Unyielding Resolve - Cecilia Alcott x OC

Chapter 17 - Redeployed

Bold: Time/Location
Italic: Character Thoughts/Internal Monologue
Underline: Author's Note(s)

Arena Three - No POV

After he had showered and freshened up, James rested for a couple of hours until it was time to get back to business. No matter how hard he tried, he couldn't fall asleep and before he knew it, it was time to go. The first thing he needed to do was get to the jumpjet and inform S.T.R.I.K.E. command of the situation. He managed to sneak out without alerting anyone, because if there was one thing he was good at, it was being quiet. The trip to the jumpjet wasn't very long, so he had plenty of time to tell director Black about everything and upload his mission logs he had been recording, doing exactly that shortly after boarding the aircraft. After less than ten minutes of talking about the situation and making sure to state that Chifuyu didn't know about Cecilia's involvement, director Black understood and agreed to meet Ms. Orimura at the academy in the arena very shortly. Even though S.T.R.I.K.E. headquarters was so far away, the jumpjets had been specifically designed to outrun IS units by significant margins with speeds reaching above mach 10, so the head of the organization wouldn't take more than thirty minutes at most to arrive.

After concluding his report and recloaking the jet as he disembarked, the young spy began his walk to the arena. After ten minutes, he arrived and spotted Chifuyu standing in front of the corpse of the unmanned IS. The glowing moonlight accentuated her figure against the steel remains of yesterday's attacker. Sighing from the tension which had been building up inside him, he slowly approached her. "Director Black has agreed to meet you here at the arena. He should be arriving in less than thirty minutes. Also, he wanted me to mention that the cameras to the arena and the academy will be disabled during your meeting." Chifuyu wasn't pleased with that, she was trying to get any evidence she could to potentially expose these spies to anyone, even if just a few government officials. Fortunately, the agency wasn't sloppy by any means. "He also wanted me to warn you that in case you tried to detain us, reinforcements are just a short distance away." James added, eliciting a threatening stare from the IS instructor. "His words, not mine. Don't shoot the messenger." he replied, raising his hands in defense. "Don't be modest, you're more than just a messenger." she sternly responded, causing James to slightly smirk at that. "Fair point, but I'd like to remind you again that we're trying to protect the world. You don't have to like it, but can you at least just admit that we might not be your enemy?" he pleaded to her, trying to ease the tension between them.

Before Ms. Orimura could answer, the dirt of the arena floor started to blow around, exponentially becoming more intense. Chifuyu stood in her usual stoic stance while James put on his pair of sunglasses, even though there was no sunlight. After a minute, the winds stopped and a jumpjet of identical design to the one James had been using decloaked before the pair's eyes. It had landed in front of them just a few meters away with the left side of the aircraft facing them. The whirl of the mechanical motors of the ramp opening filled their ears, eventually stopping after the ramp had fully lowered. In that moment, many thoughts ran through James' head. It had been a fair amount of time since he and his boss had last spoken in person, and he wondered if director Black would notice how much he changed during his time at the academy.

Footsteps echoed from the opening of the jet as the big man himself slowly stepped down from inside, wearing his usual dark blue suit and blue tie. His footsteps became much more quiet when he stepped onto the tan dirt and approached the two. Finally stopping in front of Chifuyu, he greeted her saying "Instructor Orimura. It's a pleasure." and raised his hand in a friendly offer to shake hers. Chifuyu was not having any of it, and simply crossed her arms in front of her while raising a disapproving eyebrow. Lowering his hand after her refusal, he turned to James who quickly saluted without looking at him. "Good to see you agent Riker. I hope your assignment so far has been fun." he said, reminding James of what his boss had said over a year ago while he was training at the Fridge.