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●　● Berazategui District, Buenos Aires Outskirts, Argentina, SAU

Throughout the venture away from Enrai's Belgrano-branch underground compound, for Sam, it was an endless chain of reliving the losses, remembering the near-death experiences, and the recurring doubts and regrets of the decision that got her stuck where she was – buckled in next to Kaylen on board a van headed for a distant destination. And the sheer quiet from their radio silence, which included having their wireless communication lines turned completely off, left an even bigger void for the nightmarish daydreams to fill. But from time to time, she let her open, unoccupied ears catch the passing waves of blaring horns and various tunes blasted from cars with their windows rolled down. And with each wave came another reminder of her past, short-lived life several countries north, and of times she would never get to re-experience.

"Here," Kaylen broke the silence in the back cabin area, attempting to hand off something small in a wrapper. "You haven't eaten all day."

Sam hesitated, pondered forcing it down for the sake of not collapsing later all the while still reeling from the tight knot in her stomach that rivaled the lump that had been in her throat. She conjured up a weak smile as she took it, holding it for a moment until her mind eventually recognized the familiar feel of the foil-based wrapping.

"I don't know what else you like here on Earth, but I remember these," Kaylen continued, now looking off into the distance. "And they'll be decent calories to say the least."

"Thanks," Sam finally got around to replying as she opened one end of the alfajor and took a bite. Moments later, either because of the small spike in her blood sugar or due to the reawakening of her appetite thanks in part to a recent favorite of hers, she remembered what got her in her nervous wreck to begin with:

I still never figured out how far I am supposed to let myself trust her… Even after everything they detailed in today's little retrieval operation. But despite what Rex said about her, I kind of fail to see anything black and white here.

And another bite brought her mind back to various foods she tried and fell in love with, and that thought once again led back to Sebastian. But this time, a different thought path came about, remembering the news she watched and the thoughts she had on the briefing before loading up on the van and cutting communication lines. Her attempt to act more preemptively like Sebastian wasn't completely subconscious, but it was one way of coping from his absence.

I still need to figure out something if I can along the way… How does she pilot the Galatine without anyone to hook her up to the Reign operating system? Not that my plan would change depending on that answer, but still…

The Enrai operatives in charge made it clear earlier that day just how poorly established any of the Underground factions were in that larger region of the capital area, mostly due to its lack of useful locations and resources. But despite their citing the need to maintain as low of a profile as possible, it made Sam question her safety not only in the event of some type of ambush, but also in the event of Kaylen changing the plans without consent, especially if it meant changes against her favor.

Because regardless of the order, be it I get myself in the Arondight or I accurately gauge Kaylen's first moves, both are going to happen. I might as well get what I can in before it's too late. Once we get ourselves up and moving in our LTACs, we don't know what or who is waiting for us along the way back to our rendezvous point with Rex's recovery team.

"Hey," Sam spoke up before clearing her throat. "While this might be my last chance to ask this, you know, since we don't know what shit will hit the fan later on, do you mind if I ask what's the deal with you and Lance Vrey?" She saw Kaylen's wrinkled brow, followed by a sigh as she looked downward. "I'm just trying to better understand you, and a hunch tells me this whole deal with Vincent Vrey isn't just simply about your standing with the public over the Apollyon Massacre."

Kaylen pursed her lips, hesitating before leaning back to reply: "I remember telling you it'd be another story for another day. I guess now's the only chance I can give you the short version, at least." She tilted her head the opposite way, looking toward the driver's cabin as she gathered her thoughts and reigned in her emotions that she kept from boiling over each time the thought of telling his story arose. "Truth be told, I do in fact want my life back. Thing is, it's not just that alone. I want to win the big one for Lance with Reign… the… never mind that part," she stopped herself as she shook off flashbacks of she wasn't in the mood to relive. "I loved Lance, and I never got to tell him what I wanted to when I had the chance. And the worst thing is, I had a chance to help him in that last battle but couldn't. And that right there… That's what killed me the most- the separation. We were from two different worlds when it came to the battlefield, and unlike him, I was almost nothing without Reign."

"So, piloting with the Reign system brings you back to him, sort of?" Sam pondered aloud.

"No, it's bigger than that," Kaylen answered with a trailing voice. "I doubt you'll understand this, but it's because of my history with Reign and the Apollyon that doomed me as well," she continued with a wry chuckle, shaking her head. "Marian drove Lance to his death as much as his father, but because I had that damned massacre on my hands, Lance never looked at me the same afterwards. That was when he turned to Marian, and all I could ever do by that point was sit back and watch until I couldn't. Until no one could. But the moment Vrey gave me a chance to redeem myself with Reign, you know, to do something positive with it, it all just took over me. I know how dumb I sound by now, but it's giving me hope again to reclaim my sense of reality, sanity, and hope to return somewhat to normalcy… to my life that was supposed to have become."

Damn, I guess I can't imagine the scars left on her mentally. And yeah, there really was some real beef with her and former Director Channing after all… Shit…

"But you're still fine going out there without Reign?"

"Hell no, I'm not," Kaylen replied with renewed strength. "But no one will know the difference in the end. Who will know? The Galatine is not permanently linked with Reign, but from an outsider's view, it's all the same as long as I get that decisive victory- and I will. I promise you that. Just make sure we get back in one piece and I'll finish what I started."

That was it, boom, right there. Sam leaned back, feigning deep thought towards Kaylen's last line. She's not a bad person, it seems, not at all- but… her selfishness is dangerous. Reminds me a lot of my old self thinking along similar lines.

"My turn. Why ask all of the sudden?" Kaylen asked with a hint of suspicion in her voice.

"I was just genuinely curious ever since the day you told me it being a story for another day, that's all," Sam nonchalantly replied. "I like to know as much about the Vrey's as I can as well- I mean, besides what's talked about in social circles."

The narrative has been taken without permission. Report any sightings.

[Five minutes,] the driver shouted from the front.

Guess I might as well ask the only thing left on my mind while I got a chance. "Does Mr. Vrey always reuse tech as he did with the Icarus' rifle I used the other day?"

Kaylen condescendingly chuckled towards the notion. "To be honest, when I saw that thing, I was enraged his son's still-living idea was being so callously thrown back onto the battlefield like it carried no meaning with it, but then I realized it's the only reason I still have myself in the game. Vrey always sticks to what works, and since he's forever had this obsession with King Arthur stories, you see what you saw last war and the current LTAC's for Project Excalibur. It was like the last war was his big crusade, and now it's his second," Kaylen continued her criticism as her voice sank deeper.

"I see. Damn…"

That does explain a lot, though. The Galatine's platform seems awfully similar to the Actaeon Forerunner from the last war… and the Arondight looks like the Clarent. The third, though, that's something to figure out later on, but ugh. The thought of the potential parallel between herself and Vincent Vrey's late son's role spooked her the second it crossed her mind. No time to be superstitious.

"Again, just let me handle what's coming up. I know how much everything has you out of sorts. I would appreciate it."

A heavy silence then ensued their conversation. Sam noticed Kaylen closing her eyes as she propped her head against the wall panel, electing to maintain the current peace. She quickly remembered how much must be weighing on her soul and mind.

You know, come to think of it, it was this very same person who, back in Manila, convinced me to team up with her because I reminded her of Lance- whatever that actually meant. Now, however, she's acting like I'm in the way? Yeah, I know exactly how my plan will go, now. I know exactly what I want to do.

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The sun began to disappear off the horizon as the van dropped the two off inside of a well-lit distribution warehouse. The briefing earlier made it clear they would be using a full-capacity business operation as cover, but the stark contrast it presented in comparison to their usual empty alleyways and abandoned buildings was hard for Sam to ignore. She followed Kaylen through and out one side of the busy complex and across a parking lot, entering a small guardhouse that served as a security point to the holding area for containers. "Here goes," she quietly spoke under her breath as Kaylen approached the guard.

[Lot 35 Space 2,] Kaylen called out to the man behind the desk as she approached with the fabricated pass Enrai had provided her with. [We have clearance to make a visual inspection for our client.]

The man took the card from her and ran it under a scanner before looking up at the screen pulled up. [Step up to the retina scanners, please,] he spoke with a gesture towards the machine nearby.

Sam's heart in the past would normally be beating out of its chest by now given the circumstances, but after what she had seen the Underground pull off time after time, the whole ordeal felt almost mundane. She stepped up to the reader after Kaylen stepped away, and within seconds, the doors across the way opened with a chime.

[You got thirty minutes. Follow the indicators toward your destination,] the man added, closing the door behind them as they exited.

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After a few minutes of their brisk walk down the illuminated foot paths, they finally turned a corner that led them down a long row of cargo containers that ended near the back of the lot. "They should be waiting for us, shouldn't they?" Sam asked with a raised brow, curious why it was only them present.

"They could be inside for all we know," Kaylen quietly responded, seemingly unsuspicious as she kept pace. "Should be two of them waiting."

But it might only be one, Sam remembered Tyrus speaking of him needing his key carrier back alive. She had a few ideas already predetermined on how to speak to Kaylen in the event she wanted to ditch the carrier, but first was for her to figure out where they even were.

There was no way Tyrus sent someone I couldn't have any way of identifying them as the carrier he wants back. Hopefully one of them can tell me, and that'd make the rest really easy on me.

And as Kaylen approached the gate to the container, she noted the door was slightly ajar with some light pouring out. "See, they're inside." She then nodded toward Sam, indicating for her to have her sidearm ready just in case. "We're coming inside," she then added with a light knock on the gate before opening it.

The two looked inside to see two company uniformed men standing against the walls as if they had been waiting for some time, crossed arms and all. But one detail had Sam now shaking inside.

These… these men aren't Filipino by any measure. The men she exchanged glances with both were clearly of full-on European descent, and she knew Tyrus had worked exclusively with locals with only rare exceptions. Something reeks here.

She then looked at Kaylen, who was already exchanging nods and showed the same pass from earlier.

And as Kaylen took the two key cases from one of them, the other spoke up: "Hey, do us a favor while you're at it," he said in an Eastern European accent, catching both Kaylen and Sam's attention and surprise. "Since we don't have access to much, you might want to look for the mole that tried to set you up."

Mole?! That set us up?! Sam's heart was indeed beating out of its chest as of that instant.

"You mean these were almost compromised?" Kaylen guessed as she took a look at the key cases, opening them to examine them. "Were they after these after all?"

"No, they were likely after you," the other spoke before he waved. "Get going before something else does. Rex will have our heads by midnight if you don't get out of here alive."

No way Tyrus would do that! Something is beyond fishy here!

Sam followed Kaylen out but for only a brief minute as her panicked brainstorm arrived to a solution: "Can I talk to you real quick? I know we got time since the guard said thirty minutes."

"Okay?" She replied with a frown, stopping to face her while using the chance to hand Sam her key case. "Was it something they said?"

"Yes, listen. I…" She started showing her nerves through her now trembling voice as she put her key away in her bag. "That was way to fucking easy. There's no way you aren't nervous about this whole thing either, right?"

"What choice do we have?" She responded through her annoyance, tempted to turn away. "We can only do what we're prepared to do, and if these are fake or something, we have no way of knowing until we get to the next lot over and try it out for ourselves." She then checked her watch. "We don't have that long if you think about it, anyway. They'll be out in full force looking for us if we aren't loaded and launched within twenty minutes if there's something extra you're trying to waste our time with."

"Alright, then look, just trust me on this one. I've seen that look before from Rex's men in Colombia," she lied to her best ability as she peered back over her shoulder. "You have your key and I have mine, so let me peep around while you head for your container. If anything suspicious pops up, leave without me since you're the one we're depending on the most to stop this whole mess."

"Really? You've got to be kidding," Kaylen huffed dismissingly, turning away towards the next row. "This is Rex's operation, not some rag tag bunch like you're used to working with. But hey, suit yourself, just keep it quick," she added with a waved hand. "I'm deploying from my container according to schedule with or without you."

Sam stood there until Kaylen turned the corner, making sure she was fully ditched before quietly but quickly moving off the other direction, hand over her sidearm. What the hell happened to Tyrus' men!? Something's screamingly wrong here!

But row after row she slipped through in the dark provided nothing but confusion, sweat, and impending exhaustion. I don't even know how much time I have nor how much of a chance I have of finding anything before I lose out. She then slipped through one more row before stopping to check her approximate location. As she studied the numbers of the containers overhead, something broke the silence nearby. Pistol drawn, she quickly removed a suppressor from a separate pocket and quickly affixed it. And as she stood flat against the nearest container wall and quietly edged toward the path once more, listening intently. But upon further focusing of her ears, she made out what sounded like exasperated breaths.

That might be what I'm looking for.

She slowly and quietly tiptoed her way along the edges of each container until she heard the noise echoing off what seemed like an empty container right behind her head. Backing away, she gingerly placed her left hand over the gate handle with her right hand ready and safety off. The bulk of the suppressor made aiming a bit more difficult than usual, especially added with the trembling of her grip, but something had her convinced what she was looking for was inside.

And with a firm yank of the door with her sights still at chest's level, it only took a split second to make sense of what was in front of her: a tied-up person curled up on the floor, a man crouched over him, and a separate man on a mobile device. And only the curled-up man had thick, black hair, unlike the balding blond hair from the other two.

And Sam wasted not even a second to hesitation.

Two squeezes, two snaps of the slide against the stop, and two thuds of impacting metal on cranial bone. Following it were two dreadful fears: two more killings to chase her in upcoming nightmares, and two deaths that might lead her to her own if she was mistaken.

After taking a few breaths to calm herself down, however, she finally had the focus enough to look down at the curled-up man on the floor. But it wasn't a man after one good look as Sam's eyes widened, finding it difficult not to scream out. The familiar eyes that looked back in terror were Kerry's eyes, halfway hidden behind a few familiar locs strung across her tape-gagged face.

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