June flew down through the floor and out of the old Legion HQ before anyone could notice her presence. Jase had noticed a significant number of people entering earlier, and sent her to spy on them for a bit. He hadn't left any cameras in the building to maintain trust with the Legion, but he was probably regretting that decision about now.
It was fine, though. June was sneaky, and with her Miracle no one had to know she'd been hiding in the hallway just out of sight.
More pertinent was what she'd overheard. The Legion might be about to simply self-destruct from the inside. The person who had killed Meadow was called Odin. And Prime was teetering on the brink of becoming a military mole.
She hadn't caught everything of course; it had taken time to get there, even if she flew as fast as she could. But she'd heard enough.
It was time to cut off the Legion. Before they burned Solstice.
"He's still holding out," Henry sighed, glancing at Lieutenant Potts. The lieutenant worked quietly on a computer while listening to Henry. After his promotion, Lieutenant Potts had offered to be a confidant as he navigated the new landscape of being a sergeant and he often found himself by Potts' desk, sorting out his thoughts out loud.
They couldn't discuss anything classified of course, since they were from different divisions, but the deal with Prime wasn't a big deal to discuss among the higher-ups. Potts had all the paperwork ready to go whenever Prime acquiesced, but the man himself was holding out in solitary confinement.
"He shouldn't manage for much longer," Potts mused, not even glancing up from his work. "Solitary confinement is a form of torture, after all. And an effective one at that."
"I feel a bit guilty about torturing him into it, though..." Henry said with a sigh.
"Don't. Solitary confinement is the punishment for Miracle based criminals. We're just offering him an out if he wants it. Really, it's up to him."
"As far as Miracles go, though, isn't his rather tame?"
"I don't make the decisions, Griffin. I just carry them out. Same as you. The real decisions are all made by the generals."
"Being a sergeant doesn't change much, does it?" Henry asked, the corner of his mouth quirking up in a wry half smile.
"Just more paperwork for you. Then even more when you make lieutenant. If we were colonels we might have some real power, but then again I'm happy where I am. Paperwork is my specialty."
"Things have been quiet lately," Henry sighed. "I suppose I thought I'd be doing more active work."
"Don't get complacent," Potts replied, looking at him sternly. "For all we know, this is the calm before the storm."
Henry straightened in his seat and nodded, then added a salute for good measure.
"Of course, sir."
"No more information on the bottom level?" Paris asked, glancing between Twin and Ferry.
"Nope," Ferry said with a sigh. "Only way to check at this point seems to be diving down there ourselves. The two of us have searched every document ever made. At least, that's what it feels like."
"Not everything," Twin said with a sigh. "I can't access classified military documents from here. Somehow, they're onto me. Until I know how, I won't risk anything. Even if I could, some of the documents the First Division holds for security reasons are so classified only the general can read them."
"Pain in the butt," Ferry growled.
"Based on that alone, though," Twin continued, "I can surmise that systems critical to Arx's defense are located down there. There would be no reason to hide it from both other military divisions, and even the colonels in the First, otherwise."
"So if we could find a way to access those documents..." Paris mused, frowning in thought.
"Got any bright ideas?" Ferry asked.
"I wish. I'm not the ideas guy."
"Twin?"
"Maybe our new friend the Angel can help us," he said quietly. "I did rescue her operatives, after all. And I'm sure it's because of that that I'm under suspicion now. She owes me one."
"Great. I'll help them out with the heist," Ferry said with a grin. "And everyone else can act as a distraction or something. Maybe we'll team up with Whiplash and Twinblade to really go all-out."
"Sounds like a plan to me," Paris said with a grin.
"Then I'll contact our dear Angel right away," Twin said with a smile, opening up his laptop again.
"What the hell is wrong with you?" Ida asked, glaring at Darius.
"I'm sorry," he said, shrinking back from her fury.
"I told you not to eat or drink anything, you moron! Now I have to clean your tongue? Honestly."
She heaved a sigh and sat him down on the floor, then pulled off his shirt. He sat cross-legged and looked at her hopefully.
"First off, I'm gonna have to shut you down temporarily."
"What?" Darius asked. "Why?" Was she really only going to do it temporarily? What if this was it for him?
He shook his head vehemently as Ida poked around in her phone.
"I am not electrocuting myself on your tongue, you idiot. Cut the power already. I can't do it myself for some reason."
Darius took a few deep breaths - even if he didn't use oxygen, the motion helped calm him - and closed his eyes, willing the electricity to stop flowing through his mechanical body. It was a strange sensation. He was no longer connected to the D4R1U5 unit, but he could still access the various sensors in the Underwing. Through them, he noticed Ida walking closer, looking at him dubiously.
"Is the power cut?" She grabbed a voltmeter and flicked open the panel at the top of his spine, where his charge port was located.
"There is no electricity flowing through the unit," Darius answered from the speaker on her phone, making her jump.
"Give me a heart attack, why don't you?" she growled, checking the voltmeter. "Sounds good. I'll just pull the tongue out and you can boot up again until I'm done. Actually, maybe I'll make you clean it yourself. Teach you what a pain in the ass this job'll be."
"Understood. Sorry, Ida."
She rolled her eyes as she pulled the delicate machine out of his mouth.
"Okay, get back here. I'd advise you soak it for a while first. This stuff's kind of dried and caked on. Gross. Promise me you'll never eat anything ever again."
"I promise."
