Eclipse - Act 4 - Cycle's End

Chapter 18 - Return to the Atlesian Wildlands

"I take it I missed something then?" He inquired.

The Deacon filled him in on everything, from Amara's involvement in springing the Deacon against Jaune in the first place without him knowing, all the way to her planning to take full control of the Legion from him and Dutch.

Hearing the truth left Cardin dumbfounded. "Fuck."

"Yeah. Fuck." The Deacon sighed, clasping his cybernetic hands together, looking across the room at Cardin where he was now sitting.

"Okay then... what's the play? We going for the Prez now?" Cardin asked.

"We leave it to Dutch. He knows how to play this game better than any of us. Hopefully, this can be resolved with no further violence." The Deacon explained.

"And Jaune?" Cardin inquired, but the Deacon was quiet.

"I... I don't know anymore. I'm still angry. I still want him to be punished for his actions... but I see now that I fucked up. That I've only made things so much worse, especially becoming an unknowing pawn in someone else's game." He sighed.

"Fuck... if I knew this... shit man, I'm sorry." Cardin apologised.

"Just please don't go wandering off again, huh? Politics is annoying enough as it is, let alone when it's as suspicious as this." The Deacon huffed.

"You have my word." Cardin promised.

Suddenly the door opened once again, and Dutch walked past Neo, who was sitting cross-legged in a comfy beanbag, caressing Roman's hat in her hands. Walking beside him was Eryka, and the Deacon could tell that Dutch had something juicy to share, especially after Eryka locked the door behind her. "You got something?" The Deacon asked.

"You tell me, ever heard of this project in Heimdall's Lab? Because I never cleared it, and the encryption is more advanced than anything else I've seen on her files over the many times I've combed through them." Dutch explained. Cardin raised a brow.

"You've hacked the President before?" He asked.

"She's the President, of course I did." Dutch casually responded, making the Gladiator chuckle. The Deacon picked up Dutch's datapad and stared at it, seeing most of the information was unreadable, except for the title of the archive of information.

"Project P.N.K.O? That's news to me." The Deacon admitted.

"Thought as much." Dutch agreed. "Seems like the Prez is hiding more from us than I thought, and with encryption levels of that scale? She has some powerful friends on her side... it'll take some careful mining for me to find anything out about this project." Dutch explained, and Neo approached quietly from behind.

"Can't be good though, nobody encrypts something that much if it's good, especially when you have information available to you on the Brother of Darkness' Horn." Cardin explained.

"Precisely. I've had a few theories, but guesses are moot until I can get it open. Keep your eyes peeled and be ready for anything. I got a few pings on my end. Someone is trying to access my files once again, and I think I know why." Dutch explained, and the Deacon sighed.

"The Safehouse..." The Deacon said, looking at him. Dutch looked right back, clearly still not trusting him either on where his Safehouses were. "I told you, I'm not going after Jaune now. I'm focusing on this. And besides, I never wanted his family involved." The Deacon explained, Dutch didn't say anything in response to that. He also was focusing on the big problem right now.

"What about the big dog?" The Pink Haired Girl asked, resting her arm on Neo's shoulder.

"The Hound you mean?" Dutch replied. "Still no sign, but I have my scouts searching for it as we speak. It had to have landed somewhere, and when we find it, we'll be hot on the trail. I know Winter's team has already departed for the Atlesian Wildlands. I pray they'll find some information there. A Grimm leaving the Atlesian Wildlands for the first time in history... Jaune's family attacked... and now President Amara making her move? I didn't expect my week to get so hectic so quickly." Dutch groaned, pinching the bridge of his nose tiredly.