//------------------------------// // Chapter 10 - Damocles Dilemma // Story: The Equestrian Odyssey - A Tale of Two Worlds // by Kamahido //------------------------------// Sometime later, Arc and his squad along with Hammer and Mio sit around the table in the castle’s Conference Room. Arc looks around as he finishes talking. “And that’s where we stand.” Max grits his teeth. “The Organization HAS to be behind this, sir!” Hammer nods angrily. “Darn right!” Mio sighs. “My campsite was far enough from the road that it really shouldn’t have been visible to anyone whom didn’t know it was there.” Viktor clears his throat. “Let’s assume it was The Organization. How would they have found out?” Hugh looks to Mio. “And what would they want with it?” “It was supposed to be able to open a portal here. Well, to this land anyways. It’s possible that they want to come here to plunder this country’s magical resources.” Xenos groans. “Yeah! After all, since we took the princess back they don’t have a magical source.” Arc shakes his head. “Technically, they do.” Max turns to his commanding officer. “Colonel Diva?” “You got it. But luckily for us that machine didn’t work. At least as intended.” Mio smiles proudly. “I was pretty far along in it though.” Hammer puts a hand on her sister’s shoulder. “Yeah... about that, Mio. Our sages here scanned your device and found that you weren’t exactly in the ballpark.” “Um... what?” Arc pipes up. “She means that you weren’t on the right track.” “How would they know though?” “Magical scrying. That and the Lead Sage is the one whom designed and built the device that originally allowed me to return to Earth.” Hugh nods. “He knew what he was doing too.” Viktor puts a hand to his stomach. “Mostly anyways. After all, some of those early trips weren’t exactly smooth.” Max appears hopeful. “So the device, as a wormhole generator at least, is useless?” Arc nods. “According to Sunburst, yes.” Hugh appears confused as he looks to his commanding officer. “Then why would the military want it?” “Probably because of what Brightwing was able to do with it.” Xenos frowns. “Yeah. But how would they know about it?” Hammer grits his teeth. “They had to be watching!” Mio shakes her head. “I’m sure I wasn’t followed though.” Hammer rolls her eyes. “Believe me, when they want to find something they can move mountains.” Max sighs. “Well, at this point it doesn’t really matter what they want with the machine or how they got it. We need to get it back.” Arc turns to Hammer. “Where would they be keeping something like that?” “Probably in Rieper’s lab so he could study and reverse engineer it.” Mio bows her head. “Either that or in the vault. Hopefully the former, but the latter does make more sense.” Viktor turns to Mio. “How so?” “If they believe it to be or great enough importance it’ll be locked up tight. Which would definitely be the vault.” Xenos shudders. “The lab we could easily break into. However that vault door was something else.” Hugh sighs. “There’s probably no getting in there without the proper keycards.” Arc puts a hand to his chin. “Auriel’s mother said as much. Last time her card opened it though along with the general’s.” Mio raises an eyebrow.. “It did?” Hammer grins. “That was lucky.” “Not so much. She disappeared decades ago, right?” Xenos nods. “Yeah. Why?” Mio sighs. “Standard procedure dictates that in the event of a person resigning, going A.W.O.L., being incapacitated, or dying that their credentials should immediately be suspended until further notice.” Arc frowns. “I thought that was strange too. After all, why leave and active ‘key’ to a high security door active?” Hammer grimaces. “It’s typically done via the report detailing how the person in question became incapacitated. The general would have had to okay something like leaving a card active though.” Hugh nods. “You think he did?” Hammer shrugs. “Not sure why he would. Like it was said a moment ago, such a thing is nothing but a security risk.” Viktor appears hopeful. “Think it’s still active even now?” Xenos sighs. “It’s a fifty-fifty shot.” Mio frowns. “You’d still need a second key though.” Hammer snaps her fingers. “We could swipe the general’s.” Hugh nods as he turns to Arc. “It worked last time.” “But that also tipped Mustang off that there was another active key. I’m guessing he would have checked the computer records and shut off Doctor Knowle’s badge after that.” Xenos appears hopeful. “He may not have. After all, it stayed online for over twenty years, right.” Arc shakes his head. “Too much to hope for. We need a more solid plan before going down there again.” A voice rings out from the doorway. “I might be able to help with that.” Turning, they see Auriel and her mother entering the room. Arc raises an eyebrow as he speaks. “You, Doctor Knowles?” Maria nods. “After all, you DO need someone to get you inside Damocles Base.” Auriel puts her hands on her hips. “I could help too. Remember, I do look just like Diva.” Arc facepalms. “Not you too, Auriel.” “It’s true though.” Maria smiles at her daughter. “That’s very brave of you, dear.” Max groans. “Yes, well... since we’ve used that method in the past, more than once I might add, it stands to reason that they’d be on the lookout for us.” Hammer raises a hand. “I could...” Arc cuts her off. “Especially you, Hammer.” “Auriel could say I’d been recaptured!” Hugh rolls his eyes. “That’s what we said last time!” “Uh... re-recaptured then?” “I’d still be willing to go as Diva though. After all, Stingray’s the only one whom noticed I wasn’t who she thought I was.” Xenos shrugs. “We’d still need a plan though.” Maria turns to Arc. “What about bringing me in as a prisoner?” Arc shakes his head. “That was literally the plan last time.” “Oh really? Did it work?” Auriel smiles. “Like a dream, mother.” Mio leans over to her sister. “I’d like to hear more about that plan.” “Short version. I was caught by Auriel posing as Diva and brought back to Damocles Base under guard for intensive examination after my magical power levels become so high I could take on ‘Diva’.” “Um... I get the feeling you’re leaving a lot out of that explanation, Hammer.” “That I am.” Maria puts a hand to her chin. “Let me guess. It was to allow you to get into Rieper’s lab as an experiment?” Hammer frowns. “Right. How’d you know?” “Auriel gave me the cliff notes.” Arc folds his arms over his chest. “Well, either way that method is out.” Viktor turns to him. “You have a better idea, sir?” “No. But I’m not going to send all of us to early graves over this.” Max gasps. “What about Shelly though, sir?!” Xenos puts a hand on his friend’s shoulder. “We all want to help her, Max.” Hugh nods soberly. “Right. Going in all gung-ho isn’t the way though.” Arc puts a hand to his chin. “Might be.” Viktor turns to him. “Sir?” “Worst case scenario, I cloak and shrink down to avoid the sensors.” Auriel gasps. “Alone?!” Hammer scoffs. “How would you get down there anyways?!” “By waiting. Eventually someone would open the door and lower the elevator.” Mio frowns. “Suppose you do get inside. Then what?” “Check Rieper’s lab first. I’d go into Crimson form before heading down if possible. That’d allow me to slip under the door as a mist.” Maria smiles. “An interesting idea. However there is a good chance the device wouldn’t be there. What then?” “I’d head for the vault with every explosive I have in my basement and blow that door apart.” Auriel groans. “And the machine as well.” Mio raises a hand. “It might be easier for me to just build another one. I could probably recreate the blueprints from memory in a few days.” Hammer grins. “Great! Problem solved!” Arc sighs. “Not exactly. Your machine was altered by Brightwing after she knocked you out.” Max nods. “And that much wasn’t on the blueprint.” Hugh points to Maria. “What about the good doctor there? After all, she was Brightwing.” Viktor grins. “She and Mio might be able to put their heads together and build another device!” Maria shakes her head. “Normally yes. However I was little more than a subconscious voice in the back of that little creature’s head.” Arc groans. “So you don’t have any idea how Brightwing did... whatever it was that she did?” “None at all. The most I could do was make generalized suggestions such as giving her the idea to study magic and chemistry.” Hammer frowns. “So you couldn’t SEE anything?!” “Correct.” Mio appears hopeful. “Could you maybe... try to help me figure it out?” “I would be willing to try, yes. However we’d still be starting pretty much from scratch as I also don’t know what the creature put into her potion exactly.” Auriel holds out an arm. “Blood was a catalyst. Mine to be exact.” Arc nods. “And a Crimson Pegasus filly.” Maria takes notes. “Any other clues?” “Sadly, no.” “I’ll need quite a bit of time to figure out how to create a properly altered potion to power the device.” Max frowns. “And that’s after we get it back.” Hugh bows his head. “After its reverse engineered as well.” Xenos grunts. “Yeah. More time there.” Viktor sighs. “Time we don’t...” Arc interrupts him. “Wait a second! Hugh! What did you just say?!” “About reverse engineering the machine?” “Yeah. Why would we need to do that though?” Hammer rolls her eyes. “To be able to pass the information on to Doctor Knowles so she can make the potion.” “Right. But I think we’re all forgetting one thing.” Auriel appears confused. “What’s that, Arc?” “That assuming The Organization took the machine shortly after Brightwing did her thing, they’ve already had time to do just that.” Mio nods sadly. “It’s likely the process by which the machine was deployed, as described to me as less than inconspicuous, was noticed by the base, yes.” Arc grins. “We might be able to use that to our advantage.” Viktor frowns. “Sir, if I may be so bold, how would our enemies reverse engineering that device possibly be helpful to us?” Hugh nods. “Right. All it would do is help them along their path.” Xenos shrugs. “Yeah. Whatever that is.” Arc smirks. “Don’t you guys get it? We don’t actually NEED to steal the device back from The Organization at this point. All we really have to do is get a copy of the blueprints they’ve likely already made by now.” Maria smiles. “It would be easier than trying to smuggle out a very large, and very heavy, device out the front door, yes.” Auriel grins. “If we play this right they won’t even know we have the plans. Assuming you just make copies” Hugh raises a hand. “I’ll make sure the camera is ready, sir.” Arc shakes his head. “That may not be necessary.” He turns to Maria before continuing. “What’s standard procedure for a situation like this?” “Assuming you mean what I’d do with a mystery device, according to regulations we’d very carefully take it apart piece by piece and make schematics from the notes. The process would also be video recorded for posterity along with audio as the technicians work to compile every last bit of knowledge regarding the device. This information would be used to compile a usable set of blueprints.” Hammer grins. “We get our hands on that and we can build one ourselves!” Mio looks to Maria. “That only leaves the potion to power it.” “I’ll take care of that.” She turns to Arc as she continues. “Get me everything you can on that device and I’ll make the potion from what I learn.” Arc nods. “We’ll do our best.” Hammer turns to him. “One more thing though, Arc.” “Yes, Hammer?” “If at all possible, you should destroy the records too.” Mio frowns. “That might be a bad idea.” Hugh gasps. “What?! How?!” “It would show that someone had broken in and accessed the files.” Hammer grits her teeth. “So he should do what?! Leave them there for the general to use?!” “Think about it, Hammer. Even if the records were destroyed, they could just make new ones, as they’d still have the machine.” Viktor snaps his fingers. “However, if both the records AND the device were in the same place...” Xenos grins. “Then it’d be advantageous for us to burn those records!” Max shrugs. “Only if we were to also destroy the machine.” Maria groans. “That would DEFINITELY let them know something was up though.” Auriel looks to Hammer. “What about a timed explosive of some kind?” Hammer grins. “BOOM TIME!” Arc chuckles. “As much as I’d love to do that, it wouldn’t really help the situation.” Maria interjects. “It also stands to reason that the plans would be backed up in multiple secure locations too. Let’s say that you delete the records and destroy the device and the blueprints. They could just build another from the backups.” Mio nods. “A lot to lose and pretty much nothing to gain.” Arc grins. “So I get in, find the data, make a copy, and leave. Seems simple enough.” Max sighs. “We both know it won’t be though, sir.” Viktor nods. “Right. Every time we go in the security tightens.” Xenos grunts. “Yeah. Eventually they’re going to plug up every possible hole.” Hammer pulls her gun. “Then we make a few more!” Mio pushes her sister’s gun down slowly as she speaks. “Holes equal noise, Hammer.” Arc puts a hand to his chin thoughtfully. “Noise...” Auriel giggles. “You have an idea, Arc?” “Maybe noise as a distraction. Far away from where I am, of course.” Hugh grins. “Give them something to respond to elsewhere while you work, sir.” “Well... maybe ‘distraction’ wasn’t the best word for it. More along the lines of ‘Plan B’.” Maria nods soberly. “In the event your cover is blown you should use such an act to get away. Not endanger yourself further by staying there, Arc.” Hammer frowns. “And by ‘your’ cover I’m assuming the good doctor means everyone.” Arc shakes his head. “I really should go in alone on this one.” Auriel gasps. “WHAT?!” “This is going to be the most dangerous thing we’ve ever done, Auriel. After all, the general has to know that I’m going to show up sooner or later.” Xenos raises an eyebrow. “But how would he know that, sir?” “Think about it. Why else would he take a non-functional machine?” Mio glares at him. “Hey! It worked!” Hammer shrugs. “Not as intended, but yeah, kinda.” “It’s possible that he did so knowing that I’d come looking for it eventually.” Maria folds her arms over her chest. “And I can’t imagine that Mustang would have left that campsite unsupervised.” Hugh waves a hand dismissively. “But the commander wasn’t approached in any way.” Mio sighs. “There were probably cameras, or at the very least sensors, placed around my campsite after the machine was taken.” Viktor gasps. “So he HAS to know that WE know he has it!” Arc nods soberly. “The perfect bait.” Hammer grits her teeth. “All the more reason you shouldn’t go in there alone, Arc!” “Well, I suppose I could take Rose with me...” Auriel raises a hand. “And me!” Arc groans. “Auriel...” Hammer draws her gun. “Me too!” Mio looks to Arc sheepishly. “I’d also like to help.” “What is this?! An epidemic?!” “After all, it’s my fault that all of this happened.” Xenos looks to Mio skeptically. “But how do we know you can be trusted?!” Viktor points an accusatory finger at her. “Right! For all we know you could be leading the commander right into a trap!” Hugh nods. “Or worse!” Max looks around the room. “Calm down, everyone. The commander wouldn’t have brought her into this meeting if it were going to cause problems.” Arc smiles. “Right.” Hammer grins. “That and I made him.” “Also correct.” Mio’s eyes grow wide. “What?!” Maria clears her throat loudly. “In any case, there needs to be a proper plan drawn up on how this caper is going to be executed.” Auriel shudders. “Can you please not use that word, mother?” “A figure of speech, my dear.” Arc looks to Auriel’s mother. “You know the base better than anyone here. How would you do it?” “Your plan on getting inside is sound. Time consuming and requiring a large amount of luck however.” Hammer scoffs. “You got something better in mind, doc?” “Sadly, no. That’s why I’m not outright disagreeing with it.” Max looks to Maria. “Alright. So the commander gets in. What next?” “Head to Rieper’s lab, as was suggested earlier, and look for the proper files in his office.” Hugh frowns. “How would he get in though?” “From the look on Mio’s face, I would guess that she has an idea.” Hammer looks to her sister. “Mio?” “It’s not exactly common knowledge, but Doctor Rieper isn’t very good at coming up with strong passwords and codes.” Maria smirks. “He still has that bad habit, eh?” “Yes, ma’am. I once accidently witnessed him punching in his lab code as ‘1, 2, 3, 4, 5’.” Xenos grins. “That’s perfect!” Hugh chuckles. “If it’s THAT simple the commander might just be able to guess the code!” Hammer holds up a hand for silence. “You’re all hedging on the fact that Arc can just stand there punching in codes. Standing still is dangerous. Even more so if he’s distracted with a task in the middle of the corridor.” Mio turns to her sister. “The only other option would be to bypass the code with Doctor Rieper’s ID badge.” Viktor appears hopeful. “Is that an option?” Hammer shakes her head. “Not really. He’s REALLY possessive of that thing. Heck, I think he might be the only person I know of whom ALWAYS has it withing arm’s reach.” Mio sighs. “Yes, it’s always on his coat or in his hand from what I’ve seen.” Maria shrugs. “Or on the nightstand next to him.” “Dare I ask how you know that, mother?” “In the past I sometimes had to wake him up after a late night session in the lab. Every time I entered his quarters it was sitting right there. No matter how many hours he had been up or even if he had just walked in and literally fallen right on the bed, it was ALWAYS there.” Viktor looks to Arc. “Maybe it’d be worth a shot at getting, sir.” “That would require me breaking into his quarters first though.” Max smirks. “Remember, we got in when he opened the door to leave for his lab.” Hammer turns to Viktor. “How about picking it?” “I can’t imagine a door THAT important would have a simple tumbler lock.” Xenos groans. “Pickproof?” “There’s no such thing as a truly pickproof lock. But my skills would probably not be up to that job.” Hammer slides her hand across the table. “If you do get in at night you could use your mist form, Arc.” “Yes. But that’s just another variable. Just like whether or not I could stay in my Crimson form before morning came.” Auriel turns to him. “There is a way to help assure that happens though, Arc.” “Oh?” “The ‘Telepathy Ball’.” Hammer raises an eyebrow. “The what?” “It’s an ancient demon artifact. When Arc had it in his ring he was able to stay in his Crimson form even in direct sunlight.” Maria frowns. “Crimson form?” Arc sighs “Think of it like a vampire.” “Interesting. Could I possibly observe you in such a state at some point?” “If I survive this mission, yes.” He turns back to Auriel before continuing. “As useful at that would be, I’m thinking taking such an old and important relic into the belly of the beast isn’t exactly something your father would approve of.” “I could probably convince him that the matter was important.” Maria nods. “We both could.” Hammer grins. “It’d really help, Arc.” “Very well. But don’t push the king too hard on this. I don’t want a guy that big coming after me.” Max attempts to keep the conversation moving. “Let’s assume you get that thing, get inside the base, AND are able to get into Rieper’s quarters to swipe his badge. What then?” Mio frowns. “And what if you can’t get that relic?” Arc chuckles as he looks around at all assembled. “Okay, here’s what we’re going to do...”