The transporter came to a full stop inside the hangar and the rear hatch slowly lowered. On their way in, it had been nice to see that the Ark was no longer smoking, but the evidence of damage was still very clear.

Blackened armour plating on the main deck from missile impacts, large window sections replaced by temporary sheet metal. It was not enjoyable to see.

Elijah stood as Sajjan made his way to the ramp, "Do you want to get something to eat? I'm starving."

Sajjan had stopped at the very edge of the hold, right where the ramp dropped. "Dude, what's up? You no-" He followed what Sajjan was staring at, a woman with short blonde hair in a dark grey suit stood at the end of the ramp looking back up at them.

"I suspect your plans of a meal are about to be dashed." Sajjan, as usual, was entirely right as the woman began to speak.

"Ravens Elijah and Sajjan? The Governor has requested to see the two of you immediately. Please follow me."

Elijah looked at Sajjan, "Did we fuck up somewhere along the line?"

"I doubt it, but I suspect we have little choice in the matter." There was no humor on his face which lead Elijah to believe he still didn't think highly of the Governor. They both stepped down the ramp and followed in silence.

The woman said nothing while they walked but it wasn't hard to guess that their summoning was likely to do with the information they had relayed to their Operator while returning.

The Ark and the Ravens in general were in no position to go scouring the entire North American continent looking for a missing fleet of attack aircraft. They simply didn't have the manpower or resources.

The silence remained unbroken all the way up the elevator and up to the Governor's office door where she turned and faced them, "He's waiting inside." With that she left the two of them infront of the ajar door. Inside, several voices could be overheard speaking.

"Well, do we knock?" Elijah raised his fist to do just that when Sajjan just pushed it open and stepped inside. "That answers that."

"Governor," Sajjan began, "You asked to see us?" What caught Elijah slightly off guard was that Governor Archambault wasn't at his desk as he expected, but standing hunched over the large table with several other men and women, all wearing business suits.

"Ummm, are we interrupting something?" Elijah hissed to Sajjan while Desmond looked up at them.

"Ah, Sajjan, Elijah, I'm glad you're here now." The Governor waved them over, to join the group surrounding the table. Nervous looks were exchanged between the suits, none of them appearing happy to see them.

They shuffled aside to allow Elijah and Sajjan to see the tabletop. On it, were multiple blurry images, a pair of unrolled blueprints and several design schematics. All layered over each other in a jumbled heap from repeated moving and picking up, it was impossible to make out what exactly they had been studying.

"Before we go any further, you two realise that everything discussed here is to be kept between only those in this room, you understand? I'd rather not go through the trouble of legally gagging you as I trust Sajjan and by extension, Elijah as well."

They both nodded in agreement, "Of course."

"Good, now, I want to first thank you for the information that you sent us from your investigation. We now are aware of the threat that GA poses and we can be ready for the next attack."

Not that he wanted to say anything, but Elijah knew this had to be a bluff. The Governor had to know that the Ravens were vulnerable, that the Ark was not the perfect bastion of protection everyone thought it was.

Desmond continued, "Second, I would like to introdu-"

"Now Governor, as much as I know you trust them they are still mercenaries, many of us here would like to remain as anonymous as possible lest we find a price on our heads when this is done."

Sajjan appeared unfazed but Elijah saw fit to shoot the man a scowl. Desmond equally appeared somewhat upset, "I would prefer if you don't equate Ravens to the likes of mere mercenaries."

"At the end of the day Governor," one of the women spoke up now, "We must account for the fact that we cannot risk our involvement in this becoming public knowledge, we have more at stake than our careers and reputation these days."

Several people nervously stared at the table. It was becoming clear that something was going on here. "Excuse me, I'm not entirely sure what is happening here. Before discussing our involvement, perhaps we should understand why we are all gathered here?"

Glances were shared with the suits, some muttered to each other. Elijah was getting tired of the secrets and whispering.

Desmond spoke over them, "Alright everyone, this is pointless. The only reason this plan exists is because of the Ravens so how about we get over ourselves and actually talk about this?"

A short silence followed before, "Fine. My name is Adriane Friedmann, I am the leader of the Bernard and Felix Foundation's Research and Development Division. All of us here are members of BFF. However regarding name and position in the Corporation, that will be up to individuals to disclose."

Wait what, BFF? The hell are head members of BFF doing here? Elijah glanced between Sajjan and Desmond, waiting for someone to explain what exactly was going on.

The Governor was the first to speak, "As you know, the two of you were sent to investigate the attack on the Ark while Berlioz investigated the Exavil ruins. Well what Berlioz found is the reason these members of BFF are here."

Elijah looked at the table top, scanning over the various images. It was difficult to actually understand what he was supposed to be looking at with only poor quality images and fractions of the blueprints being visible from where he was looking.

"Not long after arriving at Exavil, Berlioz was attacked and forced to retreat." That sentence alone caused looks of genuine concern between Sajjan and Elijah. The concept of something able to make Berlioz fall back was terrifying. "It was indirect fire, he could not physically engage his opponent so he resorted to getting the best images he could of the target before falling back. Those images are the ones you see before you. Using some information networks we were put in touch with BFF who were able to confirm what it was and blueprints for it."

Before Desmond had a chance to continue one of the BFF members spoke up, "I feel like this is where I come in. My name is Jonas Amsel. I work under Ms. Friedmann and this particular weapons system was my project. Its name is Spirit of Motherwill. It was designed as a mobile extreme range fire support platform with the capability to rearm and restock MTs and light aircraft."

Sajjan spoke this time, "That sounds like a rather serious project. Interesting that this is the first we've heard of it?"

Jonas gave an exasperated sign, "That would be because BFF terminated and buried the project when several flaws in the design were found to be unsolvable during the last stages of construction. We… No, I believed that during the construction period I could work the kinks out of the design and implement them regardless of how far along progress was. As it turned out, fixing them in turn caused numerous other issues that were equally as complex to work around."

"I'm assuming then," Elijah chipped in now, "That what, they cut your funding?"

"Oh no nothing like that, I was directly ordered to cease all work on the project and the near completed prototype was left where it was. All evidence of the project was destroyed and I was moved on to other work."

"Wait, BFF just left it there?" The concept of a weapon like this just being left somewhere was somewhat disturbing to Elijah.

"Well, the location of Motherwill was kept under the highest level of secrecy. Like I said all the documentation was destroyed."

"Then please explain how GA found it and used it to destroy Exavil." Sajjan was apparently not in the mood to dance around the issue.

Nobody said anything, instead sharing nervous looks before a different man spoke up, "My name is Emile Serres. I am the Operations Manager for BFF." Several staff members began to speak over him but Adriane silenced them with a glare. "I feel it is important to say that Global Armaments didn't find Motherwill."

Nobody said anything, the implication already becoming clear.

"The Bernard and Felix Foundation gave Motherwill to GA."

"You fucking what?" Elijah said far clearer than he intended. Realising that everyone was suddenly staring at him he followed with, "No, wait, no sorry, but. What? You gave them Motherwill?"

Adriane spoke up, "Please do not assume that we gave it up willingly. While you Ravens have been going about your lives, GA has been bullying the minor Corporations into submission. Eventually they gained enough clout behind the scenes that when they came knocking on our doors with threats against our lives and that of our families we had no choice but to give them what they wanted."

Desmond said, "This is why the members of BFF are here. After the fall of Exavil, the vast majority of the Corporation did not wish to sit idly by while their creation was turned against others."

"I'm assuming that's the reason behind all the information here regarding Motherwill?" Sajjan asked, pointing towards the table top.

Jonas picked up the blurry images, moving them to one side and pushed the now clear blueprint image towards Elijah and Sajjan, "That is Motherwill, in terms of scale, there isn't a AC in existence that could mount a weapon capable of punching through its armour, not to mention the hordes of MTs and aircraft that will likely be supporting it. It has two triple-barrelled cannons that are designed for over the horizon firing, with a forward spotter, this can be extremely accurate at even the longest ranges. It is likely that the people filming the destruction of Exavil also acted as spotters for Motherwill's main guns."

"I'm assuming that isn't all it can do?" Elijah figured that relying on extreme range guns and MTs was somewhat of a flawed design alone, not even considering whatever the actual problem was. Looking at the blueprints, now with a clear image of what it actually was, it wasn't hard to see why GA wanted it.

Standing tall enough that it could likely step over city blocks, with six colossal armoured legs. From the body above the legs in two overlapping layers were six short wings that had aircraft and MT launch catapults not dissimilar to aircraft carriers. That was likely how Motherwill deployed its onboard forces.

Exactly as Jonas had said, at the very top, either side of a large blocky command superstructure were two oversized turrets with three barrels each.

"You'd be correct, in addition to its guns and support units, Motherwill has an extremely large complement of missile pods. Though those are really only effective against targets that are not actually standing on its own flight deck, Motherwill is unable to fire missiles against a target that is that close. Of course there are multiple banks of smaller calibre guns and point defence systems but that is where the chinks in the design began to show."

Elijah had a feeling they were starting to get to the point of this whole affair.

"Motherwill is almost entirely reliant on its point defences and support MT forces when it comes to targets that engage it at effectively point blank range. The real nail in the coffin when it came to the Spirit of Motherwill Project was that in my original design, the turrets were smaller and just as well armoured as the rest of Motherwill, it would have taken weapons of equal power to destroy it. However, during the build process we realised the turrets would have to be considerably larger to be able to fit the guns we wanted in and be able to counteract the recoil of said weapons. This in turn meant that the turrets, if armoured in the same way would be too heavy for the rotating mechanism to function, meaning that Motherwil would have had to turn its entire body to line its guns up."

Jonas pointed to the turrets, highlighting the fact that they were little more than cannon barrels with a loading and recoil system mounted to what looked like oversized scaffolding. Completely exposed.

Jonas continued, "That was effectively the last straw. These unarmoured guns presented too much of a problem for BFF and the threat of a target managing to get that close meant that they could not trust Motherwill to survive an engagement with something that could avoid its long range fire. I suppose in a way, I hope to prove them correct."

The puzzle pieces were beginning to fall into place as Jonas explained the very specific weaknesses in Motherwill's design. On its own as a support platform, you couldn't ask for more from it, however in direct combat, it suffered the same issues as all support units did. Overspecialisation. Motherwill was clearly geared towards extreme range firepower, meaning its close range capabilities were poor, which meant their plan to presumably take it out, would involve getting close.

It was now Desmond's turn to speak, "This is where you two come in. An Armored Core is likely one of the few targets small enough, fast enough, and tough enough to survive Motherwill's point defences while attacking it."

"As well as that may be, how exactly do we destroy it?" Sajjan asking the very same question running through Elijah's mind.

"When I looked over Jonas' final designs before the project was shut down, it was clear that the reason the exposed guns were such an issue was that even light enemy fire could disable or in some way damage the guns so that they could no longer be used effectively. However focused fire could cause the heavy guns to collapse into their own mounting which would likely cause catastrophic internal damage."

"So the plan is," Elijah jumped in, "To attack those cannons to the point where they collapse?"

"Effectively, yes."

A frown spread across Elijah's face, "Ok, next problem. How exactly do we get close enough to this thing without being pasted by cannon fire and missiles on the way in?"

"Fo-" Desmond had barely begun speaking when a man wearing a medical uniform ran into the room, panting somewhat. "Can I help you? I'm i-"

"I am so sorry Governor," the man said, "But you asked us to let you know when he got back." He took a deep breath before carrying on, "We have Berlioz in medical. He is stable but was badly injured."

If the man's rather dramatic entrance hadn't caught Elijah's attention, the mention of Berlioz did. Berlioz is injured? He knew that he'd been forced to fall back but it hadn't been brought up that he'd actually been injured.

"Thank you very much for that, please let him know the information he provided was a great help to us. Let me know if his condition improves or worsens." The man nodded before leaving again.

One of the so far unnamed BFF members with a wry grin on his face muttered to someone next to him, "The invincible ace of Rayleonard injured? Maybe Motherwill wasn't as flawed as we thoug-"

Sajjan slammed his palm on the table edge, expressionless. "Could we please return to the problem at hand?"

The BFF executive was silent from then on while Desmond resumed, "Regarding the issue of getting close enough to Motherwill, BFF has a solution to this." He rolled up the Motherwill blueprint and unrolled another, this time showing off what looked like an oversized rocket booster, end to end it was almost as long as an AC was tall.

"This is a Vanguard Over Boost system, it was designed with the intention of providing a much faster and more intercept resistant way of inserting Armored Cores into high risk mission areas. In effect, it is perfect for this particular situation as it will allow you to close on Motherwill faster than it should be able to retaliate."

The confusion on both Elijah and Sajjan's face was obviously apparent as Desmond carried on, "It works to amplify your AC's Over Boost allowing you to easily travel far, far faster than you could normally could. It is mounted onto the back of your AC here," he pointed to the end of the VOB system that didn't look like a ridiculous cluster of rocket nozzles.

"You'll then launch from a modified gantry near the target and once you are clear of the launch platform the booster will light and within roughly a minute you should be on top of Motherwill. At that point you will manually detach the VOB unit before landing on Motherwill's fight deck. From there its up to you to destroy its main guns and hopefully bring this thing down. At the absolute least if you are unable to destroy Motherwill, taking its guns out will defang it and allow us to deal with it at a later time."

Elijah let out a long breath after hearing this. "Wow it's not like you're asking the world of us is it?"

Desmond did look like he understood what he was asking. It couldn't exactly be easy on him knowing the risks. "You're right, it is a lot, more than I believe reasonable. But these times have gone from normal to terrible at lightning pace, we can't afford to delay."

Sajjan nodded, "So long as there is a chance and hope we will keep fighting for it, Unfortunately, White Glint was damaged in our mission, not critically, but considering Havok is in better condition, I would suggest that Elijah perform the first attack. Should the need arise, I will go in second."

An eyebrow was raised at that as Elijah looked at him, "Should the need arise? You mean if I get killed?"

"I di-"

"No dude, it's fine really. I just wish you'd be a little more honest about something like this." He genuinely wasn't upset, he just knew that there absolutely was a chance he could die doing this. It wasn't in the realm of impossibility.

He looked at all the faces watching them. Faces that were tired, worn down. People who obviously carried the guilt of their creation being turned against innocents.

"Say no more. We're in."