Having gone from London Citybase to Pax, then to the forests and the Himalayas, I thought I had seen quite a lot of the world compared to the rest of my peers. But I wasn't prepared the wave of dry heat that hit me as I stepped foot on the temporary base the UGE had set up a fair distance away from the Egypt Citybase.
"Please, come this way." A soldier greeted us immediately and gestured for me to follow him. I wasn't sure whether he meant just me or everyone, but we all just followed him towards one of the bigger tents erected in the compound. A two person high wall had already been set up around the perimeter and electric fences on top are added, they really pulled out all the guns.
"General Kirkpatrick." The soldier saluted as he stepped inside the tent before moving out of our way. I eyed the two guards stationed outside the tent, unsure of what to make of them; would they stop me from going in?
"Bring them in." The General's voice boomed out and the guards sidestepped so the entrance to the tent was completely free of obstacle and I tentatively went in. The tent was much more spacious than I thought with a complete set of furniture. General Kirkpatrick was behind a table, reading some documents standing up while a few people at the table diagonally behind him was typing furiously into the computers in front of them. A few other people were milling around too, all bore the look of either scientists or dressed in military garb.
"Welcome to the command center Miss Beckett." The general greeted me and I nodded, Nirmal, Elena, Gerald and Viktor coming up behind m/ In the end, none of the older generations had decided to come, Grandpa Hugo had pulled me aside for a quick word before we left to assure me that it wasn't because they didn't believe that a cooperation between the UGE and SMS was a necessary evil. It was more to do with them finding it difficult to actually come to terms with it. He said that it was up to us now, and he and Lynette would hold them off our case when the time comes. If we all lived that long.
I couldn't help but shook my head a little at the memory. Couldn't they see that not making a move was just as bad as flat out refusing; if not even worst They would just say by idly while the world crumbles around them, refusing to take the one solution that was offered in their face because of pride.
"I see you have brought your lieutenants." General eyed the people behind me, and I wanted to tell him that they were my friends and allies, not my subordinates. However, he didn't give me the chance and carried on talking. "I am sure you remember what we discussed."
I nodded, looking down at the piece of paper he was smoothing over and gasped. Taking a closer step, I noted the scale at the bottom and the structure displayed in the seismic graph in front. I might not be a geologist, but since Elise's power was Earthquake waves she taught me a few things about the Earth's layers. And the structures detected in the map was definitely not natural.
"We have been monitoring the area since we recovered this graph." The General said, pointing at certain locations on another map. "There has been small level of activities and we have reasons to believe that there are more entrances that we have yet to find. While you are flying here, we received the results of the chemical tests."
My heart sank as the words chemical tests registered in my mind. "There are not only high levels of radioactive elements, but TNT and various poisonous substances that should be under strict control are detected as well. Whether or not the facility is the base of the Apolcaypse; the fact that we are now finding dangerous chemicals in a secret facility underground that is not under the sanction of the UGE or the SMS sets off an alarm bell."
"What do you propose we do?" I asked, knowing that the General must have had some kind of a plan, otherwise he wouldn't have flown us all out here. "Do you need us to do a reconnaissance run?"
"Actually, I suggest bombing the place." A young man dressed in a slightly different uniform appeared, coming into attention next to the General before speaking. My jaw dropped as I looked at the man, did he just say he wanted to bomb the entire underground compound?
"What about the innocent people that are held down there?" I asked, my voice rising as I struggled to control the rising panic in my mind. If this random man came up to us to suggest this notion, it must mean that this was already discussed among the higher ups around here. While I couldn't help but felt a smidge of admiration at the brilliance and simplicity of the plan, the fact that my friends and Mr. Andrewson might be held down there was like a choke hold around my neck.
"No!" Diego shouted at almost exactly the same time as me, but luckily someone must have restrainted him from further comments.
"But we don't even know what their plan is; destroying the base right now would mean that we might never find out." I reasoned quickly, hoping to cover up for Diego as the attention of the two men was focused back on me.
"I would have thought you will be overjoyed at this decision, Miss Beckett." General Kirkpatrick said, looking at me as though I was a particularly interesting report to study. "After all, you have been trying so hard to convince us to take this threat seriously. And now that we are, you are disagreeing with our decision."
"I am happy that you are taking this threat seriously." I echoed his language, trying to gauge his reaction. "However, I just thought bombing them outright would be a little premature. I agree that we should act fast, but we should also get a look at their plan and the bigger picture before we jump into any actions."
"We are not stupid, Miss Beckett." The General said, folding his hands behind him and started pacing. Why was he pacing? "We have started to cross check every single one of our record, at all our cold cases, odd cases and discarded investigations for any signs of this Apocalypse organization as well as checking every single one of the Citybases for clues. And we are astonished at what we found. Everything seemed to point at something big and unfavorable that would happen and we will do whatever it takes to prevent that."
Curious, I waited a few seconds for the General to continue until it was clear that he wasn't going to.
"I think bombing is a good idea." Gerald said behind me and I groaned on the inside. Seriously, he was so not helping our cause. I could hear the muffled conversations going on behind me and I knew that quite a few of them were discussing this.
"When do we have until we decide?" I asked the General, whose lips twitched downward slightly.
"We are deciding in three days, when the bombs will be ready and the Eygpt Citybase is evacuated." The general said, and my soul shook at the glance he just sent me. They were evacuating an entire Citybase, something that hadn't been done since the Penang Citybase was overran by Sea Legres two hundred years back. "We flew you out here to help manage the evacuation and hopefully learn more of the Apocalypse while we can, but in light of the recent developments across the world, we want to put this threat behind us as soon as possible."
"Rounding up the remnants of the organization without knowing more about the organization itself would make it harder, and we don't want a repeat of last time." I said, "Give us a few more days to figure this out."
I nodded; arguing more right now would do us no good, not to mention I needed to come up with a plan asap and I couldn't do it under the general's nose.
"I will have Samuel show you to your quarters." The general said and the young man saluted at him again before moving towards us and leading us out.
"Miss Beckett, may I ask you a question?" Samuel turned towards me, some of his rigid manners evaporating away from his commander. He didn't look too much older than we were, and I could see some resemblance between the General and him with their straight nose and steel gray eyes.
"Of course." I answered, not sure whether this would be a friendly question or another one of the UGE or SMS's snarky comments or test.
"If you can save a billion people's lives, would you do anything to save them?" He asked, his eyes locking onto mine. I frowned, not sure what he was trying to say.
"I would do whatever it takes to save them." I answered, and Samuel nodded like he was satisfied with my answer.
"Then why don't you see that bombing them is the best way? We don't know what we are up against and I am sure if it wasn't for your alert we would never have found them. This is our one shot at containing the damage and erasing their effort to the ground. I hope you will come to see that this is the best way." Samuel's earnestness took me off guard. It sounded like he actually cared about what I think of the matter.
I didn't want to admit it, but I knew the decision was the right thing to do. The Apocalypse had been hiding too well; if it wasn't for Lorenzo's infiltration and Saralisa's power we would never been able to find out their location. This was our only advantage, and if they found out that we knew, presuming that they hadn't already, they might do something drastic or even manage to escape. But my friends...
Suddenly it all made sense; why the UGE was willing to evacuate an entire Citybase and bomb the organization that they didn't really believed in. They knew that the POEs were being captured by the Apocalypse, and that whenever they might be, there's a high possibility that they were down there at the base. By bombing the base, they not only take out the huge threat, but also diminish our numbers. Killing two birds with one stone. No wonder they were willing to act so quickly.
"Have a think about it." Samuel stopped in front of a row of tents in a deep bottle green colour, unaware of the revelation brewing up inside me as he saluted and left. I gestured for everyone to follow me inside, my head still whirling as I struggle to think of a solution.
"What is it?" Tom asked immediately, and everyone was looking at me. I held one hand up, letting my brain run away with the information and idea, hoping they will sort themselves out into enough sense, so I can relate it to the rest of the crew.
"Bombing may be the best way." Viktor started blabbing, a nervous habit that he should really get rid of. Not that Charmain seemed to mind as she looked at him adoringly. "I know that sound brutal and extreme, but the Apocalypse runs too deep and taking their base would at least destroy all their equipment and storage, as well as giving us a chance to catch the rest on the surface. Cutting off the head would make them easier to spot, or so to speak."
"I know that it's probably the best plan." I sighed, rubbing my face in my hands. "But if the brainwashed POEs are being kept down there, this would kill them all. Mr. Andrewson, Megan, Elise, the kids..."
Suddenly the atmosphere became tenser as the weight of innocent deaths that would occur settled in. I remembered the conversations I had with Grandpa Hugo just hours before and it was like I was standing in his position. Act, or do nothing. Which one was worse?
"We would have to let them bomb it in three days." I said, suddenly more firm. Everyone looked at me in surprise, and Diego looked like he wanted to throttle me.
"But we are not going to sit here and do nothing." I continued, "We need to go in."
"As in the base?" Nirmal asked, her eyebrows shooting high as the rest all reacted differently. Diego was ecstatic at the idea, Tom's frown deepened and Viktor looked pensive. Eleanor shook her head.
"It's too dangerous. You don't know what you will see down there, and what if you got captured and don't make it out in time?" Eleanor's points were all valid, but I knew that I couldn't live with letting innocent people die, even if it was for the greater good.
"I will go with you." Tom said even before Diego, and I was flooded with a sense of warmth.
"No, I don't want to put you in danger. It's a risk that I want to take." I shook my head. I wouldn't be able to live with myself if at the end we weren't able to get out in time and Tom would have to die with me.
"You will need me." Viktor said, giving me a smile that had Tom tensed next to me. "How else would you get past the first electronic lock?"
My eyes widened; I actually hadn't thought about that. But if they have the capability of building an underground base, then they would have a state of the art security as well.
"We can't all go." Cynthia said, for once she didn't look at me like she wanted me gone. "I suggest keeping it to three to five people, otherwise you won't be able to get in and out quickly."
"Are you going to tell the General what you have planned?" Gerald asked, I pondered about this for a while and shook my head.
"I don't want to give them an excuse to bomb the place early and kill us all inside, even if the possibilities of them doing it is slim." I answered, thinking of the worst case scenario. "We need to work out a plan for you guys to cover us."
"Why did he even want us here if he was just going to bomb the place out?" Joelle complained; aside from Marcus, the rest of the gang on TV, plus Sue had come along. Casey, Diego and Charmain came as well, though Fred and Natalie had remained behind as Freddie didn't want to put Natalie in danger, and they would keep an eye on the Originals for us as well.
"They needed me for the flight, and of course we would come in handy if we have to fight the Apocalypse." I answered, putting a hand on my forehead. The flight was easy, but that was only because I had thought to bring the Peace Treaty copy along and spoke to the Legres that attacked us.
"That conniving..." Casey started swearing; but what else should we expect from the UGE? Even if they were starting to accept POEs, it didn't mean that they don't still hold back from us. After all, POE's abilities were something out of their control. And people don't like losing control.
"I can't believe that this is going to end with a bomb." Casey said, after we had discussed the plan of sneaking in. No one had come to bother us, it seemed as though the General understood that we needed time to talk things through before we were able to help him with evacuation. "I expect there to be a big battle and everything."
"This isn't a story book with an epic final battle." Lorenzo rolled his eyes; to be honest, I was surprised that he even wanted to come at all. We were so close to the Apocalypse's headquarters. "Not everything hinges on bloodshed and an epic showdown. We should be glad that this is how it would turn out, because if we are going to face an army of brainwashed, disposable POEs and more nuclear bombs, we are doomed."
Lorenzo words hit home and I could see Marcus, Ben and Sebastian's face drained of colours as they considered the devastation of another round of bombs. We would be able to cope. Even with the Legre Peace Treaty, things were not as serious as we had always been on a delicate yet sustaining balance with the Legres. And revealing POEs to the world had been something that was long overdue.
"You are such a party pooper." Casey complained, lightening up the mood; but I could see the more inexperience legacies' had finally realized the gravity of the situation. This wasn't just fun and games, although it certainly felt like we were standing around doing nothing. If we don't drop the bomb, there is a chance that the world would suffer more devastation than it did before. This held the lives of millions, billions at stake, and if we had a clear shot at eliminating it, we should take it.
"Let's go." Nirmal smiled. "We got an army to deceive and brainwashed POEs to save."
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Hello POEs, er, I mean dear readers! I am so excited to announce that we are going to reach the climax of the story next chapter - after that, we have one more chapter and or just the epilogue - I haven't decided yet!
I was a little worry that I have gotten off track, but I am glad that it's working out. I even let Lorenzo do a little it of explaining for me :) because I know some of you are waiting for a battle but this ain't twilight, Harry Potter or Hunger Games.
I hope that it doesn't feel like this is rushed, everything in this chapter just seemed to flow so naturally ( I started writing it on and off this morning). And I hope that you have truly enjoyed the story so far.
Editing will start as soon as I wrap up - so if you noticed any major plot holes or logic flaws or inconsistencies, let me know!
I am so excited for the grand revelation <3 well, it's kind of been hinted most of the way through anyway so...
As always, votes and comments, you guys have been fairly quiet lately. Is everyone having exams?