"Damn!" Jase growled, glaring at the wall. June knew from his face that he was angry with Angela. Of course. Because her goons intervened, the Legion came in and now Meadow was stuck in jail.
Combine that with what had happened with Phantasma, and they were all a little nervous.
"Sorry," June said. "I wasn't sure I could get her out without sacrificing someone else."
"You're fine, Juney," Jase replied, waving her worries away with his hand. "You did the best you could in the circumstances. It's because of you that Randy's still here."
After she'd ditched Knight Errant and Light Master to fight Angela's newbie, June had found Randy and dragged him back towards base. He woke up partway through the trip, so she escorted him, hoping Meadow could take care of herself.
Turns out she couldn't.
"So what now?" Ryder asked, frowning. Niko, Aubrey and Randy sat in the room as well, anxiously waiting for Jase's next command.
"We have a couple options," Jase said slowly. "Firstly, we can try to break Meadow out. We could also just wait for her sentence to expire, but I'm worried that whoever took out Phantasma might also target Meadow."
"In which case, we need to act fast," Aubrey said.
"Secondly, we can focus on taking out one of Angela's Miracle wielders. By whittling down her forces, we can move more freely."
"Bad idea, boss," Randy said. "Scattershot was our big hitter, and without either her or Paris we don't stand much of a chance. Angela's people are both geared towards a straight fight."
"We'd never declare a fair fight," June replied. "We'd lure them out, then sic the Legion on them or something. They caught Meadow, they can catch Jacob or Justin."
Randy had told them during the debriefing that the new guy was Justin Bernard, an old partner of his. With some quick digging, Niko had found all kinds of sketchy records. Based on all that, it was easy to guess that he was in with Angela now.
Speaking of Justin, shortly after the fight, the Legion had dubbed him "Twinblade" for his weapon. With that, they'd also released a list of known villains and their Miracles. Jase's people were on there too. The photos were pretty bad, but enough for people to recognize them at a glance.
June glanced at Jase. She couldn't quite tell what he was thinking, but she trusted his judgement.
"The third thing we can do is try to find more allies," Jase said. "Preferably people who have a similar history with Angela, and people who aren't likely to betray us. During a trial basis, however, we'll make sure they only meet with Mist and one or two other volunteers."
"Count me out," Randy said.
"I can volunteer," Ryder said, nearly at the same time.
"I'd also like to stay out of this," Aubrey said. Jase nodded.
"Niko and Bryce are obviously not going to be placed in that position. Juney, that means you'll be in charge of new members."
"Got it," she said. She didn't necessarily want to lead, but considering their other options she'd have to do it. Ryder didn't have enough experience, Meadow was too quick to blow her top, Niko and Bryce were part of the Miracleless thief team and Jase had to stay hidden at all costs. Too much would fall apart if he was exposed too easily. Aubrey was the only other viable option, but her Miracle wasn't as well-suited to the leadership role as June's.
"Speaking of," Niko said, putting his phone away. "We need a new name, Jase. Anything to do with Phalanx would link us to Paris, and I assume we want to cut ties with him, right?"
"Right. I've thought about that. How do you guys feel about Solstice?"
Everyone mulled over it for a bit. June tilted her head and stared at Jase. Where had he come up with that?
"I like it," Ryder said. "In fantasy stories and stuff, the solstices are times of great magical power, right? If we want to say we're a force to be reckoned with, it works."
"Sounds kind of celestial," Aubrey said. "Where'd you come up with it?"
"I was just thinking." Jase glanced at June and she let the faintest hint of a smile spread across her face.
The earth had two solstices. One was in June, the longest day of the year. The other was in December, the shortest day of the year. June was her name. And December was her birth month. Why did she feel like it had to do with her?
Not that she'd say anything. If she was going to lead Solstice, it was just as well that she feel some kind of attachment to it.
"I'm game with that name. Sounds cool," Niko said. "Guess I shouldn't be surprised you already thought of something, though."
"Well, guess that's our new name," Aubrey said with a shrug.
"I'll just run it by Bryce. He'll join you for future missions," Jase said. "As background support of course, but we need to be united right now."
"So we have the three options Jase offered," Niko continued, holding up three fingers. He lowered one. "One, we break out Meadow." He lowered a second. "Two, we take out Angela's people." The third one disappeared. "Three, we find more allies. What do we vote on?"
"Where would we even go to find allies?" Ryder asked. "It's not like a lot of people set out to be villains, and if they do they probably aren't the kind we wanna work with."
"I have two in mind already," Jase answered. "Amias Benjamin and Rayne Faulkner."
"And who are they?"
"They used to work with us when we were all under Angela," Niko replied. "They got locked up several years ago and got out fairly recently. I suspect they've been using Amias's Miracle to steal. The real trouble will be tracking them down. As far as I know, nobody's been able to track them down."
"You can do it, Niko," June said. "But first we have to get Meadow. How do we break her out in a timely manner?"
"June's right. Meadow should be our first priority," Aubrey said.
"This would be much easier if I could transport people," Randy muttered.
"If we managed to hack the systems, we might be able to get her out," Niko said. "Like, if I found which cell she's in and opened it, then we sent in June to guide her out."
"How the hell do you plan to hack the military of all people?" Randy asked, looking utterly flabbergasted.
"Can I help?" Ryder asked.
"No idea," Niko replied, looking each of them in the eye. "But I figure it's our best shot. I've been poking around the military security for a while now and we did manage to steal Phantasma's autopsy. The military isn't impregnable."
"If anything goes wrong, you're bringing the entire military down on our heads," Randy spat.
"Not if I use a public computer," Niko said with a grin. "Or, if I program a key that lets June hack it from the inside."
"More work?" June asked, feigning boredom. Truth be told, though, she was worried about Meadow. Even if she was a bit nasty at times, she was one of the team. The difference between Jase and Angela was that, for better or for worse, Jase didn't abandon people.
"How is June gonna manage anything? It's a wonder she can put her own clothes on in the morning," Randy groaned.
"Hey, she just saved your ass," Aubrey said. "Give her a bit of credit."
"Jase, I'm gonna ask you to lend me Bryce. Two heads are better than one," Niko said. "We'll look for the optimal way to save her."
"Use anyone and anything you need," Jase replied solemnly. "We're racing against the clock here."
Everyone nodded and left the room, though Randy grumbled the whole way. When it was just her and Jase, June sat on his lap and put her head on his shoulder.
"Do we have a chance?" she asked quietly.
"Doesn't matter. I'll make one," Jase said. "I don't care if I have to mobilize the Legion to do it."
