"The Neo-US government's agency, GUN, handled the operation of taking the ARK back from the colonists gone rogue. They eliminated every project created there, so how did this project escape?" McCloud interrogated Rouge.
Smoothing her short white hair, Rouge answered the Lieutenant's question without hesitation, "That's unknown, even to us, but when the Neo-US reviewed the documents concerning the projects aboard the ARK, they saw that one of the projects was never found…see where I'm getting at?"
"So, you're here to finish the job then?"
"On the contrary, I'm taking Shadow back."
"The Americans want Shadow?" Talon barked. "For what? As a weapon?" She shook her head, her resolve forcing her weapon back onto Rouge. "Sorry, but that's not happening. He won't be used for destruction."
Rouge grunted, playfully pointing her gloved finger at the Commander as if she were in control. Sixteen soldiers with weapons aimed at every point of her delicate body said otherwise, but she continued to toy with Talon and McCloud. "You didn't hear me right, did you, dear? I said I'm taking him back."
"Back to Nexus then?" McCloud gasped. "That makes no…"
The LT paused, noticing her grin growing slyer. It was becoming clear. The Neo-US didn't want Shadow, did they? But if that were case, then who assigned Nexus the mission? Better yet, who assigned Rouge…?
No. If that were the case, then this entire operation—
"Don't even think of moving, Rouge!" Talon roared.
Rouge read Talon's expression perfectly. "So, you figured it out, huh?"
"Figured what out, Commander?" McCloud stammered, his grip on the rifle faltering ever so slightly.
Talon's aim remained steady and true on the real threat standing before them. "Rouge isn't under the American's orders. The truth is that she's--"
"I wonder if you Special Forces can match a Nexus Superior," challenged the double agent, careful of her movements in front of the soldiers. They remained subtle enough to go undetected. She continued to distract them with her words as she gradually reached for the button on her accessory belt, "Especially against such a high-ranking Superior such as myself."
"Don't kid yourself. You're facing fourteen Storm Soldiers and two top IGPF Special Forces. You're done. I won't let Shadow fall into the wrong hands!"
"That's no longer your call, Commander."
A blink of an eye and dozens of knives pierced the crevices of the Storm Soldiers' armor, lighting the war factory brighter than the lightning crackling outside as sparks of blue short-circuited the mobility chips inside the Storm Armor. Without them, they were humans trapped in mere statues as the crafty Rouge rushed McCloud and Talon. Able to move quicker with their special Armour, the Special Forces members welcomed the so-called Nexus Superior's frontal assault with a barrage of bullets.
A flash of lightning and Rouge disappeared! The bright light from the outside blinded them because of their night vision goggles and Rouge capitalized on their flaws as she taunted them. "Maybe you'll shoot me if you get rid of your goggles." Her steel-toed crashed down on the side of McCloud's neck and the power packed behind the blow knocked him flat on his face. Rouge snickered, her speed impressing Talon as phantom images of the agent distorted her NVGs.
"He put you up to this?" Talon questioned her as she followed Rouge by the trail her ghost's movements. She dived and rolled to her right as a knife flew past her, grazing an exposed portion of her leg armor. She hissed and found cover behind one of the steel crates, cursing Rouge's snickers in the distance.
"Wouldn't you like to know, Celeste?"
Talon growled, jumping out of cover and unloading a full clip in the direction of Rouge's voice. How she knew of Talon's true name was beyond her. The IGPF never shared private information with other organizations; Talon's profile was strictly confidential.
"It's useless."
Talon tossed her M6, whipped her slim body around, and met Rouge's knife with weapons of her own in a single motion. Electric blades extended from the wrists of her Armour, creating more sparks of blue as the two weighed force upon their weapons. Her strength enhanced by the gears whirring at high speeds in her Armour, Talon pushed Rouge forward. "Not so useless, is it?" she snarled, observing her foe's body for any openings.
Rouge only smiled, breaking away in a spin, kicking her foot out as she ducked and came around. Talon snatched her leg and utilized Rouge's own momentum to toss her towards the stasis chamber. Unable to stop herself in time, Rouge's body slammed against the base of the computer controlling the chamber. The collision caused the main system to malfunction, setting off chains of explosions all around as the factory began to crumble from all of the action.
Talon kneeled quickly as the floor rumbled, watching cables connected to the stasis chamber snap from the flames surrounding it. She prayed that Shadow never saw the light of day now that the factory's destruction was guaranteed. Floating inside of the chamber, oblivious to the world outside the glass tube, it seemed sad. Celeste pitied Shadow a little. Created as a weapon of mass destruction, he didn't ask for such an existence. No, it was forced upon him. It wasn't fair, but she couldn't allow him to le—
Piercing red eyes froze Talon in an instant of time where fear took control. Her body numb, she didn't notice the sweat falling from her chin. Lieutenant McCloud came to her side, shaking her in an attempt to snap her back to reality, but the line between reality and fantasy became but a blur as the LT exchanged stares with someone who remembered nothing of actuality. Only the here and now mattered. Reaching out to them, he silently demanded his freedom.
Time began anew. Shadow was reborn.