Tour de Allegheny

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41

“I need to clean the floor,” Brandon responded, trying to remove himself from the equation as he moved passed Autumn and busied himself with cleaning the droplets of blood off the floor. It was not until he finished that job and returned to the kitchen that Autumn intercepted him again.

And when he finally met her eyes, looking into them and seeing Cassandra, he found himself sliding into the chair at the table, sitting before the cold meal. He ran his hand through his hair nervously and looked to the prepared meal, anything to keep him from seeing Cassandra in her.

“Autumn…” he spoke his voice quiet, “he is going to try to destroy her. He is…it’s my fault. I shouldn’t have come here,” he spoke without looking at Autumn, pressing his fingers to his temple. “I should have known better. What the fuck was I thinking? She’s the damn Supreme Commander!” his voice raised for a second before he stood up. “I need to think. Take care of her Autumn. She’s your sister and she loves you. Don’t let her push you away again,” he said before turning to leave, walking out still in nothing more than the shirt and shorts.

42

“Brandon is right. I can’t let her push me away, not now.” Autumn went back into the living room stopping at the entrance. She looked upon her sister, she had been through so much, but as she looked upon her she saw a broken soul. She sat next to her on the couch and hugger her, pulling her closely. Crying wasn’t something Cassandra did very often, but this last emotional wound was too much and she could not force it down. Cassandra cried like a child into Autumn’s shoulder, years of held back emotions shot their way up and out of the deep recesses of her mind. Autumn held her, stroking her short hair. She wanted to help her forget her problems, but all she could do was be there and stop her from pushing her away.

Cassandra stopped although tears still occasionally rolled down her cheeks as she broke the embrace and sat back. Autumn held her hand and sat there quietly with her.

“I envy what you have.” Cassandra said bluntly. “He’s going to use this, I should have never invited Brandon here. It was unprofessional of me.” She said. “But… I need him.”

Autumn shook her head. “Then go to him, stop feeling sorry for yourself and go to him. Because right now as you sit here, he is thinking the same thing and he will leave if he thinks it will protect you. You can’t let him, he is the greatest thing to happen to you since… a long time. Go!” She pulled Cassandra up from the couch and directed her to the back door. Brandon sat upon the swing staring out into the trees behind the house. Cassandra curled herself up against him, resting her head on his shoulder. “I… Brandon… I…” She couldn’t find any words to say and opted to keep quiet leaving the sounds of the tree’s rustling in the light wind to fill the air.

43

And no words needed to be said for he knew…her presence there at that moment said it all. Wrapping his arm around her, they both sat in silence, staring out at the autumn morning, watching the cold air send leaves dancing across the yard as Autumn peaked out and watched them, unable to restrain the smile. They were perfect for each other in their own silent ways and that moment they confirmed that they would give their lives over to the other. Whatever Shepherd said, whatever he threatened, she hoped they could fight it for she could not imagine what could bring these two fierce fighters to their knees.

An hour passed before Autumn heard their soft voices in the kitchen, speaking quietly as to not disturb her in the event she was sleeping. They had made their way to the breakfast she had prepared and despite the obvious coldness, had both half demolished their servings before she entered the scene.

“Hey, even cold, it’s not so bad! I bet your husband packs a few pounds eating if this is what you cook for him every morning,” Brandon laughed, forking another biteful into his mouth.

Cassandra just shook her head. He was hopeless…absolutely hopeless, but he was Brandon and she wouldn’t have him any other way.

Sitting with them and enjoying the cold meal, they all shared in laughter over their past screw-ups. It was not until Brandon excused himself to shower to ready himself for the meeting that Autumn and Cassandra sat alone, recovered from the morning’s mishap.

“Cassie,” Autumn began as she stood up and hugged her sister, “I’m really happy for you. I’m glad you are back in my life but I’m happier to see you finally enjoying life. I know you have to go but don’t let this be a goodbye for long. We can come visit you and you know you are both welcome over my house. George would love to meet you. I told him a lot about you and he always wanted to meet you. And I am sure he and Brandon will get along splendidly. With their humor they can keep each other going for hours!”

Cassandra nodded, almost finding the idea of her ignoring her sister ludicrous after their time spent making amends. But then she felt Autumn hug her more tightly almost as if she might really be saying goodbye.

“Please be careful Cassie. I don’t like the sounds of this and I can guess that anything that makes Brandon worry like that is reason enough to worry. He doesn’t sound like an irrational person to me. If he’s worried…I think it’s safe to assume that we all should be. I love you sis and I love the new life you have found but out there…be careful. I don’t want to-.”

“Um…uniform please?” Brandon’s voice broke their conversation as he peaked his head around the corner, holding out his arm while ensuring the towel around his waist did not fall loose.

Sharing the mutual headshake, Cassandra slipped away, squeezing her sister’s hand in reassurance before grabbing his uniform and slipping away with him.

And Autumn merely smiled and shook her own head as she listened to Brandon’s shameless flirting as they walked up the stairs, preparing themselves for the meeting at hand. She knew they would get ready, give each other a moment of encouragement to face Shepherd again, but she didn’t want to say goodbye so soon. Sitting on the couch she saw the pictures, arranged around the room in memory of the life they had. All of them with those bright eyed smiles and then there was dad…holding them both. Holding the picture she allowed herself to remember him in this house that she grew up in.

When she heard them descend the stairs she quickly replaced the picture and met them at the door. As both stood there in their uniforms, she got the sense that they could be two different people sometimes. Cassandra with her red beret and Brandon with those black gloves. There were some things she knew she could not understand, but he did, and for that she was grateful…grateful that he stood beside her in that uniform and knew what she was about and what she needed to do yet know that she was still was Cassie beneath it all.

Hugging each other, they all departed together in silence, not wanting to speak the words that may become a reality between them all. And within a few hours, Autumn was on her way back home to take her own moment with George and appreciate the companionship and loved she shared with him while Brandon and Cassandra were off to face these trials before them together.

44

The flight quiet, Cassandra in her usual fashion fell asleep on the plane waking up every so often as the plane rocked with the occasional turbulence. The landscape outside was devoid of the cities that populated the west, they were far north near the border. There weren’t any airports in sight that Brandon could see, until they flew over the top of a mountain. The long runway was behind it with taxiways and roads leading into it. This was Central Command for the Alleghenian military, built within a mountain to withstand conventional and nuclear attacks. Two fighters instantly appeared closely on the sides of the government jet, one of the pilot’s waved to Brandon as he looked out the small window. The fighter pilots got the codes from the government jet’s pilots and as soon as they came they left to patrol elsewhere.

The touchdown was soft and Cassandra was awake as the plane came to a stop. She complimented the Pilot’s on a wonderful landing and exited the plane with Brandon. The cold mountain air was crisp and clean as it swept across the tarmac, an electric jeep soon arrived to take them into the base. Entering the base showed how extensive it was.

Cassandra smiled at Brandon as he looked around. “My second home, do you like what I have done with it?” She asked jokingly. “Built out of paranoia, you’ll find alot of that in this country unfortunately. It serves it’s purpose though.” She said more seriously. The jeep stopped and let them off and they entered a new sub section that served as the entire command center for the operation. The room was huge, massive screens adorned the walls showing areas they were focusing on. One screen showed a bird’s eye view of the burning city of Iruk in real time.

But Brandon wasn’t given a chance to look around much longer as Cassandra whisked him away to one of the meeting rooms. Many of the other eleven members of the Joint Chiefs Committee were arriving at the same time. No sign of Shepherd however.

Cassandra introduced Brandon to several of the other Generals, who were mostly enthusiastic to meet him. They had all been appraised of the new alliance with Mahanoy and did their research. The time for the meeting to begin had come and Shepherd had yet to arrived.

Cassandra sighed. “We will begin without General Shepherd since he feels that being late is acceptable here. Before we begin you have all met Ambassador Dinardeau of The Elite Empire, the President has seen it fit for our nations to learn more about each other, the Ambassador also has a proposal for us as well which we will get to in a few moments.” Cassandra was about to begin asking for reports when Shepherd came in, his face was bruised on the cheek where she had hit him earlier that morning. One of the Generals laughed. “Nice shiner there Shepherd, what did you do get in a fight with your desk?”

“You were always the joker Stewart.” Shepherd said as he sat down. He eyed Brandon from across the room. “No actually I paid a visit to Commander Phillips here today and found her with our Ambassador friend Mr. Dinardeau, fraternizing.”

“Is this true?” Another female General asked.

Cassandra laughed. “Of course not Sophie. I have been ordered by Gordon himself to give Mr. Dinardeau a tour of our nation. He asked to see where I called home. I simply obliged his request.” It hurt her greatly to deny her relationship with Brandon but it had to be done.

Commander General Sophie Davenport re-directed her gaze back at Shepherd. “Then why this accusation?”

Shepherd ignored Davenport and stood from his chair. A wild eyed look on his face showed he was determined to expose Cassandra and take her power away from her. “Oh yeah, you obliged him didn’t you!”

“Alright let’s calm down here. What evidence do you have Shepherd.” Asked General Metzger.

“Evidence? I saw them with my own eyes!” Shepherd exclaimed.

The Generals laughed. “Wow David Shepherd without evidence. Look Dave, we know you were beat out for the SPC position but this is just pathetic. Old age getting the better of you now?” Said General Stewart.

Cassandra smiled. His rush to accuse her failed. “Why don’t you take some time off Shepherd, you have done a great service here as my second command and I fear I work you to hard.” Cassandra called over one of the guards. "Have Commander General Shepherd taken home will you? He needs a little vacation.

“I will not be treated like this!” He said as the soldier beckoned for him to move. Cassandra waved his hands and the strong soldier pushed him out, but not without him giving her a look that told her it wasn’t over. Cassandra had dodged anoter bullet but despite his age Shepherd was a not a fool, he acted to quickly and she knew he knew that and that it was only a matter of time before he had the evidence gathered. For now she would have to play her cards carefully until she could prove that their relationship was not harmful, but first Brandon needed to show that Mahanoy was only in an alliance with Allegheny to a help to them just as Allegheny would show it was there to help Mahanoy.

45

Brandon’s eyes never left Shepherd, watching him closely as no emotions played across his face, even when the accusations and heated looks where uncomfortably throw his way. It was as if he were another man observing the situation as an outsider. And even as Shepherd was issued out of the room, Brandon returned to the reports he distributed to the members…reports that Cassandra had not even seen him type up.

“Thank you Chiefs for your time,” Brandon spoke, his voice even and collected despite the accusations against him. “I have taken the liberty to compile a report of my proposal for you in great detail. Allow me a brief moment to summarize and highlight the most important information in this proposal.”

Sliding a small metal device onto the table, a holographic screen emerged for them all to see. With permission from your president Gordon and Supreme Commander Philips, I was given the opportunity to tour your training facilities," he spoke as he clicked a button the screen, bringing up the projected video of the facility in question and the sites he was most impressed in.

“During my tour here, I had the idea that our nations could establish an official East Pacific training facility. Mahanoy has been looking to expand our military training facility, Kuro Institute, closer to the Carbonis Corporation here in The East Pacific. For security reasons and regional placement, we find it unwise to open the school in Carbonis. However, upon inspection of your training facilities, I believe that your nation could host this institution. Your nation is politically stable and already has established training grounds. I calculated the estimated cost opening the East Pacific branch of Kuro in your nation at 3.6 billion Alleghenian marks in comparison to the 13 billion it may take to open in another nation.”

Showing images of the anticipated transition and outcome on the video projection, Brandon continued his slide show as he talked, “Due to the financial burden, my nation is more than willing to front the cost of this transfer. We only need your consent and approval to transition your training grounds to an official military training institution. You may be wondering why you should let us open a branch in your nation. If you allow your nation to host this institution, you will benefit from the obvious prestige of training tomorrow’s leaders while you obtain an opportunity to become a forerunner in military affairs. I must also inform you that the drawbacks of hosting this facility are the potential targets of warfare and possible security breeches of inviting other nations to train in your nation. Mahanoy however is willing to help you protect your nation from these extraneous circumstances to its best capacity. I understand this is a difficult decision to make and rather than influence your decision, I would like you to take the opportunity to discuss this among yourselves. I have compiled the report, please refer to it as you discuss this. Call me back if you have questions or have come to a decision,” Brandon politely bowed his head in respect as he took his leave from the room, allowing the Joint Chiefs a moment to discuss this decision in private.

Keeping his calm demeanor, it was not until he was in the bathroom that he breathed a heavy sigh and walked over to the mirror, removing his gloves to wash his hands and splash his face with the cold water. It was almost too close, he nearly lost control as Shepherd again confronted Cassandra. Drying his face off with the towel, he opened his eyes to see Shepherd standing there staring at him incredulously, a cold rage burning behind his eyes as he looked at Brandon with contempt. It was almost as if his eyes blamed him for everything.

“Shepherd…” Brandon spoke, obviously having not anticipated the man’s presence, but his thoughts were interrupted when Shepherd drove his knee into the Mahanionian’s ribcage.

Brandon tried to speak but all that escaped was an airy grunt. Trying to move away, he again felt the knee drive itself beneath his ribcage and felt the jolt as blunt trauma struck the base of his liver. Grunting again he collapsed to his knees and struggled for air.

“You should have stayed home and fucked your own women,” Shepherd kicked him hard, aiming for the same spot he seemed to target.

Falling onto his back, Brandon clutched his side, hoping to defend the weak area from another assault. “Cass-”

“You won’t say anything to her Mahanionian. You led me right to her sister and you wouldn’t want that pretty little sister of Cassandra’s plane to never make home, would you? Can you live with the guilt of that?”

Brandon only grunted and curled into the fetal position on the bathroom floor, bracing his injured liver as he began to groan from the pain.

“That’s what I thought,” he said as he again aimed a final kick to the same spot. “Utter a word of this meeting and you have a dead woman on your hands. Thanks to you I know where to find her if I need to. Think about that.” Turning out of the bathroom, he left Brandon lying there as the man groaned and clutched his side.

But after three minutes and no return of Shepherd, Brandon rolled onto his knees, fighting to stand back up. He looked at himself in the mirror, seeing his own agony written in his face. Trying to suppress the response, he washed his hands and face again, fixing the distorted hair in the process. The physical pain was breaking through his broken ribs and fractured liver, but he could not do it, could not put Autumn at risk. Biting down the pain, he straightened and brushed the bits of dirt off his uniform. He was sweating, a response that despite how much he fought to contain it, he could not. And when a knock on the bathroom door sounded followed by Cassandra’s voice, he felt the panic overtake him. What if she suspected something?

Swallowing hard, he replaced his gloves and looked in the mirror a quick moment. He still looked miserable, but he tried against everything to fight it as he opened the door seeing Cassandra eye him suspiciously.

Flashing a grin, Brandon slid out of the door, closing it behind him as if he were ashamed of what he had done in the bathroom. “Nervous…” he answered, trying to explain his appearance and the time he spent in the bathroom, “I guess I am uncertain as to how your nation is going to handle this proposition. I am not sure I responded the best, I should have waited around for questions before leaving,” he weakly laughed as he shrugged, the pain in his side biting at him.

46

“Uhh, yeah.” She said in a slightly irritated tone. “Are you ok?” She asked as his usual grin was forced and not genuine.

Brandon waved it off. “Yea of course, ‘Commander,’ now lets return shall we?”

Cassandra shook her head and returned with him to the meeting room. The Generals looked up from their papers. “Ah, yes Mr. Ambassador. Why is it unwise to open this in Carbonis?” Another shot up right after. “What is done with the graduates? Do they stay here or are they open to be recruited by anyone, I see that as a potential security problem.”

“Yea.” Another piped up. “What if one of these graduates goes off and joins an enemy nation?”

More questions shot out. “Commander Phillips you do not think we could give him the whole training ground, right?”

Cassandra waved that question off. “Of course not, it would simply be added on I am sure. But this isn’t definite yet and just know that I haven’t accepted or approved anything yet, we have to work this out so continue to ask questions.”

“What do we have to gain? Other than prestige.” Asked another.

47

Trying to stifle the pain, Brandon grimaced as he sat and forced down a sip of water to try to divert attention away from his facial expressions. Holding his arm to his side to help brace the injury, Brandon negotiated the chair to hide as much of his discomfort away from the others.

“Well you see,” he began feeling the pain surface as he tried to speak. The sweat collected on his hair line and he could feel the beads forming, threatening to break loose. “Uh…” he struggled as the pain clouded his mind. Finding his glass again, he drained some more before he realized that now the room had fallen silent and he was under the scrutiny of everyone, including Cassandra who was quickly beginning to see past his facade as she eyed him suspiciously again.

Shit. His mind raced for a moment. He needed to regain control, but how could he? Anxiety.

“You will have to forgive me Joint Chiefs. I did not anticipate being in the room with so many brilliant-minded personnel and it makes me nervous. I feel ill-equipped around you all and moreso, I feel I am not even worthy to stand in your presence. I am just an ambassador, you are great military minds and leaders. So if I come off as being nervous, please forgive me, I will do my best in these circumstances,” he again weakly laughed, clutching his side tighter with the arm he kept beneath the table.

“You ask pertinent questions and let me reattempt to explain my proposal better. I know I did not give you much of an opportunity to read over the proposal, however most of the questions you ask are explained in greater detail so I will only briefly touch upon them again.”

Stealing a moment to quell the pain in his side, he took a deep breath that brought with it more pain through his broken ribs. He struggled not to grimace and redirected the attention to a map of The East Pacific he pulled up on the display.

“As you can see Joint Chiefs, Carbonis is located behind The Sacred Lands. While we can in theory place a training facility in Carbonis, it does not allow for much international travel through those seas and around that airspace. It would limit the amount of training we can actually do out of Carbonis which would impair our young student’s education. Additionally, as you can see, Carbonis is located on the far east side of The East Pacific. Bringing a branch on the main portion of the region is more convenient to other nations and allows them more of an opportunity to join the program.”

Again pulling up an image on the display from the handheld device, Brandon used the distraction to help calm his breathing and try to suppress the sweating. As images of Kuro showed and a video of the line was depicted as the entire courtyard filled with rows and rows of solid black uniformed students, Brandon wiped the sweat from his brow and stole another drink…anything to try to appear less in pain and more anxious.

“This is Kuro Institute,” he began. “You may not see it now, but we are confident that at the end of our program students will not defect or join an enemy nation. While we cannot guarantee the outcome of every single individual that passes through our doors, the program has had tremendous success in weeding out those who intend on leaving the nation. Furthermore, as you will all be given an opportunity to see first hand as you will be invited to tour Kuro Institute before you make an official decision, students develop a strong sense of camaraderie through their years at Kuro. Any student who leaves the group for another nation will most likely be intercepted by his or her peers and never succeed in their mission. Our students graduate not based on time put into Kuro but on accomplishing the missions needed. By the time they graduate, all students are at the same skill level across the board. This means that should the event arise where a student does leave the institute for an enemy’s military, there are more than a dozen students at the same skill level fighting for our nations. Graduating students are trained to lead our militaries and often take up military leadership positions upon completion of the program. We only accept the best to begin with. The competition is high and we do not give our students out to just anyone who has a large wallet. As I said, our students develop a strong bond with their fellow students and our nations…through surviving Kuro Institute they are less likely to leave us for another nation.”

Feeling weak, Brandon slumped in his chair some. To the outsider it might appear the questions were overbearing, but he knew an astute eye might catch him losing energy trying to fight off the pain. He again fished for anything…anything to keep the attention off him.

“Commander,” he began drawing attention to Cassandra, “I believe you can discuss the benefits of this transition better than I can. I could tell you what I see as benefits to your nation, but I believe your Commander has a better idea of what you may see as benefits of this institution to your nation. I could tell you that the financial pull of students pouring in will give your nation more than a hefty economic boost, not that you need it,” he offered with a wink knowing their economy was already impressive, “but also the ability to impact and train tomorrow’s leaders does give your nation an edge up in world affairs. But again, Commander Philips can explain these benefits better than I can.”

Watching as the others slowly drifted their attention from him to Cassandra, Brandon let himself collapse more, clutching his side more openly now. The pain was surmounting and he did not think it was possible that the injury would feel so much worse with time. Even as he sat there, he was oblivious of the internal bleeding, the paling of his skin, the sweat that now dripped along his hairline. Despite the foreboding signs, he fought to maintain the illusion that he was simply nervous and everything was merely symptomatic anxiety.

48

Metzger scratched his chin. “Seems reasonable to me, and from what I see here the plan is sound. Defection shouldn’t be a problem, they are trained here, they will live here, we can use this to train eligible officers with a new way of battlefield thinking.”

Cassandra nodded taking here scrutiny on Brandon’s ‘nervousness’ elsewhere. “I agree, our primary stake in this would be training new and already established officers. We can talk ourselves up all we want but despite our advances and our discipline our way of thought is old fashioned, it serves it’s purpose and has done so admirably so far. This would only serve to supplement our existing doctrines. We can mesh the two together and create something new.”

General Sophie Amsel moved to speak her opinion. "I for one want to see it in action and talk to the students myself, I am not fully convinced yet, but I am open to the idea. Security matters shouldn’t be a problem. If we build it in an area that is already fortified then we should be fine. The institute itself can also serve as a means of fortification. Also the help Mr. Ambassador has spoke about also interests me.

“Indeed.” General Stewart replied. “From what I learned Mahanoy has a very advanced air force, with myself being a Air Force General I want to see how they train their pilots, maybe even see how ours measures up.”

Cassandra nodded and turned to Brandon, seeing his pale sweating form now in the light. How no one had noticed it before surprised her. She whispered. “Whats wring with you? Are you ok?”

The other Generals began to notice. “Hey you don’t look very well.” Said Metzger. “Are you ok? Should we call sickbay?”

49

“Nervous,” Brandon spoke, trying to flash a grin that quickly slid off his face, “just nervous.” The lie was all he could manage to keep the attention off himself, but it was failing rapidly as the others who had not noticed were now drawn his way.

“I’m just going to slip out for some fresh air. I think I ate something that is not agreeing with me,” he quickly drained the remainder of his glass before standing up slowly. The subsequent rush to his head and drop in blood pressure nearly floored him, but somehow he managed to keep it together as he focused on putting one foot in front of the other until he had made it outside the meeting room, failing to notice that he made no attempt to hide his pain as he clutched his side.

Nodding to the nearby soldiers who stood guard, he forced himself along, finding himself unable to walk further than the bathroom. Once inside he closed the door and rushed to the sink, turning on the cold water and splashing his face and neck with it…anything to keep him there at that moment. He felt the first wave of nausea come on and doubled over the running sink, vomiting a bilious black liquid. The water caught the combination of bile and half digested blood washing it down as quickly as he brought it up. Nevertheless, he continued to wretch his guts out until he fell onto the floor from exhaustion. Shivering and sweating, he clutched his side and laid there, pressing his face into the cold tile.

Several minutes must have passed or maybe it was only seconds, Brandon lost in the moment as he laid there trying to keep himself together, when the sound of knocking sounded on the door again. He tried to push himself up, but only made it into a sitting position. Still clutching his side, he made no attempt to try to answer the door this time or even to try to pretend he was fine.

Utter a word of this meeting and you have a dead woman on your hands.

Burying his head in his hands, he groaned with the pain. He had grown to feel comfortable with her family, had come to feel at home around them, to appreciate and care for them as if they were his own family…or what he believed families should feel like. And he could not do it, could not just confess to Cassandra everything, tell her what happened and get the help he needed. He would die for them if it meant protecting them.

Letting himself rest his head on his knees, he resumed clutching his side as he started to rapidly breathe. The sound of muffled talking came from outside, or was it inside? He dared not lift his head to confirm. All he could do was focus on his breathing to keep the ringing in his ears from drowning out all sound and the pain from taking complete control of his body.

50

The door to the bathroom was whipped open as a guard followed by the Cassandra and the other curious Generals ran in after the guard issued a code blue alert. The medics rushed in pushing people out of the way and they tried to illicit a response from Brandon. They opened his shirt to reveal the black bruises on his abdomen much to Cassandra’s horror. Brandon simply smiled at her and passed into unconsciousness as the medics wheeled him out of the bathroom to sickbay.

Brandon awoke to glowing eyes looking down upon him. “He is awake!”

Cassandra’s worried face appeared in his narrow vision, their voices seemed warped most likely an effect of drugs. The doctor wrote down a few things before looking back to Brandon. “You know, when you get your ass kicked like that you are supposed to get medical attention. You could have died.”

Brandon didn’t pay much attention to the Doctor’s words. “You should be fine though, we opened you up and repaired the damage. You just get some rest, I’ll tell you all this again later.” The Doctor said with a smile knowing Brandon would forget in this drugged stupor.

An inordinate amount of time passed as Brandon slept a dreamless sleep. He woke again to see the nurse adjusting an IV. She saw him try to move but stopped him from doing so. “Don’t move! You will hurt yourself.” She ordered. The nurse called over the Doctor and Cassandra followed behind him.

“Well, well he is finally awake and hopefully more coherent than last time. I won’t sugar coat it, your liver was damaged by whoever or whatever attacked you and you were bleeding pretty heavily in there. Now we got you all fixed up and in one piece, you will have a scar there on your a belly when it finally all heals.” Well I got other things to do, if you need me have the nurse call me over." The Doctor gave a wink and left the room, Cassandra stayed behind.

“Brandon… what… how did this happen?” We went over some camera footage but none look at the bathrooms so we didn’t see who came in and attacked you. But you must have seen this person. Tell me so we can punish whoever assaulted you." She asked, almost ordering him. Cassandra looked somewhat angry and she was confused on how he could just be attacked and act like it didn’t happen.

51

“I fell,” Brandon grimaced as he brought his hand to the covered incisions on his chest and abdomen, feeling the tenderness as he pressed, “how long was I out?”

Frowning with the obvious lie Brandon was telling, she looked at him sternly before the nurse spoke, “you have been in and out of consciousness for the past two days. You are more coherent today than you have been before though.”

“I guess I asked that a few times?” Brandon failed to grin as tried to recall his previous awakenings to no avail.

The nurse only smiled and laughed, knowing that Brandon lacked the energy to do even simple tasks, “take it easy and get your rest Mister Dinardeau. You need to conserve your energy for a few weeks.”

“Weeks?” he asked looking down at his exposed chest and hands, noticing the yellowing tint of his skin.

As if they had this very conversation dozens of times before, the nurse politely smiled and recapped what the doctors had explained to him already, “the trauma to your organs will need time to heal Mister Dinardeau. Your fall damaged your liver and subsequently compromised other organ systems in your body. We are confident you will pull through this, but you need to get your rest now so that you have the energy needed to repair the injuries.”

“And the pain?” he asked, shamefully trying to avoid eye contact with Cassandra as if the admission of having a response might make him less of a man.

The nurse sadly smiled, “I am afraid that there is little we can do about that right now. Your liver is badly damaged Mister Dinardeau. Placing the strain of metabolizing many of our medications on you will only make the situation worse. We are covering you with what we can, but we are limited in what your body can physiologically handle right now.”

Brandon nodded, feeling the pain in his side gnaw at him. Bracing his side again, he held his arm fixed there like a shield, defending himself from the next attack.

“I will be back to check on you shortly sir. Commander Philips needs to discuss issues of security with you and I will leave you both to talk privately. Please do not strain yourself Brandon. You need your rest,” the nurse almost begged as she left the room.

The moment of silence that hung between them began to grow oppressive until Cassandra finally had enough and shot him an angry glance, “why are you trying to lie to me?”

“I fell,” Brandon again responded, his voice tired and shaking while he struggled to avoid eye contact with her.

“Before or after you had your ass kicked?” she shot back, catching onto the games that Mahanionians played to hide their secrets.

“After,” Brandon sheepishly confessed, hanging his head in shame.

“So who did this to you Brandon?” her voice tried to sound more empathetic despite the obvious anger and confusion at the situation.

“Cassandra…” he slowly drew out her name, “I…” clutching his side more, he tried to curl up in bed before he realized his leg was restrained.

“Safety,” Cassandra confessed, knowing that Brandon in his less coherent moments had tried to fight them too much.

Frowning, he continued to brace his side and avert his eyes from Cassandra. The truth was there and he struggled to tell her. Every fiber in his body wanted to scream out and tell her but he remained silent for the safety of her sister.

“Cassandra…how’s Autumn? Call her for me please. I need to know she made it home.”

52

Cassandra sighed becoming increasingly irritated with the games he played, but she obliged his request. She took a phone from the desk and called the bases dispatcher. “Hello? Yes, Commander Phillips requesting an outside call.” She gave the number and the operator connected her to Autumn’s cell phone.

Autumn was sitting at home when she got the call. She looked at her phone and it said it was an unavailable number. “Hello? Who is calling?”

Cassandra smiled. “Don’t worry Autumn it’s me Cassandra.”

Autumn became excited at the sound of her sister’s voice. “Cassie! How have you been, I hope you aren’t torturing yourself with that job of yours.”

Cassandra laughed. “No I am fine. Brandon is with me would you like to talk to him?”

“Yea sure! He is such a sweetie that guy.” Autumn said teasing her sister.

Cassandra handed the phone to Brandon who gingerly placed it to his ear. “Hi Autumn! Is everything going well?”

“Hi Brandon! Yea everything is great!” She happily exclaimed." “I was just about to sta…” The line cut out and weird electronic sounds could be heard along with clicking in the background. Then the line went silent for a few seconds.

“Hello Mr. Dinardeau.” A male voice answered. It wasn’t Shepherd and he could not place the voice to any other person he had met in his time in Allegheny. “We are watching her. Just remember that.” The line cut and Autumn’s voice could be heard again.

“Brandon are you there?” She asked.

Brandon was almost terrified now, he hid his face from Cassandra so she couldn’t see. “Yea I am here.” He replied.

“Oh ok. Sorry I can’t talk much now George just got home and he is bugging me.” She said with some laughter in her voice. “Bye now!”

“Bye…” Brandon said giving the phone back to Cassandra.

53

While still clutching his side, Brandon brought a trembling hand to his hair and ran it through in that same nervous gesture he did without thinking. How far did this extend? The question was there, Shepherd was not bluffing, and now the decision to remain silent had been resolved with the cold icy threat that ran down his spine.

But could he protect her if Cassandra did not know?

Again attempting to curl up, he found him fighting the leg restraints a second time. But he stopped when the pain augmented and he felt himself fatigued too easily, as if all the energy he had was used in that single attempt to move.

“Cassandra,” he fought the wearing exhaustion and extreme tiredness creeping up, “they are going to kill us,” he murmured as his mind felt heavy and clouded.

“Who is they Brandon?” Cassandra asked as she watched him close his eyes as if preparing to fall asleep, “Brandon. Don’t you dare. Who is they?”

Walking up to him she shook him awake for a moment. His eyes opened, a spark of fear in them as if he expected the jolt to be someone there to finish the job. “Protect…you have to…” his words again slowly faded.

“Brandon please stay with me. Just a minute. I know you are tired. They told me you would be. But please Brandon, fight it for a minute. What is going on? Who is going to hurt us? Who hurt you?”

“Fall” the words were feeble as he drifted back to sleep, still bracing his side despite his fatigue.

54

Cassandra caressed Brandon’s cheek as he fell back asleep, his energy drained by the injuries and subsequent surgery. She slumped back in the chair. "She knew who did this, but she couldn’t… wouldn’t believe that he would go this far this quickly. How much power did he wield behind the scenes? Cassandra could not fathom it, her line of thoughts weren’t politically or ulterior in nature. She just wanted to be an efficient and honest leader but those character traits were hard to find in Allegheny. For all she knew he had a network of people, maybe an entire faction ready to work against her so he could jump in and wield what she poured her life into.

And now as she sat there, the very man she loved had almost died because of it. What could she do to protect him from unscrupulous characters who wanted nothing but to manipulate this entire alliance? Everything she had done since meeting him was a mistake, but she wasn’t ashamed of it, only disappointed that she allowed it be used as a weapon against her.

55

The phone started ringing, quiet at first, but becoming louder. When Cassandra stirred from her sleep at the sound of it, she tried to place where it was coming from. Was he dying? Was it a machine beeping some new change in his condition? Was it someone calling her? What was it? The sound ceased and she looked around confused until she began to drift back to sleep when the ring turned from a gradual tone to a more urgent ring. Now it seemed to beckon, hey, I am here, listen to me before it again silenced itself before she located the exact location. Looking around, she tried to find the source of the commotion when a third time it rang, the tone now demanding that it be answered. And she found the source of noise tucked into the bag holding Brandon’s belongings.

Secure Number, Carbonis Complex, Sector 0, Mahanoy, The West Pacific.

The face plate lit up informing the caller who demanded their attention and Cassandra hesitated for a moment before answering. If Mahanoy was calling they might have not known, or they might have known and demanded a response.

“Dinardeau,” the voice spoke before she could, “you failed to report in. That is three nights in a row. You are suspended from duty until further notice. We are sending another ambassador in to replace you. This conduct might jeopardize our relations and we cannot afford to have you screw things up over there. You better have a damn good reason for this,” the cold dark voice threatened the listener.

“This is Supreme Commander General Cassandra Philips of the Alleghenian military. Mister Dinardeau was involved in an accident and is currently unable to respond at the moment. My nation would have contacted you sooner sir, but we were more focused on keeping him alive. He had regained conscious today and is coming around, but his injuries will keep him away for a few more weeks.”

The voice was silent as if contemplating the truth in her words. “Put him on,” it ordered.

“He is sleeping sir. He is difficult to arouse.”

“Find a way. I have confidence if you can keep the man alive you have something to awaken him at your disposal.”

Cassandra nodded to herself despite only being on the phone and walked over to Brandon, trying to shake him awake. Her futile efforts only elicited an airy groan of pain from Brandon who remained in an exhausted state of sleep. Calling the doctor, she gave the order to awake him, despite knowing the dangers it could have on his already injured liver. But she knew that if this man did not speak to Brandon, the situation would become more complicated than it already was.

Injecting Brandon with a stimulant, they watched for a moment as it passed through his system a full cycle before taking its effect on his brain. He tried to kick and remove himself from the bed, but the restraints once again held him and he buckled in pain, groaning with the exertion. With heavy rapid breathing he slid his way down the bed to curl into himself and brace his side. Cassandra tried to hide her own pain at seeing him react with such a hopelessness, but knew that it had to be done.

“Brandon,” she spoke, trying to bring his attention towards her, “someone from your nation is on the phone. You need to talk to him before those medications wear off. It is very important you do so.”

But Brandon did not respond, instead he began to shake and groan from the pain, feeling another wave of nausea come upon him.

“Brandon, Mahanoy is on the phone.”

The word struck him, Mahanoy, the name triggering something in his mind. As if turned off, he lifted his head and looked towards her, seeing the phone she extended towards him. He took it slowly and brought it to his ear, the pain augmenting but he fought to push it down.

“Dinardeau reporting,” his voice was strained the pain evident. “Yes sir. No sir. Liver injury. I fell. Yes sir. Yes sir, I landed on an edge, it drove up beneath my ribcage. No sir, it is not an act against Mahanoy. I reassure you sir, this alliance is still on. Yes sir. No sir, another ambassador is not needed. Sir, I can…yes sir,” he gave in, his voice sounding defeated.

He hung up the phone and readjusted himself in the bed more comfortably, again resting his head on the pillow instead of on his knees. “They are sending in another ambassador to assess the situation and see if I am fit to perform my official duties,” he announced as he looked away from Cassandra almost defeated. “I…I kind of impressed my nation with your nation and they believe that an alliance with your nation would be one of the best military decisions and economic moves they made in a long time. They want to assure that I will not jeopardize this alliance.”

Feeling the pain again and the exhaustion, Brandon fought it with the help of the stimulant drugs they gave him. “Cassandra,” he began as he could not look her in the eye, “I am sorry.”

56

The Mahanionian Ambassador’s flight was directed to fly directly to the Central Command airstrip where after being informed of the situation both Gordon and Cassandra were waiting for the airplane to finish taxing to the parking ramp.

“This is a major fucking deal here Phillips, how does the freaking ambassador fall and bust open his liver? Jesus, they probably think we tried to kill him or something.” Gordon ranted.

Cassandra sighed as she saw the President take another swig of his personal flask out of the corner of her eye. "Don’t worry sir, it was an accident, I am sure this new Ambassador will see that and chalk it up as paranoia. This alliance is new and these feelings should be normal until we have established the proper repertoire with the other nation.

“I know how this works, but come on do they really need to verify it? The guy is recovering fine no need for this gesture.” Gordon whined.

“You didn’t need to be here, I can handle this myself.” She spat back.

“Oh really now. Maybe you should employ the use of wet floor signs a little better so IMPORTANT AMBASSADORS DON’T TRIP AND BREAK THEIR FACE ALL OVER MY TOP SECRET FLOOR!” He yelled sarcastically.

Cassandra put her palm to her forehead and let out another sigh. The plane had finished taxiing and the doors were opening to let out the new Ambassador.

57

The first person to emerge from the plane was the armed soldier of the Rezelian army. He looked around before he felt the scene was safe enough and authorized the departure. The Mahanonian ambassador who stepped out, flanked by the Rezelian soldiers was not quite what was expected. Her legs showed more skin that the full length black uniform. While she still wore the standard military jacket, she also seemed much more uncomfortable in the uniform than other Mahanionians. Her wavy auburn hair was pinned behind her head in an elegant golden clip. Her entire appearance seemed somewhat off for the expected norm of Mahanoy and yet she held herself with that grace and poise of a Mahanionian.

Flanked by the soldiers, she extended her black gloved hand and smiled to Gordon and Cassandra, the light catching her eyes and giving them an amber appearance to the clear water color they normally appeared to be. “Thank you President Gordon and Supreme Commander General Philips for meeting us on such a short and unexpected notice. Your nation has been very accommodating to our customs and I shall gladly compile that in my official report. My name is Vaeda Desanti and I was sent to inquire about Mister Brandon Dinardeau.”

Noticing the questioning glance at the armed guard, an unexpected feature to the normal affairs of Mahanoy, Vaeda seemed to casually brush them off, “Oh, do not mind the Rezelian guard. It was the only way they would consider allowing me to leave at the present moment. First Damon Diehl, then General Novac, and now Mister Dinardeau. It has some of our higher ups on edge in Mahanoy. They are beginning to grow paranoid that this may be an attempt for The East Pacific to move against The West. Men…,” she laughed to Cassandra and winked to Gordon as wrapped her arm around his. “Well shall you kindly show me to Mister Dinardeau? I do not want to keep you too long. You have been more than accommodating as is. I would hate to inconvenience you further.”

58

“Oh you haven’t been an inconvenience at all.” Gordon said lying through his teeth. He wasn’t happy that an Rezielian escort was brought along. “Unfortunately I believe I shall have to inconvenience you madam Ambassador. Your escort shall have to wait upon the airplane until further notice. I Guarantee your safety here, this is Allegheny’s most secure installation.” Upon these words several soldiers armed with assault rifles approached the airplane, the situation was somewhat tense however the soldiers made no threatening moves. “These men are only a precaution they will keep watch over your plane.” The soldiers stared down the escort team with their mechanical eyes making it well known that they would not enter the base.

Gordon, Desanti and Cassandra made their way back toward the infirmary. “Miss Desanti, I assure you that Mr. Dinardeau has been well taken care of and patched up by our best military surgeons. He is expected to make a full recovery.” Cassandra explained. “Mr. Dinardeau has preformed his ambassadorial duties quite well in his time here as I am sure you will find.” She finished with a smile.

Gordon added his own words in. “Indeed, Allegheny is proud to be in an alliance with such a prestigious nation such as Mahanoy and the Elite Empire. I see this relationship going very far, Miss Desanti, I hope you will agree.”

59

Vaeda smiled and continued to hold Gordon’s arm, “I must agree. From the reports I received about this situation I was warned that this was a very tenuous position and that I needed to ensure your nation that this accident would not hinder the development an alliance. But I must say, I doubt that it will put either nation back. I am sure Mister Dinardeau’s accident is unlikely to occur again.”

Once inside, Vaeda felt a rush of relief wash over her. The Rezelian guard had maintained a tight control over the situation since the accident and she was beginning to feel trapped. The slight freedom gave her a renewed sense of life as she removed her military jacket and gloves. “Excuse me men,” she spoke softly, “but I feel more comfortable without all the formalities.”

Guided into the area Brandon was staying, she found the man curled into the fetal position on a bed. She grimaced at the sight of his yellow sallow skin and knew that this was no simple fall. But it was Brandon and she knew the man was one of their best. He was employed by Mahanoy because the man could con even the most astute.

“Brandon…” Vaeda spoke softly, her voice almost in pain seeing him this way. He did not stir and she knew the man was hiding his pain. Touching him she could feel him recoil and she knew the man was anticipating another blow. It was a traumatic injury and she knew he expected another attack to come shortly.

Pushing her way into the bed, she curled up next to Brandon, trying her best to avoid sensitive areas as she began to play with his hair. No doubt the action seemed rather peculiar to outsiders but she could not read him without feeling his body. His art was deception and she knew even he could deceive her in all external appearances. When it took several minutes for him to finally open his eyes to look at her, she saw the disappointment in his eyes. He was expecting another person again.

“Excuse me Miss Desanti,” Cassandra spoke, questioning her actions subtly.

And Vaeda smiled warmly as she watched Brandon’s eyes dart to her direction. With her arms around him she could feel the change in his demeanor. His pulse picked up just slightly enough, his eyes trying to find the voice, his temperature increasing with anticipation. Placing her hand on his face, an almost intimate gesture she smiled to Brandon, their secret kept beneath them.

“So your fall seems pretty serious Mister Dinardeau. It must have been a counter top that you hit on the way down judging by the degree of the injury. How did it happen?”

“Clumsy,” he murmured, his energy drained.

“I would say you would have had to be to sustain such an injury. You should take it very easy Mister Dinardeau. You will need you rest.”

Brandon nodded but reached out and slid his hand over Vaeda’s hip, feeling around as if it getting fresh.

Shocked the look of concern sparked in Vaeda’s eyes as she felt him reach around until he grabbed something and pulled. Her own confusion spread across her face when she saw a weak grin from Brandon spread across his face as he held her phone out to Cassandra.

Cassandra took it slowly, unsure of what Brandon wanted as Vaeda slid out of the bed and looked between them both with a concerned questioning. She knew Brandon had a way of deceiving most people but this course of action was certainly unexpected. Watching him fish amid his sheets, he retrieved his own phone and curled around it, preventing anyone from knowing what he was doing. It was not until the phone in Cassandra’s hand began to vibrate that anyone began to pick up on what he was doing.

Move to an unmonitored area. We need to talk.

Looking to Brandon, Cassandra wanted to question, but knew that whatever was so important for Brandon to hide had to deal with how he sustained this injury and why he was being so elusive. Moving to the bathroom, Cassandra messaged him back informing him it was safe to talk.

The Mahanionian BLAST network is a secure network. It was developed for communication across situations like this. I need you to press 1503*.

Following the command, Cassandra hit the numbers and watched as the phone lit up displaying a connection screen. A few seconds later and she could see that she was connected to Brandon’s phone and that he had complete control over what she did.

Precautions. You will see why. I need to tell Vaeda about what happened Cass. She can get in contact with Diehl’s son. We need him right now but I need your help. You know what happened. I don’t need to tell you.

Signal Interference. The warning flashed on her screen before Brandon keyed in a series of commands. Signal Diverted.

This is why I needed control. Someone is attempting to locate this signal and tap into it. I diverted the attempt but they may attempt again. Cass, I need you to authorize a flight mission. Your sister is in danger. You must trust me and you must not act like you know. We have an operative in Mahanoy who has shown exceptional abilities in missions of this caliber. Vaeda is going to locate him and update him on the mission. He will find your sister and get her and her family out of the nation for the time being. But I need your help to make sure he remains a ghost.

60

Cassandra was shocked to see what he was saying. She knew Shephard was behind his attack but not why. And now he was targeting her sister, it was shocking to know that even as she was given the message someone was trying to hack into the Mahanionian system. Brandon, I… I will trust you with this. The code to the Air Defense Ident Zone is 7234JKA-943. It expires at 0200 tomorrow morning. Have him enter from the north west. I will keep this quiet but eventually we will have to investigate this, Shepherd must be involved with something much bigger than we thought.

BLACKWATER

Shepherd had made his way for the south eastern oil refinery filled city of Blackwater to meet with his new constituents. They had contacted him shortly after his meeting with Cassandra at her private residence. The Cerberus group was an old left over from the end of the civil war, full of people who have pledged to keep Allegheny isolated from foreign influence. This new alliance threatend everything they had been working to accomplish. But they had people in high places and he was a new addition.

The meeting place was an older fallout shelter built for the old government, long forgotten by Gordon and his puppet government.

“Sinclair, I must say seeing the Senate majority leader for Gordon’s own party here in this very room has surprised me.” Shepherd said upon seeing him.

“Well David, times are strange now and Cerberus is doing it’s best to get into high places so that we can make our move more easily and with less mess left over to clean. you have seen it, our own Supreme Commander and President have fallen in with the foreign disease. Our own military fights to protect the interests of a weak leader and for her impure and disgusting peoples. It’s time Cerberus finally did something.”

Shepherd nodded his head. “Indeed we have the Mahanionian in our grasp. He has developed feelings for Commander Phillips and now fears us murdering her sister. We can now make demands of them should we have to. Our focus however in my opinion should be to rid Allen of his grasp upon the Governemnt.”

Sinclair lit up a cigarette. “Easier said than done General. Gordon has somehow rendered the entire system to nothing more than an extension of his arms. This was fine before, but now he has begun looking in the direction of his new foreign friends to find ways of ‘bettering’ Allegheny. He is blind to the very fact that our betterment lies within rather than outside. We are at our height in power at this moment, but his actions threaten that. I fear the cunning Mahanionians may try to use us as their puppets, so therefore I am relieved to know that we can bend their ambassador to our will now, however we must not see it as a victory.”

“Agreed.” Shepherd said. “If he makes a move to inform her of this than her sister will be killed. As for Cassandra if we can force her to resign or cause her to have an ‘accident’ then I will be next in line to take her position, which means Cerberus will have control of the military. We can’t touch Gordon yet he is too powerful.”

“I like the way you think, Cerberus will finally have the means to return Allegheny to what it was supposed to be. Allegheny for Alleghenians and no others.” Sinclair put our his cigarette and the two men left to speak elsewhere.