The Reasons We Fight

Retaliation

Sapphire sighed as she put her helmet back on. The Director was a tricky one, that was for sure. It was a miracle that Niko had found those patterns, or else they'd never find him. As she stood and traced her hand along her gun, Garnet walked in.

"You're doing good, Sir," he said, leaning against the doorframe with a smirk. She punched his arm as she left, and he wasn't too far behind. He eventually fell in pace next to her.

"Wouldn't be here without you," she replied without looking his way, but he knew she meant it.

Niko and Rouge walked into the room with a flash drive with a white King.

"I hope everyone can trust me." Niko thought aloud.

Two hours had past, and, as Sapphire had ordered, the Conference was full with the members of Black and Green Committees. Unlike the Conference Room, the Meeting Room had one gigantic, white table in the middle. Every seat but two were full, and some were standing. The room was pretty much all white, and the New Hesitance and New Insurgents flag hung in the back of the room. The room had an elegant feel to it, and the quiet chatter added.

Sapphire and Garnet walked to the head of the table. She sat there, and Garnet took the seat to her left. Gold sat at the seat to her right, and Silver was next to him.

"Rouge and I have somethin' to show you guys." Niko said as he showed everyone the map and everything he said to Sapphire in her office to the committees.

"And so," Niko concluded. "We have a head start and an advantage over the Director now. We can use this to plan a counterattack and find this guy. It's like chess. He's a master at it but it's time we beat him at his own game. I know I haven't been the optimal help, but you gotta trust me on this! I know chess like the back of my hand."

"It's true!" Rouge jumped in. "He can even summon chess pieces to command so you know he's a genius at it!"

"So what you guys say?" Niko asked pleadingly. "Can you try to trust me just this once?"

Sapphire clicked a button on the remote that controlled the TV, where the map was being displayed. The press caused it to flick dead, and she turned to the Committees to see their response.

A male and a female dressed in black suits (Revealing their spots on the Black Committee) stood. "You are aware that this isn't a game, correct?" the female asked, her voice having a thick accent that couldn't be placed.

"Even if this information is accurate, it won't help us find the Director. It'll only make it easier to fend off the next few attacks," the male said, bearing the same accent.

"Like my sister said, this isn't a game. We can't make one move that solves everything."

A male in a dark green suit stood. "I take it you found this drive at the ambush that you were told not to go to," he stated, narrowing his eyes at Niko. "The Director is smart. He wouldn't give one of his solider that drive, just for it to get lost and in the hands of his enemy. I say it's another trap."

"You don't get it do you?" Rouge asked. "He's been planning his attacks as chess moves. Watch."

Rouge set up everything on an actual chessboard. "As you see, we, the King piece, are safe at the moment. His next possible moves are to attack us directly and end it immediately, attack the Queenside Bishop, our Shimalu base, attack our Kingside Knight, our Station Square base, or attack either one of our White Forest bases. Sure, we hold him off no matter which way he chooses, but for how long?"

This brought everyone to the conclusion that Rouge was right and at this, she smiled. She loved being right as much as treasure.

"Niko is a master Chess player too," Rouge continued. "So letting him be point on this will save your lives because the Director left his King open with no piece that can defend him if we get too close. According to the map that's in a little place called Dolphin Resort."

"If we take that opening now, we can surely find him." Niko said.

Now it was Sapphire's turn to object. She stood slowly, her armor suddenly feeling heavy. "Niko, there is no Insurgent facilities in Dolphin Resort. We have found out that he's staying at some Insurgent base. So, if this map is right, all of our research has gone to waste." From behind her helmet, her eyes were narrowed very dangerously, as a warning.

The girl in the black suit shook her head. "Like Jamaal said, the Director is smart. He must have given the hard drive to one of his soldiers to drop because he knew you were here, and you would jump at the first opportunity to be a savior."

The man in the green suit, Jamaal, nodded. "I don't think this is something we can trust."

After that, constant chattering erupted in the room, arguments going on between the Committees almost immediately. Sapphire took her seat and sighed, and Garnet rested a hand on her back. She would let them argue for a moment, but that was all.

"Rouge?" Niko asked.

"Yeah..." She replied. "I know."

The two left, one with the thought "how stupid are these idiots?" and the other completely crestfallen. He decided to do what he has never done since this had begun, take a "vacation", and visit Dolphin Resort alone. He had no intentions on taking it easy, though. He walked into Dolphin Resort and searched around and one of the X Insurgents and tailed her into an alleyway. He turned intangible and went through the wall he saw her go through and saw the Director. However, he was on the other line of a conference call. Niko went up to the screen and traced the connection to a location he knew all too well, since he was trapped there for a good part of his life. He ran back to the New Insurgence and ran up to Sapphire who was looking at him, rather angrily.

"Before you yell at me for doing what I did," Niko said. "I found out where he really is!"