Earth-717: War Machine – Defender of the Earth

Chapter 4: Vindication

At the centre of the Cyberex Device was the reactor core chamber, which took up a majority of

the interior. It was a huge circular room, with the reactor core powering the device at the epicentre. The

reactor core was a reinforced glass orb in a state of constant rotation. A crackling blue energy field was

inside the orb, repeatedly lashing out at the glass with ripples of sapphire electricity.

Paibok stood on the circular railing that traced out the circumference of the chamber. His hands

were folded, and he was staring at the reactor core. The beam emitting from the top of the core fired

directly upwards towards the peak of the Cyberex Device, where it then continued until it pierced

through the atmosphere and provided the impenetrable shielding for the Exile's Intent, which was

currently stationed in orbit.

“General.”

Paibok turned around to see his Mekkan lieutenant.

“Yes, Lieutenant?”

“Sir. There has been an attack on the outer defenses. Reports are coming in that it's the flying

metal man, and he's brought an army.”

Paibok sneered.

“Colonel.”

Paibok exhaled and looked back at the reactor core.

“Place out a city wide alert. I want all forces on this side of the river converging on his location.

This game has gone on long enough.”

“As you say, General.”

* * * *

Rhodes instinctively lowered his head as a flaming AIM shuttle smashed into the building near

him. The explosion from the crash incinerated a large portion of the building's side, causing chunks of

debris and shattered bricks to crumble. Forcing himself not to focus on the carnage, Rhodes then faced

forward and threw his left fist, smashing it against a Skrull's jaw.

Holding up his other hand, Rhodes then fired a swath of bullets from his chaingun wrist

module, forcing several of the enemies ahead of him to scramble for cover. An AIM tank then pulled up

next to him, firing a blast from its twin laser cannons. The lasers tore apart a pile of wrecked cars,

blowing them and the Skrulls behind them to smithereens.

The battle to break through the Skrull defenses around the Cyberex Device continued to rage,

and although Rhodes and his team had made some progress, Rhodes now realized that it would have

been impossible without the help of the Risk Control troopers. Each building was littered with Skrull

and Mekkan soldiers, and the sheer volume of them and the weapons they wielded made each few

metres gained a precious victory.

Not far from Rhodes' position, Natalia performed a barrel roll to avoid several lasers and get

behind a destroyed pillar. Ducking behind it, she took a moment to catch her breath. However, this is a

moment she did not have, because a tall Skrull looked over the pillar and slashed downward with his

laser rifle, trying to cut at her head.

Natalia leaped out of the way of the slash, and the Skrull quickly jumped over the pillar to

attack her. Pulling out two energy batons, she swung them horizontally a couple times to ward the

Skrull off. He yelled at her before taking a step back, aiming his gun. Natalia was barely able to toss

forward one of her batons in time to knock the rifle from his hands before he fired.

Charging forward, Natalia jammed the end of the other baton against the Skrull's chest,

delivering an electric shock. It wasn't enough to stun him, and he then grabbed Natalia by her neck

before smashing his forehead against her face.

“Ugh!”

Blood spurted from Natalia's nose as she staggered backwards. The Skrull then drew an energy

knife from his belt. He stabbed forward, and Natalia dodged sideways. She tried to drop her elbow on

the Skrull's arm, but he was too fast and spun around, attempting a spinning slash. Natalia managed to

deflect the knife attack with her remaining baton, before again jamming it against the Skrull's chest.

Still, he was too strong to be knocked out by the electric attack. Seizing Natalia by the wrist, the

Skrull grinned as he squeezed down, causing her to groan in pain. Gritting her teeth, Natalia then threw

her legs forward, performing a double kick on the Skrull's chest, forcing him to let go. As he crashed

against the ground, she pulled out a blade of her own.

Pouncing forward, Natalia jammed the combat knife down the Skrull's throat before he had the

chance to recover. Forcing it down with both hands, she kept a straight face as the Skrull choked on his

own blood. After he died, she pulled the knife out and started wiping blood off of her arms and

stomach.

Just ahead of Natalia on the street, Joey was moving forward along with another AIM tank and

a squad of Risk Control troopers. Risk Control engineers were setting up automated turrets along the

road as the main troopers provided covering fire. A Mekkan tank then rolled into view, launching a blue

energy blast into the air.

“Oh shit,” said Joey.

Joey turned around and dived backwards, barely avoiding the blast as it landed on the ground.

Two of the Risk Control troopers were vaporized by the blast, and the front end of the AIM tank was

severely damaged. The automated turrets opened fire on the tank, with the hail of bullets weakening the

armour. As Joey got back up, he saw one of the AIM shuttles fly overhead and launch a volley of

missiles at the Mekkan tank, shredding it to pieces.

The shuttle then dropped off another squad of Risk Control troopers. The squad included a team

of three Wraiths, the all-female agility operatives who carried katanas. Shaking his head, Joey rushed

over to join them, holding his heavy assault rifle with both hands. Running alongside a dozen Risk

Control troopers of various classes, Joey pressed forward on the next block.

Grabbing a grenade off his belt, Joey heaved it through one of the building windows and

watched as multiple Skrulls were blown apart. The Skrulls and Mekkans inside the building opened fire

on the incoming Risk Control troopers, with the trooper closest to Joey getting his head shot clean off.

Joey winced, but did not stop his forward advance as he held his assault rifle high and fired wildly into

the building.

While his bullets were moving far too fast for most people to see, they weren't too fast for

Pietro. Sprinting down the street, he ran past Joey and the stream of bullets coming from his assault

rifle, taking care not to end up in his line of fire. Once Pietro got to the wall, he started running up the

side of the building without losing any of his momentum.

Vaulting into one of the higher floors via a window, Pietro then started attacking the Skrulls

who were in a defensive position. Unleashing a flurry of punches and kicks, he took down several

Skrulls without them even being able to realize what was happening. A Mekkan in the room turned and

started firing shots from an energy shotgun, with one of them grazing Pietro in the shoulder.

“Agh!”

His skin burned by the energy and his shirt torn slightly, Pietro slowed down for a moment

because of the pain. This was all the time the Mekkan needed to line up a more precise shot. Luckily

for Pietro, he realized what was happening just in time to backflip out of the way of the next shotgun

blast.

Landing on his feet, Pietro ignored the pain and ran forward, snatching the shotgun out of the

Mekkan's hands. Before the Mekkan could react, he turned the weapon on its former owner and aimed

at his head.

Pietro slowed down for just a moment and smirked.

“You didn't see that coming?”

Pietro then fired, obliterating the Mekkan's head and torso. Before the body could even fall to

the floor, Pietro was in the next room, firing the shotgun at any enemy he could find. After several

rapid shots, the weapon overheated, and Pietro then spun it around and held it from the front end before

swinging it like a baseball bat against the last Skrull in the room, crushing her ribcage and sending her

flying out of one of the windows.

Chuckling, Pietro did not notice a Mekkan approaching him from behind. The Mekkan

equipped an energy sword in its right hand, and was about to skewer Pietro when his hand was burned

off by a blast of yellow energy. Pietro turned around and gasped as the Mekkan was blasted in the chest

by another yellow beam.

Looking to the side, Pietro saw Amanda hovering just outside the window, using the energy

from her hands to sustain her flight. She gave him a wink before flying upwards, and Pietro rolled his

eyes. Amanda flew up to the roof of the building, landing a powered uppercut on the jaw of one of the

Skrull sentries.

Holding out both hands, Amanda fired heat beams at the nearby Skrulls, burning holes through

their chests. As she landed on the roof, a squad of Mekkans ran over to her from the other side of the

roof, all training their weapons on her. The heads of one of the Mekkans then exploded, destroyed by a

rifle shot from a Risk Control sniper on a nearby roof.

Amanda took the opportunity to fire a heat wave out in front of her, scrambling the visual

sensors of the Mekkans and leaving them as easy prey for the Risk Control snipers. Another large

Mekkan pulled out its energy sword and charged at her. She jumped backwards and away from his

downward vertical slash, but not in time to avoid getting sliced on her right arm.

Amanda cringed as she landed, holding her arm as it started to bleed. The Mekkan pressed

forward, preparing for another slash. Before it could attack, Amanda kicked out with her feet, striking

the Mekkan in its leg joints. Disoriented by the unexpected attack, the Mekkan was not prepared for

Amanda to jam her heated left fist into its chest, cooking most of its innards in a mere second.

Taking a moment to breathe, Amanda then pressed her finger against the cut on her arm. Using

her heat powers, she sealed the wound to stop any further bleeding. Panting, she then looked to the left

to see a large Skrull transport ship flying towards the building. She blinked as it charged up its two

laser cannons and blasted one of the AIM shuttles out of the sky before turning to face her.

Frozen in place, Amanda was speechless as Rhodes suddenly flew in and fired rockets from

both wrists. The rockets destroyed the transport's cannons, before Rhodes himself charged at the front

end and landed a punch powered by his musculature servos. The metal hull crumpled by the force of

the blow, the transport then imploded and smashed against the ground.

Rhodes then looked over at Amanda and gave her a nod before he performed a sideways spin

and flew overhead, firing shots from his shoulder cannon at more of the enemies on the street. Flying

close to the ground, he boosted and ran through multiple Mekkans before landing a kick on one of the

Skrulls, the force of his momentum causing his foot to snap the Skrull's spine in half.

Rhodes landed next to Natalia who was now working her way down the street alongside more

of the Risk Control troopers. She had her twin pistols out, and was firing at any enemies she saw.

Rhodes stood at her side with his repulsors at the ready, and together the two of them killed an entire

squad of targets in short order.

Three Wraiths then leaped over Rhodes and Natalia, charging right for the front ranks of the

enemy. The Wraiths swung their swords in unison, removing arms and legs from various Skrulls.

However, the three Wraiths were all then killed by a rocket blast from a tall Mekkan who was in a

nearby window.

Snarling, Rhodes then aimed his shoulder cannon at the Mekkan. He fired two blasts that killed

the robot and caused it to tumble out of its window. Three AIM shuttles then flew over Rhodes'

position, launching missiles and laser blasts at the building just ahead of him. The force of the

combined assault caused the building to collapse, taking dozens of Skrull and Mekkan defenders with

it.

Rhodes and Natalia both held their hands up in front of them as a wave of dust settled around

them. With the building out of the way, they could then see the Pariah that defended the Cyberex

Device, which was slowly walking towards them.

“Pariah in range,” said one of the Risk Control pilots.

The AIM shuttles fired at the Pariah, which charged up its main laser. The shuttles then broke

off and flew in different directions as the Pariah fired, its laser slicing one of the shuttles in half.

Rhodes and Natalia both exhaled as they looked at the colossal foe before them.

“Colonel Rhodes,” said Janice. “Incoming message from Sunset Bain.”

“Put her through.”

“Colonel,” said Sunset. “I see that you've made quite a bit of progress.”

“Stow the small talk, Sunset. What's the status on that surprise of yours?”

“Ready to go. Should be arriving any second now.”

Rhodes and Natalia both looked up to see two AIM shuttles flying over to them. They were

joined by a large, metallic missile platform, with hooks on the underbellies of the shuttles holding the

platform in place. Joey ran up to Rhodes and Natalia as they all watched the shuttles drop the missile

platform in the middle of the road, pointed directly at the Pariah. The AIM shuttles then lifted off and

turned around to rejoin the fight.

Strapped to the top of the missile platform were four missiles.

“Hell yes!” said Joey. “Fuckin' nuclear backup.”

“Those aren't nukes,” said Rhodes.

“Of course not,” said Sunset. “But you recognize them, don't you, Colonel? Those are

Vindicator-class tridium missiles. A little thing I stole from Tasha when she wasn't looking . . . . but, I

figured I'd rather use them to help you, given the circumstances.”

Amanda and Pietro then arrived on the scene, with Amanda landing from the air and Pietro

running along the ground. Pietro took one look at the missiles before smiling.

“Now that, I like.”

Multiple squads of Risk Control troopers took up defensive positions around the missile

platform as one of the Risk Control engineers approached the control console on the platform's side.

Rhodes walked up to him as the rest of the team watched the Pariah take another step forward. It was

still far enough that it wasn't an immediate danger, but just being able to see it was terrifying enough.

“How long is it going to take?” asked Rhodes.

“Just a minute to set up the targeting solution,” said the engineer. “We're going to fire two

missiles, and see how much damage it does. The next two will finish it off.”

“Understood.”

Rhodes then turned back to his team.

“Everyone! This is it! Give the missiles cover!”

Rhodes' team and the Risk Control troopers opened fire on the incoming Skrulls and Mekkans,

doing all they could to ensure that no enemies compromised the missile platform. After another minute,

the engineer nodded and gave Rhodes a thumbs up.

“Do it!” shouted Rhodes.

The engineer pressed a button on the console, and two of the missiles fired. Everyone watched

as the missiles soared through the sky, heading straight for the Pariah. The monstrous machine sounded

its horn and started to charge its laser, but it didn't have enough time. The missiles struck the front end

of the Pariah, causing a large explosion.

For a moment, the heroes all smiled.

A second later, the smiles disappeared.

The explosion faded away to reveal that the Pariah's armour plating had not been pierced. The

plating was seared and slightly indented, but it had not been destroyed. The Pariah then took another

step forward.

“Oh, bugger off!” shouted Joey.

“What happened?” asked Natalia. “I thought they were Tasha's design!”

Rhodes skipped a breath as it dawned on him.

“Tridium missiles,” he said. “Those are tridium missiles.”

Rhodes then pointed up at the night sky.

“They're powered by sunlight!”

“Well, good to fuckin' know now,” said Joey. “Sun's nowhere in sight!”

Rhodes then blinked before he turned around.

“Yes it is. Amanda!”

Amanda looked over at Rhodes.

“Your power is control over solar energy,” said Rhodes, pointing at the missile platform. “Those

missiles? The more solar energy they absorb, the bigger the blast. I need you to power up. As high as

you can go.”

“But, but I . . . . I've, I've never used my powers that way. I, I m-mean, never pushed them that

far. I, I don't know . . . .”

“You can do it,” said Pietro.

Amanda looked over at Pietro with a frown.

“I know you can,” he said.

Natalia and Joey then walked up and stood next to Rhodes, both looking right at Amanda.

“I believe in you,” said Natalia. “You said you wanted to help? Well sweetie, this is it.”

Amanda looked at the fellow members of Rhodes' team in turn. They all nodded at her. After a

few moments of consideration, she then took in a deep breath.

“Okay,” she said. “Let's do it.”

Rhodes then turned back to the remaining Risk Control troopers.

“Everyone, cover her!”

Amanda stood in front of the missile platform, looking directly at the Pariah as it sounded its

horn again. Inside, Amanda was just as scared as she had ever been of that horrible sound, but this time,

it made her all the more determined. Holding her hands crossed over her chest, Amanda closed her eyes

and focused her energy, feeling as the heat built up inside every cell in her body. She had never tested

her limits, but she knew that she couldn't fail.

Rhodes, Natalia, Joey, Pietro and the army of Risk Control troopers continued to battle the

Skrull and Mekkan forces. The numbers just seemed to be increasing, as if they were receiving

reinforcements from all sides.

“Turn up the pressure!” shouted Rhodes. “No one gets through!”

Explosions and gunfire denoted the three hundred and sixty degree battle, with seemingly

everyone focused on either defending or attacking the missile platform. Only via the synergy of

Rhodes' team, and the mechanically tactical nature of the Risk Control army, did they manage to hold

off the alien forces as Amanda continued to charge up.

Amanda's entire body was soon glowing with energy, becoming so hot that she was bathed in

white light. While her suit channelled her powers, and her biology was naturally immune to them as

well, even she was starting to feel the pain of charging so much. But still, for her it didn't matter. She

just kept the sound of the Pariah in the back of her mind to remind her of what she was fighting for.

The Pariah took another step forward, now dangerously close to the battlefield. It then fired its

laser, trailing it along the ground. The laser struck at the road, ionizing a handful of Risk Control

troopers. Joey had to leap out of the way to avoid being killed. Rhodes then turned back, careful to

have his optical visor shield his eyes from the intensity of Amanda's energy.

“Amanda!”

Amanda then shouted as loudly as she could as she held her arms into the sky. All of the energy

blasted outwards and upwards, powering up the tridium missiles to their maximum. The Risk Control

engineer then jammed his fist on the missile platform's console, and the remaining two missiles fired.

Amanda then reverted back to her natural state as she watched the missiles soar through the air.

The Pariah sounded its horn one last time as it fired its laser into the sky, but it was too late to

stop what was coming.

A deafening shockwave emitted from the power of the explosion, which obliterated the entire

main section of the Pariah. The legs were blown apart, flying in different directions. The outer shell

was burned beyond recognition, and what was left of the alien war mech collapsed to the ground as a

charred corpse.

The heroes all shouted in unison, victoriously pumping their fists in the air. Amanda exhaled

and smiled, stunned at what she had managed to accomplish. The remaining Skrulls and Mekkans were

in shock at the sight, and were caught off guard as the Risk Control troopers made another push,

slaughtering scores of them as they were looking the other way.

A dozen AIM shuttles then flew overhead, making their way towards the Cyberex Device.

Rhodes sighed as Sunset's voice came in through his heads-up display.

“Excellent work, Colonel. Now, you get your little dream team to the Cyberex Device. AIM will

take of the rest.”

Rhodes then nodded before beckoning for his team to follow him.

“Come on,” he said. “Time to finish this fight.”

* * * *

One of the doors to the reactor core chamber burst open, its hinges blown off by a shot from the

grenade launcher attached to Joey's heavy assault rifle. Rhodes, Natalia, Joey, Pietro and Amanda all

rushed into the room, arriving on the circular walkway. They then looked up at the reactor core, and the

humanoid figure hovering in front of it.

Paibok was wearing beige and orange modular armour, with his entire body being covered by it.

His faceplate locked into place as he looked down at the team, with his shoulder jets maintaining his

flight. Rhodes sneered as he looked up at the Skrull general.

“This has gone far enough, Colonel,” said Paibok. “You have proved far more resourceful than I

ever expected. For that, you are to be commended. You are a most worthy adversary, the likes of which

I haven't met in quite some time. But you will go no further.”

“We'll just have to see about that,” said Rhodes.

A platoon of Skrull and Mekkan soldiers then started running into the room from the opposite

side, ready to fend off the attackers. Rhodes then looked over his shoulder at his team.

“The big guy is mine. The rest of you? Do your thing.”

Rhodes then blasted into the air, headed straight for Paibok. The Skrull general was ready, firing

concussive blasts from his hands. The force of the blasts knocked Rhodes off course, forcing him to

retreat momentarily and start firing repulsor shots as he circle strafed around Paibok. The repulsor

blasts seemed to be deflected completely by the modular armour.

“The repulsor blasts do not seem to be very effective, Colonel Rhodes,” said Janice. “I would

advise formulating another strategy.”

Paibok then held out his right hand, which seemed to have a magnetic field around it. Rhodes

was pulled directly towards Paibok, before the Skrull general fired a concussive shot with his left hand,

blasting Rhodes away and causing him to smash his back against the chamber wall. Paibok then

charged forward, intending to land a powered punch.

Rhodes barely boosted to the side in time, narrowly dodging Paibok's haymaker. Rhodes spun

around and fired a couple quick repulsor shots as he soared around the room, with Paibok giving chase.

Rhodes then doubled back, trying to catch Paibok off guard. However, Paibok was too fast, landing a

backhand on Rhodes' chest before hitting him with another concussive blast.

On the ground, Rhodes' team were fighting hard against the enemy foot soldiers. Joey charged

towards them, firing his heavy assault rifle with wild abandon.

“THIS IS MY FUCKIN' TOWN, YOU ALIEN BASTARDS!”

While his bravado would normally make him an easy target, Natalia, Pietro and Amanda all

provided him solid cover, with the team gunning, shooting, slashing and punching their way through

the alien invaders. Amanda blasted away a couple Skrull soldiers at once, but didn't see a laser shot

coming right for her side.

Reacting quicker than anyone else could have, Pietro ran up to her. In less than a second, Pietro

scooped her up, moved her out of the way of the laser shot and put her back down. He then gave her a

wink before he raced away to continue fighting. Joey then turned to look at the reactor core before

aiming his grenade launcher at it.

“For Queen and fuckin' country.”

Joey fired a grenade at the reactor core, but the explosion didn't seem to do any visible damage.

Flustered, Joey fired every grenade he had. Still the core stood, but now with several light cracks. Joey

then looked up to see Rhodes and Paibok still battling in the air.

“Suggestions?” asked Rhodes.

“General Paibok's modular armour seems to be designed specifically to deflect energy attacks. I

would suggest a more . . . . hands-on approach?”

“I hear you. Old fashioned way, huh?”

Rhodes boosted directly towards Paibok, shoulder charging into the Skrull's chest. Paibok

groaned as he shoved Rhodes away from him and seized him again with his magnetic field. Paibok then

slashed out with his free hand, bashing Rhodes away. Rhodes quickly spun around and landed a punch

on Paibok's chest, before following up with several successive blows.

Paibok shouted in pain as pieces of his armour where damaged by the ferocity of Rhodes'

attacks. He then fired a double concussive blast with his hands, but even that could only keep Rhodes

away for a few seconds. Boosting forward again, Rhodes was then caught by Paibok's left hand, which

seized him around the throat. Paibok then tore out Rhodes' shoulder cannon with his free hand.

Rhodes shouted as Paibok squeezed, his fingers slowly causing Rhodes' armour to buckle. He

could still breathe, but he knew that in a short amount of time, his windpipe would be crushed.

“This is how heroes are rewarded,” said Paibok.

Rhodes then looked down, seeing Natalia looking up at him in fear. Rhodes gazed at the

cracked reactor core for a second, and then at Paibok's armour.

“Widow!” shouted Rhodes. “Magnet rifle!”

Natalia blinked, instantly understanding Rhodes' plan. Pulling out her magnet rifle, she fired a

disc at the reactor core. She then took careful aim, and fired another disc at Paibok's back, lodging it in

one of the creases in the modular armour. Paibok looked over his shoulder upon feeling the magnet disc

latch on to his armour.

“What?”

Rhodes then punched Paibok in the face, breaking out of his grasp.

“Commend this,” said Rhodes.

Natalia pulled the trigger on her magnet rifle, and Paibok was instantly pulled towards the

reactor core. He was drawn towards it with such force that his body broke through the core's reinforced

glass, and into the blue energy field. As the energy lashed out as his body, he yelled in agony. Rhodes

then flew down towards his team.

“Clear out!”

Rhodes swooped down and grabbed Joey by both arms, pulling him upwards. Amanda followed

behind, grabbing Natalia around the waist. Pietro then looked up as everyone flew off.

“Hey! What about me?”

“You can run, you jerk!” shouted Amanda.

“Oh. Yeah. Right.”

Pietro then sprinted out of the room. All of the heroes cleared out as the reactor core started to

overload. The remaining Skrulls and Mekkans ran away in fear, knowing that the Cyberex Device was

beyond saving with the core compromised. As Paibok's flesh started to be ripped apart by the energy

field, a single tear fell down his cheek.

“My Queen . . . . I have failed you . . . .”

Paibok then screamed as the reactor core exploded, vaporizing both him and the entire chamber.

Within seconds, the Cyberex Device imploded in on itself, culminating in a massive blue explosion.

Rhodes, Natalia, Joey and Amanda all landed out of the blast zone, several blocks away from the

Cyberex Device.

The four of them watched as the Cyberex Device crumbled, and its blue beam dissipated. They

all breathed sighs of relief.

“What kept you?”

The four turned around to see that Pietro was already waiting for them, leaning his back against

the wall of a building. Amanda rolled her eyes.

“Shut up,” she said.

Pietro chuckled. Joey panted and held on to his chest. Amanda put her hands on her hips.

Rhodes sat down on the ground, watching as the AIM shuttles continued to fly around the remains of

the Cyberex Device, firing at the fleeing Skrulls. Natalia sat down next to him. The two of them just sat

in silence for a while, watching as the morning sun started to appear over the London horizon.

“We did it,” said Rhodes.

“We did,” said Natalia.

Rhodes took in a deep breath.

“You did good, Colonel.”

“You too, Agent.”

“Now what?”

Rhodes looked up into the sky. He thought about the team of heroes that Fury told him about.

The team that had gone into space, in a desperate plan to find a way to stop Veranke for good.

“This was our fight. We finished it. The rest . . . . the rest is up to them.”

THE END

Epilogue

Standing inside of a well-furbished room far from any of the battle zones, Sunset looked out the

window as the morning sun started to appear. She was wearing her best bottle-green dress, and had her

hands behind her back. A Risk Control trooper then walked up to her, before handing her a datapad

with a report.

Sunset smiled at what she read. She then nodded and handed the datapad back to the trooper.

“It appears that Colonel Rhodes pulled off his daring plan,” said Sunset. “He couldn't have done

it without my help, of course. I suppose you've now considered my offer, Mister Cameron?”

David Cameron, the Prime Minister of Britain, was sitting on a chair in the same room. He took

a sip of his glass of whiskey before answering.

“Quite so, Miss Bain.”

Sunset turned around to look at him.

“I believe you and I can have a very fruitful partnership,” he said.

Sunset grinned widely as Cameron downed the rest of his glass.