“My only guess is that Mina, or whoever shot at you, already had eyes on us, or Alverez, or both, and they did something toit after Alverez dropped it off at the diner,” Specs said. “I’ve already sent an encrypted message to Alverez—warning him that someone is probably tailing them. I haven’t heard anything back.”
“So, they’ve been watching our movements since yesterday?” Kawan asked.
“The data's being mirrored to multiple endpoints. Whoever set this up wanted redundancy." Specs smiled grimly. "The good news is, I can trace it back. And I can use it."
"How?" Dustin asked.
"If they're tracking us, we can feed them false data. Make them think we're somewhere we're not. As in, we’re still here when we leave for Fort Liberty. And more importantly..." Specs' fingers flew over the keyboard. "I can use their own system to track them."
The room went quiet as the implications sank in.
"You're talking about turning their surveillance network against them," Pipe said appreciatively. "Bloody brilliant."
Kawan felt a surge of pride watching Specs work. This was the woman Lark had recruited—brilliant, determined, ready to fight back instead of just surviving. The trauma was still there, but she was compartmentalizing it into something useful.
"I'll need access to Liberty's communication array to make it work," Specs continued. "But once I'm in their system, I can not only locate Mina and whoever else is involved, I can shut down their entire operation."
"That's our primary objective then," Lark said. "Get Specs access to their comms. Everything else is secondary."
"Not everything," Kawan said quietly. Everyone turned to look at him. "Bringing Bradford and Alvarez home isn't secondary. They risked everything to get us that intel."
"Agreed," Thor said. "We extract our people."
"And Lorre?" Tonka asked.
"Goes down hard," Lark said, steel in her voice. "He betrayed his country, got good people killed, and nearly started a war. Prison's too good for him, but it's what he gets."
Dustin nodded approvingly. "That's the mission. Questions?"
Leif raised a hand. "What about Wes? Alvarez said he had doubts."
The room fell silent. Kawan watched Lark's face carefully, saw the moment she made her decision. Her jaw tightened almost imperceptibly, but her voice remained steady.
"If Wes turned, he already made his choice," she said finally. "We'll deal with him accordingly."
The words were calm, professional, but Kawan could see what they cost her. Another piece of her heart being carved away by betrayal.
"Timeline?" Thor asked.
"Lorre wants you in his office at fourteen hundred hours," Dustin said to Lark. "That gives us time to get positioned, identify potential exit routes, and make contact with Bradford and Alverez. I know Bradford will want to be there. I’ll make sure transport for them is made available.”
“Alverez looked pretty banged up,” Sloan said.
“I’m not going to tell him he can’t participate in this rodeo. He nearly died making sure the AI didn’t get into the wrong hands.” Dustin clicked to the next slide. "Brick's team handles perimeter security. Thor's team provides close support for Lark and Specs. I'll be coordinating from the vehicle bay—close enough to respond, far enough out to maintain communications if everything goes sideways."
"Wheneverything goes sideways," Kawan corrected. "Lorre didn't call Lark to chat about mission reports. He's got something planned. Bullets will be flying.”
"Which is why we'll be ready for him," Brick said simply. His calm confidence anchored the room. The veteran had earned that certainty the hard way.
"Alright," Dustin said. "We roll in ninety minutes. Everyone knows their role, everyone knows the stakes. This isn't just about recovering stolen technology—it's about justice. For the people we lost, for the country we serve, and for the truth."
The team began to disperse, checking equipment and making final preparations. Kawan lingered, watching as Lark spoke quietly with Specs, their heads bent together over the laptop screen. The dynamic between them had shifted—Lark was still protective, but she wasn't treating Specs like broken glass anymore.
"She's different today," Thor said, coming to stand beside him.
"Yeah."
"Good different. Like she finally stopped fighting herself."
