Chapter 37 A Little Bit of Good News

They rolled into the hangar bay, the massive doors of the Beehive grinding open to reveal a hub filled with technicians and mechanics busy at work. David's cockpit opened first, and he was immediately met by a medical team rushing toward him. They surrounded him, assessed his injuries, and took him to the infirmary.

Aria, however, was greeted by a different team - a group of armed soldiers. She couldn’t shake the feeling of eyes staring into her from every direction as she climbed down.

They marched her through a series of corridors. Finally, they stopped at a small, secure room. The door clicked shut behind her as she stepped in, and there, standing by a metal table with a fierce glare that could have set the walls on fire, was Major Dyar.

As soon as the soldiers left, he slammed his fist onto the table with a loud bang, his eyes fixed on her with fury. 

"Well, you just look who showed up!"

Aria couldn’t help herself. She leaned against the wall with a nonchalant shrug and smirked.

 "Hey! I missed you too, Dyar. How’ve you been?"

Dyar stormed toward her, waving his hands in her face.

 "You were this close!" He pinched his fingers together for emphasis.

 "This close to getting yourself executed on the spot! And all you do is joke!?"

For the first time, Aria dropped her sarcastic facade and took on a serious, icy tone to make even Dyar take a step back. 

“Then what am I supposed to do, hmm? Cry about it?”

Dyar shook his head in frustration, struggling to hold in his emotions.

 “Listen, what you did was stupid! When you left the Beehive, things for you went from bad to worse! You were doing decent; you could have waited for things to die down. Then get your pilot license and try to appeal. But what you did put the HQ council in panic. They thought you went rogue! They were forcing me to shoot you down in that jeep you ran away in! I had to pull something out of my ASS! To convince them that it is not what it looks like! To tell you the truth, I didn’t even know what to think back then.”

Aria remained silent, allowing him to vent his frustrations.

“I only assumed that after our conversation, you might have had this stupid idea and gone to retrieve Combelt IV. I came up with the story that I allowed you to show them that you could be useful and sent you to retrieve lost tank mechs. That is the only reason you are standing here and joking about it!”

Dyar ran a hand through his hair, exhaling in frustration.

 "If I hadn’t spun it like that, you’d have been a smoking wreck out there by now. Do you understand how serious this was? You could have been killed out there, and I might have been forced to make a choice I never wanted to make. You need to think about the risks you take, not just for yourself but for everyone here.”

 “I get it, Dyar. But you have to understand. I wasn’t just going out there for fun. I had to take that risk.”

Dyar sighed rubbing his temples as if trying to dispel the stress. 

“Just promise me you’ll think twice before pulling a stunt like this again. We need you here, not as a rogue pilot but as part of the team. And speaking about teamwork, how about telling me what you saw out there? I'm a bit out of the loop here. Been on house arrest since you left. No information, nothing."

Aria took a breath, "It went better than I expected, Dyar. And I do have some news for you, so hear me out."

“As for the good news,” she started, “I managed to retrieve Combelt IV. It’s in decent enough shape - rough, but it can be repaired. I've seen worse get put back together. On top of that, I towed it back along with an almost intact Combelt III. And that’s not all. I found someone alive out there: Second Lieutenant David Stark Harlow. Yes, Major Stark’s son. He survived in that hellhole.”

Dyar’s eyes widened at that. 

“Stark’s son? David survived?”

 “Yeah, he's alive, but it was close. He’s had it rough out there - he was hiding for weeks on scraps. Probably would’ve been done for if I hadn’t found him. The medics will have to patch him up, but he’s strong. Now, I’m sure his survival will be good news for Major Stark, but his memory of what happened out there… well, it paints a different picture than what you might expect.”

“What are you getting at?”

“I think your long-distance scans might be a little busted because the ‘low activity’ you mentioned in the city ruins? It was crawling with mutants. They’re moving in and out of the ruins in numbers that I haven’t seen in a long time. When I was patching up the tank mechs, all that noise drew them out like flies.”

Dyar’s expression shifted, and he frowned deeply. 

"That’s not possible. The scans indicated minimal activity."

"With all due respect, Major, either the scans are faulty, or we’re dealing with some ghosts. I’m telling you, it was thick with them. And these weren’t just wandering mutants. It was like they were organized, hiding and ambushing, almost tactical. Aegis units aren’t known for that level of movement without a reason. Whatever’s going on out there, it’s bigger than just ‘low mutant activity.’”

Dyar was quiet, processing her words.

 “And you think this… means another wave coming?”

“It means you need to reassess your intel, Dyar. The ruins aren’t just a danger zone. They’re an active threat, a staging ground, maybe even a foothold for a larger force we’re not seeing in full. You have a problem on your hands, and if these mutants start moving, it won’t be long before they’re knocking at our door. If I had to guess, I think these mutants are hiding underground. One of them sneaked up on me and after I dealt with it I noticed that he crawled from the sewer well. So, Major, where do you think we stand with the information I got?”

 “Damn these mutants, no wonder scans fail! But not bad, not bad at all! You did good!”

 He took a step back, scratching his chin as he seemed to piece together a new plan.

 “This might work. The data you collected in both mechs, especially in Combelt IV, will give us eyes on your full fight against Raptor 01. And bringing the tank mechs back - not one, but two - that’s big, Aria. Big enough to make HQ reconsider a lot of things.”

“But the most important piece,” he continued, “is what you said about the mutants being in the open, right there in the city ruins. All this time, we’ve been picking up zero readings. They were fooling us, they’ve been slipping right under our sensors without a trace. If they can mask their presence by digging into the ground, then we’re more vulnerable than we thought.”

“Yeah. I don’t know how, but it’s something we need to figure out fast. I saw them with my own eyes, Dyar, and they weren’t trying to hide once I started working. Now I put down 14 of them before it become quiet but I bet more would have showed up soon enough.”

Dyar turned on his wrist display and filed all the new data Aria said.

“This changes things, I will send this to Stark right away. If HQ realizes the scanners are flawed, they’ll have to revisit all our strategies. And Major Stark’s son... finding him alive is going to mean a lot of leverage for you. The higher-ups will be hesitant to execute you now, not after this. You didn’t just save one of ours - you might’ve saved our entire Beehive.”

“Good, finally some progress.” 

Dyar looked at her, “You’ve still got a long way to go to regain full trust with HQ, but this… this could be a fresh start. You’ve given them a reason to see you as more than a risk. For now, get some rest until Major Stark returns from debriefing with HQ.”

Dyar smirked, half-amused. 

“Aria, with all said and done, you did a good job. Just try not to make it a habit.”

 “Understood, sir.”