Admiral Nora, Colonel Turana and Commander Adrian stood around a map of Vanguard. They were in the captain's cabin aboard the W7.

"The only thing he knows is that she went west." The Admiral scrolled the map to her left. "What's there that she would want?"

Adrian zoomed the map in.

"Well, there's only two things between here and the west coast. Jose Alba's extravagant seaside mansion and a prison camp."

Turana drew a line from their current position to each of the locations. "If we can tell where she went, we can be there in less than an hour. I say we go to Alba's place."

"No." Nora countered, tapping the camp instead. "The prison camp. Why would she go to the son of the man hunting her?"

"Jose Alba was spotted with an unknown woman during a Mainstream Fashion event," Turana said. "We believe it was her. She would be seeking refuge, and that's where she would be. Why would she go to a prison camp? It's filled with soldiers that could recognise her."

"That camp is a vital Vanguard location. There's an underground research station that contains classified data. She would go there." The Admiral said it with a finality that wasn't meant to be questioned.

"You see that's the problem!" Turana barked. "If we had known, we could have been there instead and intercepted her. But because everything is 'classified' with you, we've lost her. Well, it's your damn fault whatever happens to your 'data,' I am heading back to the Harbor."

As she marched out, Nora grabbed her arm. "Colonel. You are on my ship, and you will treat me with all due respect. You shall not leave unless I ask you to."

Turana shrugged the other woman's hand away and went for the door. A little blade flew past her ear and embedded itself in the steel door.

"Get back to your place Colonel. Or I will drag you there myself."

In her hand, the Admiral held one of her steel fans. Adrian looked between the two of them. Turana's explosive nature and Nora's dislike of disobedience was a recipe for disaster. As much as it would have been an interesting battle, he intervened and stood between them, blocking Nora's confident calm stare from reaching Turana's angry wild one. He spoke softly to her.

"She's right, unfortunately. And also an Admiral. And she probably could kick your butt across this cabin."

Turana's eyes flicked to his at that. "I'd love to see her try."

"Me too." Adrian chuckled, placing a hand on her shoulder. "But if she does, there is no way we can fight the vixen if you aren't at one hundred per cent. So, calm down."

Turana eventually went back to her place, all the way glaring at Nora. The Admiral didn't look bothered by this. But Adrian was sure he saw a hint of a smile on her face when Turana sat and put her head down. He decided to take over.

"Okay. We have to know what's down there. How important it is, and then we will know whether she will go for it."

"It's a lab." The Admiral confessed. "Project Mainstream."

Turana's head rose an inch, but she still didn't look at Nora. "Are we supposed to know what that is?"

"A partner project between Vanguard and Mainstream Bio. To recreate the F.O.X experiments from ten years ago."

This time Turana did get up. She didn't shout at Nora, but she looked like she wanted to. Adrian circled away from them, hands on his head. He knew what Vivian would do. She wouldn't let it happen again.

"How many test subjects are there?"

"A little over one thousand," Nora replied. Her voice sounded less confident this time.

"Soldiers?" Turana asked.

"Two hundred plus," Nora said.

Turana cursed. Nora looked from one of them to the other.

"Wait. She's superhuman, yes, but she couldn't fight her way through two hundred soldiers."

Turana murmured something under her breath that Adrian prayed Nora hadn't heard. The Admiral probably hadn't met Vivian before. Something suddenly clicked in his mind.

"Nora, how many nuclear warheads does this vessel carry?"

"At this time, when we aren't at war, four." She quickly replied.

"She fired three at the nanotechnology labs. One is left. We have to disarm it, now."

But his warning had come too late. Red lights turned on in the cabin, and a loud alarm rang through the entire ship. 

The Admiral confirmed their fears. "That's for a nuclear launch. She just fired the last missile."

Turana, who had been quiet ever since snapped her fingers at the Admiral. "There must be a jet on board."

"A single Falcon is stashed below the deck," Nora said. "I know what you're thinking Colonel, but it's not fast enough to catch up. Even if it was, the accuracy required to shoot down an i-tech guided missile, at that speed, is simply nonexistent."

Adrian was the one who snapped his fingers this time. "An ordinary Falcon isn't fast enough, but what if it was an F360?"

Turana nodded. "It could. But an F360 can only be deployed by

"A general?" Nora finished. "Or higher. I am both. Let me make a call." She exited the room, and Turana turned to Adrian, well aware he had something to say.

"Bet you're glad she's got the rank now, aren't you?" He teased.

"It's not going to be that easy. Eric is going to give her a hard time. He won't be too eager to send out another of his jets after what happened the dark route."

"You forget Turana," Adrian said. "She doesn't have to go through the Air Force general. She can order a launch herself."

**
Through the bulletproof Plexiglass window of her office in the White House, the President watched as an F360 blasted off into the distance, having launched from the Harbor. She had got word about the Admiral ordering its takeoff, and why. She glanced back at the telephone on her table, dreading to have to make the call to one misogynistic millionaire, to inform him of how another of his projects had been destroyed by a rogue soldier. Vincent Alba was still needed, and it was the only reason why he was alive.

But the President had lost her patience. The vixen was going to do more damage, and the only one with the power and leverage over the other territories was Mainstream. She had to make her move, now.

A dark-haired man, with a silver briefcase in hand, was the only other person in the office with her.
"And you are sure this will work?" She asked him.

"Yes, as long as everything goes as planned, the other four will be yours to command."

"Fine then." She took a sip of her wine. "Call Haraka. Tell him it is time."

*****
It is time.

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