and battles fought and won and lost. His anger seemed to dissipate, replaced with cautious skepticism, and he put his hands into the opposite sleeves as he looked down on his subordinate.

"Do tell, my child," he said.

"Our forces in Stiftung and Lakesville have taken severe hits," Recon Four said.

"The interest you speak of isn't sounding good," General Egon said, anger smoldering up.

"The individuals who eliminated them were not foreign forces or authorities," Recon Four said emotionlessly. He had learned to hide his fear long go. "They were killed by mercenary-types."

"And?" General Egon said. "You mean to say we have more enemies?"

"One of them may be from from the Order of One Way."

General Egon froze, eyes boring into Recon Four in disbelief. Slowly, as if the gravity of the information slowed time itself, the general stepped down toward Recon Four. When he reached his subordinate, he placed a hand on his shoulder and magically pulled him to his feet.

"There should be no survivors."

"There was one."

"Why would the Pact-Maker allow such a thing?" General Egon wondered aloud.

"I am not sure," Recon Four said. "The sole survivor, Galactica, and the dragon bard work together now, searching for the fragments of the map that will bring them back to the monastery."

"Truly?" General Egon said in shock. "This... this changes... everything."

General Egon turned around and ascended the steps to look at the map again, motioning for Recon Four to come with him. When Recon Four approached the table, he saw the map was marked all over with tacks of different colors, shapes, and sizes. He didn't understand any of it; this information was only privy to a select few besides the general himself.

"Sir..?"

"The Pact-Maker is connected to this boy, somehow, he must be" General Egon said. "I know it. He created the monastery for the founder of the Order. If we find him, we may finally find our salvation." Recon Four nodded his understanding.

"I will locate them, sir," Recon Four said.

"See that you do," General Egon said. "You won't be Recon Four any longer. You will be rewarded for this, Recon One."

"Thank you, sir," Recon One said.

"I'm most pleased, truly. Take your time to gather good information; all these rushers to please are failing me. I'm sick of it." General Egon pulled a large, black diamond from his sleeve and gave it to Recon One. "Make good use of them, for me."

"I shall, sir," Recon One said, taking the diamond under his hooded robe.

"Rest up, then off with you," General Egon said with a wave. "I have plans to make."

Recon One bowed and stepped back and off the platform and swiftly walked back to the stairwell and out of the chamber. As he exited, the snake-eyed man checked outside and opened the door, nodding to him as he walked out. Recon One nodded back as he left and didn't look back as the illusion resumed.

When he made some distance between himself and the headquarters, Recon One dipped into another alley with a fire escape and made his way to the rooftops. Once he was there, he looked around for any patrolling enforcers before continuing. With the area clear, he hopped from rooftop to rooftop to his usual spot with his stash, keeping quiet and unseen as he moved.

He arrived at his rooftop and pulled the tarp off his crate. From inside, he pulled out a large radio with a long wire antenna and set it up for maximum range. The setup was expensive and incredibly difficult to smuggle in, but that's what they trained him for.

"Gale Force, Forearm, checking in," he said.

"Send it."

"I've made contact with Gamma Echo. He's in Rainier, but he seems to move a bit. Took some time to get here."

"At least it's a rough location."

"I'll send a full report later. For now, we need to get Paladins here ASAP. No word on the status of Covenant networks beyond previous reports."

"Copy, we'll get word to them. Can you give any more info on opera-"

The connection exploded into static and the radio shorted. Recon One jolted back and fell on his rear, confusion across his face and panic setting in.

"Recon One... I'm disappointed. You had so much potential."

He didn't know where the voice came from. But moments later, his chest felt as if it were ripping open, and as the blood left his face and his eyes rolled back, the diamond in his robe grew hot and he fell to the ground. Underground, back in the antechamber, General Egon sighed.

"He served his purpose," he said. "Someone get me that gem back. I need to revive Recon Two's corpse to do some work."

The storm came, and as heavy rainfall slammed into the ground, so too, it slammed into one more soulless husk among many, which would remain on its rooftop to rot as so many before who had attempted to stop the madness.