Hans jumped out of the crater, landing beside Tyrus and Johannes. They couldn’t read anything from his neutral expression.
However, seeing how Genevieve remained below, they could already guess what happened down there.
"Viper, let’s go."
Hans ordered, shaking the dust from his coat once before walking out of the area. Tyrus followed him, interested in asking something.
Johannes remained behind, waiting for Genevieve to surface.
After a minute or two, the pale-faced agent appeared.
"Agent Courbet."
"Cell 12."
They nodded to each other.
"Your answer has not changed?" Johannes tried to ask and see if he could twist the chance back.
"Not after this."
Genevieve shook her head. "I am thankful for Golden Eagle’s assistance, but we must part our ways here."
"I see," Johannes sighed.
He could not force Cell 7 to integrate themselves with Hans and his army. Perhaps, if he had not met Dmitri, worked with him against Elias, and seen the colony, he might have chosen the same decision as Genevieve.
"Good luck with your endeavors then, Agent Courbet."
"Same to you, Cell 12."
After Johannes and Genevieve returned from the crater, nothing else was discussed.
Hans did not call for another meeting. He did not send someone to persuade her or her subordinates either.
Nor did he ask Johannes to speak on his behalf.
The complete silence after their short discussion bothered Genevieve more than another offer could have.
By the time Cell 7 gathered at the unloading zone, their wounded agent had already been stabilized enough to move. Not fully healed, but at least they were no longer dying. The medics handed Vivian a small, sealed pack with enough medical supplies for the next few days.
Vivian looked at the pack, then at the medic.
The medic did not explain.
He only gave a short nod and stepped back.
Lucie stood beside Genevieve with her rifle slung over her shoulder. Jannik held the sealed rolls close to his chest, his eyes wandering between the vehicles, the floodlights, and the soldiers stationed nearby.
None of Hans’s soldiers looked at them with disdain nor hostility.
That was a very strange feeling.
Nobody mocked them. No soldier showed pressure. And no sense of obvious surveillance.
Only direct procedure—to do exactly what they should do next.
A few minutes later, Hans arrived.
Callum followed behind him as usual. Johannes walked a few steps to the side, neither fully with Hans nor fully with Cell 7.
Genevieve faced Hans calmly.
"Golden Eagle."
"Agent Courbet."
Their greetings ended there.
Hans looked at Vivian, then at the wounded agent supported by Jannik and another Cell 7 member.
"Can he move?"
Vivian’s expression tightened. "It’s more than enough."
"That is good to hear," Hans nodded. "I wish Cell 7 safe passage outside. My escorts will guide you to the outer line."
The Cell 7 agents were dumbfounded.
This was the very first time they had experienced a very pleasant eviction coming from a military commander.
He’s letting us go just like that?
Lucie was the most confused. Her identity as the group’s Perceptual superhuman could not deny the fact that Hans barely felt anything from their group’s departure.
He voiced no anger from his words. His face showed no disappointment either.
His aura remained as mysterious as ever, like the calmness of the deep oceans.
"What?" Hans looked at their varying expressions. "Would you want something complicated?"
Genevieve raised one hand slightly, stopping her subordinate from continuing. "You have no other condition?"
"I already gave my offer. You refused."
Hans looked back at Genevieve. "And I respect your decision."
Genevieve could not decide whether he was being sincere, patient, or confident enough to let them go because he had other ways to obtain what he wanted.
Perhaps it was all three.
"Then we thank Golden Eagle for the assistance," Genevieve said.
"One warning before you leave."
Genevieve’s eyes narrowed. "Warning?"
"Do not return east through your old safehouse route. Go south, or west of here. I have an outpost near the southern line. If you encounter my soldiers, refer to my name, and they will let you pass."
Cell 7 fell silent.
They did not expect that Hans also had another base out there.
Genevieve felt that she may had decided too soon but now was not the time for regrets.
Hans raised one hand slightly.
The soldiers around the unloading zone moved at once.
One squad shifted toward the road ahead. Another squad remained near the inner barricade. Two Guardian APCs rolled aside, opening the path wide enough for Cell 7 to pass through.
Genevieve closed her eyes, breathed, then stared forward.
"Move out."
Cell 7 followed her order.
Lucie took the lead, her eyes sweeping across the opened path and the soldiers nearby. Vivian stayed close to the wounded agent. Jannik adjusted the sealed rolls under his arm and followed behind them.
The escort did not crowd them. Four soldiers walked ahead, while the rest remained distant from Cell 7’s position.
Their group disappeared past the inner barricade a few minutes later.
Hans did not follow.
He watched the blue markers move toward the outer line until the escort stopped. A short radio transmission came in shortly after.
"Watcher Three to Golden Eagle. Cell 7 has crossed the outer line. Escort returning."
"Copy. Return to post."
"Understood. Watcher Three, out."
The channel closed.
Hans lowered the communicator.
Tyrus stood a few steps behind him, arms crossed, looking far too interested in someone who had been told nothing.
"That was surprisingly gentle of you, Commander."
Hans glanced at him. "Do you want to be escorted out too?"
"Impossible," Tyrus shook his head. "I am very useful to your endeavors."
"Cut the chatter," Hans snorted. "What were the things you wanted to talk to me about?"
Tyrus didn’t respond. His gaze shifted to the Power Plants.
A white column of smoke was released into the air.
"Project DAEDALUS. Commander, are you..."
Tyrus cut himself off, leaving the rest of his words unsaid.
Hans’s expression did not change. He did not look confused, nor questioning of such terms. He did not even deny nor said anything at all. Only that same calm face, looking back at Tyrus as if he had merely mentioned the weather.
"You Shearmans do know a lot of things," Hans replied. "Where did you hear that name?"
Tyrus smiled faintly, but it did not reach his eyes.
"Word can get around. My family perhaps just got the better hearing."
"Or paying."
"The source does not matter," Tyrus shrugged. "But I am now certain you are... one of them."
Project DAEDALUS?
Hans had never heard the name before.
But Tyrus did not know that, nor he ever will have to.
From the way the Shearman stopped himself, the project had weight. And it was not something casual either.
Alien knowledge-based project, Hans concluded. Same category as HELIX. It must be a different branch.
And if Tyrus was looking at the Power Plants while saying it, then the direction was not hard to guess.
Rapid structures. Mobile infrastructure. The strange systems Kimmy had mentioned before.
Hans kept his expression unchanged, though his thoughts had already turned heavier.
Is there a possibility that Project DAEDALUS is similar to my System?
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