"Projects, count off. 1" Master Yi, unofficial head of the ragtag resistance group, started the head count. "Tracer 2?"

"Oh, sorry Yi! 2!" Leona continued groggily over her mandatory cup of morning Java.

"Trace 3 here. Not really, but close enough." Lucian's baritone voice sounded from above them, still lying in bed, not having to bothered to get up yet.

"Hmm? Yeah, 4 here." Yasuo said, not even looking up from cleaning his already spotless carbon fiber sword.

"6." Came the clipped tone of Fiora, who was sprawled out on a lounge chair, chewing on a bagel, "5 isn't here, right? He's on that recon mission, we'll skip him."

"Oh, look at Avarosa, he's so cute!" Ashe squealed. Her personal drone zoomed around her, spinning in the air and doing loop-the-loops, before saying in a robotic voice (think Wall-E): "7".

"Ashe, how do you know Avarosa's a he? Didn't you name him- err… it after your female ancestor? 8." Ekko drawled.

Ashe opened her mouth to retort, but Lucian simply said wearily, "Shut up you two. Yi, get on with the agenda."

"Right. Ahem. This errr… might sound crazy, but we are uhh… going to try to convince Miss Katarina to join our forces-" Master Yi was cut off by the sound of Lucian's head banging on the ceiling, Leona spewing out her coffee, and Fiora falling off the couch.

"Are you crazy? Oh wait, I suppose you are. I knew this was a bad idea from the very start! We are not going anywhere near her. Remember what happened last time we tried to talk to her? Leona almost lost her arm!" Fiora ranted while picking herself off the ground, with the bagel left forgotten on the ground.

"Well you see-"

"I have to agree with her Yi. Katarina is openly hostile to us right now. Maybe we could look for other allies, like the Full Metal Alliance, the one that Jayce leads, or maybe we could go rescue Riven from the Project Foundry." Ekko cut him off.

"It would be a death wish to go and try rescue-"

"Also, why do we have to contact Katarina now? Why can't we do propaganda or do some more blitz attacks against some other factories?" It was Ashe's turn to step in. "Maybe if we show to her that our interests are aligned, then she might come to us, but it would be useless-as well as dangerous to approach her outright."

Master Yi waited for a few seconds before continuing. "Are you all done now? Good. Now like I was saying before, I think that since we have more allies, namely Ashe and Ekko here, we might be able to convince her that we have a chance of winning this war. Ashe, before we became… this, you were friends with Katarina, right? I was hoping that we could use Avarosa here to communicate with her, so that we won't actually be in the line of fire."

Leona nodded slowly. "That does make sense… but why is this better then contacting the Full Metal Alliance? Isn't three better than one?"

"I think what Yi wants is to first get the group together, to prove our strength before we reach out to other groups. But that also means we need to get Riven." Yasuo put his sword back into his scabbard. "I agree with Yi, we should go and find the remaining Projects before launching any major offensive. Doesn't Katarina live in an abandoned junkyard or something? It's pretty far from here, and we'll need to move in the dark. Avarosa will barely have time to go there, have a video call, and then make it back in the same night. It's risky, but if this works, then it'll be worth it."

"Then I guess everybody go and train. We're going to blitz an incoming supply train to the Foundry on Wednesday. It's Sunday today. Meeting adjourned." Fiora called from the bathroom. "Ugh, who spilled coffee all over me?"

The tech room-2:37 a.m.

"Katarina? Are you there? Ashe whispered at the screen. The camera showed nothing but a sofa with some blankets piled on top, a tv, and an overturned table. Ashe jostled the control stick, and the drone spun around. "Katarina?" All of a sudden, a shock of white flashed through her peripheral vision. Avarosa tried to turn, but was somehow lodged in place. "Katarina! It's me, Ashe!" The drone was pulled down to reveal a woman with white hair and a pink faceplate.

"I never would've imagined you would stoop this low, Ashe. I really thought you were better than this. I guess I'm wrong." Katarina's mouth pulled into a sneer. "Why don't you fly back home to mommy, birdy."

"Katarina, hear me out here. Please. These aren't bad people. Look, if you don't trust me, that's fine. But you trust Lucian, right? These people were given the chance to kill each other an uncountable amount of times, yet they're all still here, right? Just- just give them a chance. Give me a chance. Please."

The whitehead (red doesn't work anymore) thought for a moment. "On Wednesday, there's a supply train. I'm going to be there and watch you guys work. If they are really as good as you say, I'll join. If not, bye bye." She gave Ashe a sadistic smile before throwing the drone out of a window.