RTS System in the Apocalypse: New World

By dawn, the northwestern industrial sector barely changed.

Patrols walked the same routes.

Eyes from the rooftop scanned the horizon.

A few Guardian APCs moved through the area at the same slow pace, their engines growling beneath the morning haze.

To anyone watching from afar, the base looked no different from yesterday.

...

Hans stood inside the Command Roomm, staring at the map spread across the table.

The western drainage mouth and the old rail spine had been marked in red.

Around it, dozens of smaller marks formed a loose web.

Cell 7 had asked for four people.

Hans would give them four people.

Everything else would remain outside the frame.

Footsteps echoed behind him. Hans did not turn.

”You’re here early,” he said.

Johannes who had just arrived, stopped at the door.

”Commander,” he said, then stepped inside. ”Preparations have been made.”

”That’s no surprise,” Hans replied. ”Are you sure this will work?”

Johannes looked at the marked map.

”Assuming Cell 7 still thinks like SAS, the probability is high.”

”High is not a number.”

”Around eighty percent.”

Hans narrowed his eyes.

It was not certainty. But certainty had died with the old world.

”What eats the remaining twenty?” Hans asked.

”Two things,” Johannes replied. ”First, Cell 7 may no longer be operating under clean protocol.”

”And second?”

”They may have already decided what Golden Eagle is before meeting you.”

Hans understood.

A meeting did not always exist to seek the truth.

Sometimes, it existed to confirm a suspicion.

Johannes continued, ”If they believe you are sheltering us, the meeting can proceed. If they believe you are using us, they may test you. If they believe you are holding Kimmy Aster or Mr. Tyrus against their will...”

”They will confront me with force.”

Johannes did not deny it. Precious cargo such as Black Key and Star-Blood were given high priority.

Should their conditions be compromised, the SAS would act in behalf of their families.

Hans looked back at the red mark on the map.

A meeting point chosen by people who favored cover and narrow approaches, able to disappear should the conversation go wrong.

Cell 7 didn’t just chose a place for verification. They had also chosen a place for their survival as well.

The rest of the day passed without noise.

Patrols continued. Their reports came and went.

Marcus had put the receiver aside, knowing that Cell 7 won’t be contacting them anytime soon.

The four superhumans rested for today.

Callum remained by Hans’s side.

While Tyrus disappeared for several hours, then returned as if he had never left.

Nobody cared where this guy went. Perhaps, he had found another place that ushered with curiosity.

Hans remained in the Command Room, watching the Radar for any changes in Cell 7’s movement.

The gray dots had moved several times. As to what these movements implied, Hans could only know by midnight.

By the time night returned to Grefort, the base quieted.

Everyone waited for the time to pass.

At 11:30 PM, four figures dashed out of the northwestern industrial sector.

No convoy followed them.

No armored vehicle growled behind their shadows.

And no platoon marched in formation.

Only Johannes, Hans, Tyrus, and Kimmy moved through the dark streets, heading west toward the meeting place.

From a distance, they looked exactly like what Cell 7 had demanded.

Four people.

Nothing more.

But Hans knew better. The city around him was not empty.

It had angles, distances, blind corners, tricky passages, and possible traps.

Beyond all of it, his base watched in ways Cell 7 could never hope to understand.

Hans did not need to announce any of that.

A commander did not reveal every piece on the board simply because the other side had invited him to play.

He held Kimmy tightly, coat shifting under the cold wind.

Johannes kept a few meters behind him, keeping up with Hans’s rapid pace.

Tyrus moved with his hands in his pockets, looking far too comfortable for someone walking into a dangerous site.

Hans was intrigued by his ability to keep up despite not showing compatibility in the Somatic Axis.

He probably had ways to improve physically given he’s a HELIX scientist, he glanced once before looking back at the road. Whatever. At least this won’t slow us down.

The western drainage mouth appeared several minutes before midnight.

It was anything but impressive.

A wide concrete opening sat beneath the remains of an old rail bridge, half-covered by weeds, rusted beams, and stagnant water. The rail spine stretched above it, broken in several places, disappearing into the darkness like an abandoned scar across the city.

There were no lights, no voices, nor any visible person.

Johannes slowed his steps and muttered. ”Fire.”

Hans stopped beside him and glanced at the Radar map.

Five gray dots near the drainage mouth.

Three at the front.

Two stayed farther back, covering the left and right flanks.

As for the remaining gray dots, they had not moved from Cell 7’s hidden post.

For several seconds, only the wind passed between the broken rails.

Johannes spoke again. ”Fire.”

Then a voice answered from the darkness.

”Ashes awaits.”

Johannes did not relax, but his shoulders lowered by a fraction.

Hans already knew the procedure.

He simply played along with whatever strange drama Cell 7 wanted to unfold.

Not because he feared it, nor because he dismissed it either.

He was simply curious what these groups of SAS agents wanted to do aside from identity confirmation.

The voice spoke once more.

”You came.”

”As you requested,” Johannes replied.

”I did not expect that you would have been compromised, Cell 12.”

The other voice dropped its pretenses, no longer using strange codes and ritual phrases.

Johannes’s expression did not change.

”We are by no means compromised.”

”That remains to be seen.”

A figure stepped out from beneath the drainage mouth. Then two more followed.

All three wore dark field gear layered beneath long coats stained by mud and old water.

Behind them, Hans’s Radar still showed two dots on the flanks.

He did not look toward either one.

The one in the middle stopped several meters away.

A woman? Hans noticed.

Her face was lean, pale, and tired, but her eyes remained sharp enough to cut through the darkness.

She looked at Johannes first.

”Cell 12 should have remained near Pandora.”

Johannes answered calmly. ”We wanted to, but there were better options.”

”And the better option...” she shifted to Hans. ”This?”

Johannes frowned, leaning forward. ”You will address him as Golden Eagle.”

”SAS protocol states that every active agent remains bound to the state. You are standing beside an unverified armed authority and calling him Commander. I will have you explain yourself, Cell 12, or consider yourself executed under my authority.”

”There is no need for an explanation,” Johannes objected. ”The state chain is broken. If not for Golden Eagle, the rest of us would have collapsed.”

”Preserved you?” she repeated. There was a faint of mockery in her voice.

”You stand beside a man with no verified office, no state seal, no known command history, and supposedly enough armed force to move through Grefort at night.”

Her gaze shifted briefly to Hans.

”And you expect me to easily believe that?”

Johannes’s tone turned cold.

”I told you. You will address him as Golden Eagle.”

”Hmph.”

The woman looked back at him.

”Compromised agents often defend their handlers with the same conviction.”

Johannes’s eyes sharpened.

”Watch your words.”

”It seems your defected subordinate was not the only one who let foreign influence into his head.”

For the first time, Johannes’s expression changed. The name of Elias Crowe had struck deeper than the accusation against himself.

The woman saw it too.

”Your reaction confirms everything,” she said.

”Enough.”

Hans interjected. He did not attend this meeting to be mocked relentlessly.

”And you’re Golden Eagle?” The woman asked.

”You will treat my subordinates with respect,” Hans did not answer her question.

”A compromised agent deserves no respect.”

Hans shook his head.

There was no way to convince this stubborn person through words alone.

So he stopped trying to convince her. Rather, it was time to spook her and group.

”You brought five people to this meeting.”

The woman’s expression did not change, but her heart skipped a beat.

Tyrus’s smile widened slightly when he sensed this subtle reaction.

Hans continued, ”Three in front. Two on the flanks. Left and right. They have not moved since we arrived.”

The air went still.

The woman’s eyes narrowed by a fraction.

Hans looked past her, toward the drainage mouth.

”The rest remained in your hidden post. Are you sure the five of you are enough?”

No one spoke.

Not Johannes.

Not Kimmy.

Not even Tyrus.

The woman stared at Hans for several seconds.

Who is this guy? How come he can tell all of this without even us knowing?!

”You followed us?”

Hans only gave her a faint smile. He had no intention to answer.

A commander did not explain his eyes to an enemy who had not yet decided whether to become an ally.

Instead, he looked directly at her.

”You asked whether I had enough armed force to move through Grefort at night.”

His voice remained calm. ”I don’t think you would want to know that.”

The two dots on the flanks shifted slightly.

Hans noticed, but he barely spared them a look.

”Tell them to stay still,” he said.

”I did not come here to fight, but if your people mistake this conversation for something else, don’t blame me for what happens next.”