Sigma/Star

Chapter 112: Return to Beijing Part 2

"By the spirit of Ishiyama," Ling Shi gasped, falling back into his seat as though he had fainted. "And you just forgot to mention that the last time you came here?"

"I didn't know any of the other things until now and...we weren't exactly close back then." Porter's eyes moved around his companions, searching for support in their faces. "Anyways, the point is that we have one of the Enigma Soldiers with us now, and nobody else does. Meanwhile the Jahari have been tearing through the Earth, taking over entire cities and-"

Ling Shi held up a finger, silencing Porter. His smile was edging across his face, pulling wider with every second. "From the sounds of things, you're quite upset that your entire government, among other governments, were willing to betray their own people, and the rest of the world, to get an edge in a global war. And so you got upset, you have an Enigma soldier, you show up in Beijing..." Ling Shi's sentence drifted off before he suddenly smashed his fist down onto the table. "You want my help don't you! Ha! You come all the way out here to this wonderful country, looking for your old pal Ling Shi, to see if you can recruit the Jade Fang like you're playing with some kind of loaded hand."

Porter gulped. The last time he had seen Ling Shi react like this, and begin to formulate his own plans, he had ended up running from the library with a massive Goliath trying to crush him. "So then," Ling Shi kept talking, placing his hands together behind his head and leaning back, "why would you think the I would just want to say 'Oh yes sir!' to you and loan you my entire organization just because you figured out what we already knew and have been fighting for for years?"

"You knew all that?" It was Porter's turn to shoot forward in disbelief.

"Well, not the specific details with the Jahari and androids and stuff, but the corruption, the corruption stuff, you know." Ling Shi waved his hand in the air, as if shooing away the doubt could be physically achieved.

Porter held up two fingers to symbolize answers for Ling Shi to consider. "First, we're pilots of Goliaths. You've never had Goliaths behind you in your riots. Kind of makes them a bit different." It was Porter's turn to take on a more cocky demeanour, a swagger he was bringing out only to counter Ling Shi's. "Second, we've got Chandana."

"Uh Porter." Ardwen leaned over and began to whisper into the teen's ear. "We don't know if we have Chandana. Rick left the same time we did, and we don't have any of our communication equipment for Sigma to contact us with. Ling Shi took it when they brought us down here." The pair glanced at the leader of the rebels before resuming the hushed conversation. "Besides, even if we did break Chandana out, who says she will definitely help us?"

"Ardwen, for a master strategist in war, you're not very good at bluffing and bartering are you?" Porter looked up at his friend, and the two pulled away, sitting up straight. "What do you say Ling?"

The jade tooth sat on the edge of Ling's lip. This was the first time the young man showed any signs of being under pressure. But it hadn't come from the mention of the Goliath support he would be receiving, but at the mention of the leader of the Red Scarf Gang. "You have Chandana?"

"We have Chandana."

"From prison?"

"So you know about her?"

Only the humming of the lights overhead could be heard in the room. Neither end of the table was speaking, and the awkward moment continued to grow as time wore on. "If you have Chandana, if you have the Red Scarf Gang, if you can get the Silver Lance, maybe even the Orange Dawn, then you're talking about a whole different game Porter."

"But it's the kind of game you've always wanted, isn't it?" The teenage pilot was clearly in command now, the power wrestled away from his captor now resting in his lap. "We want what you want now. we want the end of the wars, the end of these massive governments and this global corruption. We want to stop all-"

"You don't have to tell me my own group's beliefs." Ling Shi held up his palm to halt Porter. "This is a terrible time to fight the machine, you know that? You would like to bring down everything that has been built up at a time when coming together seems like the best way to save humanity. That's insane. I like insane, I really do, and I want to help you, particularly if you can get me face-to-face with Chandana, but you might be a bit too far off the deep end in this one."

"What if I told you I have two Enigma Soldiers?" Porter raised his fingers again to prove his point, holding them on the table. Ling Shi's green tooth gleamed in the light as his massive smile took over his face.

A/N: Porter puts all his cards on the table. Is this the step to a mass rebellion and salvation for the world, or a step towards chaos that will be humanity's downfall?