Unmei Force Solitary Legends: Steel Avengers

Chapter 2: Strangers We Remain

In the dropship…

"So, we saved the President, but we're still at square one with doing any good here…" Siege said after they dropped the President off at a fairly safe spot, where his rescuers were gathered, allowing him to return safely. "What should our next move be?"

"Desperado's gonna be a major thorn in our side, but luckily I know where we need to go next." Jack said. "After all, we take out Desperado, we get one root of the problem. Then comes Armstrong."

"So where are we heading, Raiden?" Líf asked.

Jack soon told them their next location, the location of their first Desperado member to eliminate, Mistral, who was right inside Abkhazia, which was being assaulted by Desperado forces.

Before they reached the destination, Erika popped in through the onboard comms device, as she displayed herself.

"Just so you know, Sundowner wasn't kidding when he said that the government is destabilised. There's news about how the president is trying to get the country into order, but that doesn't mean much when almost his entire cabinet is KIA. Military junta's established, the terrorists brain-jacked any high-ranking officer in their way. Coup's going to end quickly, if we don't get there fast." Erika warned the group. "Just so you know the stakes."

"Don't worry, Erika." Richard responded back, before the dropship was approaching the city grounds, before the dropship system was preparing to drop the operatives down onto ground. "We'll make this quick as well."

The group then made their way towards the shore of the city, before the dropship lowered itself to a safe altitude for them to drop down from, as they splashed onto the shallow waters and sandy ground, before they then looked around, hearing the sounds of heated battle in the distance. Hearing this, they made their way through the shore, heading inland.

They soon reached a large plaza, before Siege heard the sound of faint footsteps in the vicinity, as he halted, causing the others to do the same, as he concentrated his senses to hearing out those footsteps.

"We're not alone." Siege answered back, before he then rushed up and cleaved something in the air, as blood sprayed out from where he slashed, as it was a Desperado soldier in stealth gear. "Knew it… They can fool the eye, but they can't fool the ear or the sixth sense."

At that moment, more of the enemy soldiers appeared, as they unsheathed their blades, ready to fight the entire team, who did the same with their own weapons. The six of them charged the Desperado cyborgs, as their blades cut through the cyborgs, and their guns pierced through their flesh, leaving them bleeding dead on the ground.

"Are they always this easy to kill? This is gonna be boring…" Thrasir scoffed, as she twirled her blade around.

"Oh trust me… they get harder as we go on." Jack answered back. "You'll see for yourself."

The group then made their way through the open doors of a large hall, as they looked around, and wandered through it.

"So, this Mistral… She is at the enemy headquarters situated in this area, is she?" Reisen asked Jack.

"Yep, she's inside the refinery along the coastline, if I remember it well enough." Jack nodded back. "And there's also that extremist… Dolzaev, if I said it right… he's no problem when we take out Mistral. A bullet to his head will suffice to stop him from blowing the place up like he intended."

The group then passed through the building, before they reached a walkway, which was overseeing a road junction, where there were several Desperado soldiers harassing a male civilian, having him knelt on the ground, and a blade pressed on his neck.

"Slowly move to position, nail them in one go." Siege ordered, as Richard nodded, before the both of them, Lif, and Jack took the stairway to head down, making sure to mask the sound of their movements, while Reisen and Gus took position, locking onto the soldiers around the area.

They soon got up to the soldiers, and stealth-killed them all with ease, with the four down on the ground driving their blades through the soldiers from behind, as the other soldiers didn't have time to react, before their heads were given a bullet-hole to them, saving the civilian, as Líf crushed the cybernetic spine of his soldier, continuing to enhance his armor/heal his damage.

"Bullseye!" Líf had commented when the spine was ripped out.

"Jeez, you look like that you're enjoying this. Heh, can't blame you." Jack chuckled, before he then turned to the civilian, who was terrified at what just happened. "Oh right. Calm down, we're not here to harm you. You might want to get out here, before things really get messy."

The civilian quickly stood up, before he then ran out through one of the streets, before the group continued through the streets, before they then encountered another band of Desperado cyborgs, before several beings that looked like a slightly bigger-than-human sized bipedal mechs, with black frog-like legs and a metallic mech head on top of it. They all let out various baying cries, like a frog.

"What… What are those…!?" Gus exclaimed, shocked at the sight of the new type of enemies.

"Gekkos. They're basically walking tanks to the likes of Metal Gears." Jack explained, before he then drew his blade. "Don't worry about them, the only organic part is their legs, so don't feel bad for killing them."

They soon lowered their heads, before charging the group as one, while Gus and Reisen dodged to the side, Siege, Richard, Lif and Jack resisted the charges, as they clashed with their metallic heads with their blades. And almost in unison, they split open their attackers' heads through the middle, and through their bodies, while Jack and Lif took the chance to take the electrolyte spinal units contained in the machines.

Several soldiers tried to charge the other three, although Gus dodged away from the attacks, and utilised close-range shots to take out the enemies. Reisen,however, used her new blade, deciding that her combat knife wasn't enough to fight in melee with, considering her encounter with Sundowner, as she borrowed the other HF Kusanagi that Richard offered Jack with, as she sliced through them, blade and body all.

Thrasir was still finding these foes easy to deal with. Mere annoyances, if anything, as the group took out the enemies, and moved on ahead to a building, and as they moved along….

"Greetings, cyborg and other life forms." A heavy male robotic voice said, making everyone get on edge.

"Show yourself!" Jack ordered the voice.

As Jack said this, a chainsaw began cutting through the building, cutting it all the way around, which made the building the group was in collapse, as they all fell, Líf, Siege, Richard, and Jack being the main ones slicing up debris that was falling, as everyone landed, and they sliced up more debris…

And above them was not just one, but two LQ-84i's capable of speech, as their chainsaws clashed with Líf's HF Sokkvakebr and Jack's HF Raijinto, as the two of them kicked away the robot canines.

"So who the hell are you two?" Jack asked.

"We are LQ-84i model robots, programmed with an intellect beyond comparison." The red LQ-84i said in a female robotic voice.

"Well, shit." Richard remarked back. "Not one but two of the Blade Wolf. And a perfect couple too, that's pretty damn interesting to see."

But hearing this, Jack decided to get snarky with them. "Alright, if you're so smart, answer this: What's the meaning to life? Why are we here?"

"We have only one goal, cyborg, that is to obey our masters and eliminate you." The black LQ-84i said.

"Hmph. Pretty simple thinking for such a mighty intellect." Thrasir commented.

But with that said, the two canine bots looked ready to engage, as their chainsaw tails began to rev up once again, as the group readied themselves for battle as well.

~BGM: I'm My Own Master Now~

The black LQ-84i charged at the group, before it then swiped its tail in full motion, slicing through the air, as the group was forced to either block or dodge the attack.

Meanwhile, the red LQ-84i took advantage of the situation, swiping it's tail multiple times at the group, to which they still blocked or dodged, as Jack landed a nice combination attack to the red LQ-84i.

Gus tried to fire his rifle at the black LQ-84i, which dodged his attacks by swivelling across the ground, before it tried to pounce onto him. However, Richard got between them both, as he quickly booted the mechanical beast's head with an upwards kick, sending it flying back, before it then righted itself in the middle of the air. In the meantime, Gus realised that his weapon as it is wasn't going to do the job, as he quickly switched his weapon for a spread-shotgun.

"Unit A... Initiate combination attack." The red LQ-84i told its partner unit, as the black one tilted its head towards it.

"Confirmed." The black LQ-84i answered back, before the two mechanical beast units rushed forward, as they sliced around the field in a deadly dance of slashes and swings, while also throwing super-heated daggers with their tail appendages. The group couldn't find a moment to launch a counter attack, as they could only dodge or block once again, before the two Blade Wolf units were hind-leg to hind-leg from each other. "Re-engaging targets."

"Affirmative." The red LQ-84i responded back, before the two units charged again at them.

Reisen managed to clash against the red LQ-84i, as her blade caught against the chain-saw blade, ensuring that Gus had the chance to fire several rounds into the red LQ-84i, managing to damage it considerably, enough for it to retreat from the dead-lock.

"Unit A, I am damaged by one of the hostiles. I shall request back-up." The red LQ-84i responded back. "Continue to engage them, and use your reinforcements to pressure the enemy."

"Acknowledged." The black LQ-84i intoned back, before the red unit raised its head, and let out a echoing howl, as it called along several squads of Desperado soldiers that aimed for the group of operatives. It then retreated out of the line of fire, knowing that some of them had ranged options on them.

Siege decided that he would use the chance to use some deception against the LQ-84i unit, as he used Zandaitsu to create a mess of blood and limbs from the nearby cyborgs, as it obstructed the unit's view of Siege, as it parried attacks from behind by Lif. It turned its head to find Siege, before the soldier was right on top of it, before smashing his blade down onto the black mecha wolf, dealing significant damage.

"Damage sustained… Enemy is using unconventional tactics to ambush this unit." The black LQ-84i commented, before it then made its way to the ledge, and jumped over towards it. "Unit B, I request your assistance. To continue along with the reinforcements used against us would be foolish, considering the damage the blow has inflicted on me."

"Acknowledged." The red LQ-84i answered back, before it then jumped into the fray, ready to take on the team once again, before the black LQ-84i called for reinforcements for its ally, which were two Gekko units alongside many more cyborg soldiers.

"Shit, they're not playing around this time!" Jack mentioned as he saw the reinforcements coming, but saw the damaged red LQ-84i and smiled, he could finish this off quickly. "You hold off the reinforcements. I'll take the red one here."

"Right, you know how to slay these things the best." Siege said, as he and Líf went to attack the Gekkos and cyborgs.

Richard then decided to assist the two of them, while Gus, Thrasir, and Reisen provided ranged fire against the cyborg soldiers. He vaulted over the head of one of them, before then bisecting it from behind, before then doing a full-swing slash that cut through the heads of the approaching cyborgs.

After the enemy numbers had dwindled, Gus noticed that Jack was knocking the red LQ-84i unit back, as it was taking glancing damage from each strike, as if it was beginning to lose power. He silently unclipped one of the grenades on his waist, before rolling it down across the ground towards where he predicted the red LQ-84i unit would end up at.

"Raiden! Step back!" Gus shouted to Jack as a warning, as the white-haired cyborg caught the warning, and retreated back. The red LQ-84i only had a few split-seconds to process what was happening, before the grenade rolled under its body, and sent it flying into the air.

Jack grinned maliciously, before he then jumped up and stabbed his blade right through the centre part of the red unit, as it let out a distorted cry.

"N-no! Don't!" The red LQ-84i pleaded before Raiden smirked, entering Zandaitsu and slicing the red LQ-84i to scrap, yet, it was recoverable scraps to potentially rebuild the AI.

"Unit B!" The Black LQ-84i with what seemed to be a digital version of the concerned emotion.

"Cannot continue… F-Forgive me, Unit A…" The scrapped unit answered back with static in its digital voice. "I cannot carry my directive out in this current state. I entrust the mission… to y..o.u…"

"Unit B… you've done your objective… I shall finish this." The black LQ-84i said before it let out a fierce howl. "Unit B was my only companion in this cruel world. I will use every measure necessary to avenge her defeat." It declared with a slightly distorted tone, emulating rage.

"Huh, guess you were right Richard, they were a couple." Siege said with a chuckle. "And it seems even an AI has emotions."

"Well, the rebuilt one had some loyalty to Raiden at that final confrontation. AI can learn to feel, that's what I'll say." Richard responded back, before he then drew his blade. "Let's end this. It's better to give this one a quick destruction, to ensure it doesn't run rampant."

"I shall obliterate every single one of your consciousnesses." The sole remaining LQ-84i unit declared ominously, before its body then glowed. "Initiating Overdrive protocols."

"Well, crap." Richard responded back, before the unit's attack became much more frenzied and faster, as its blade was empowered to the point that it was cutting the ground, wall and anything in its path to pieces, including its own allies, which didn't have time to escape its raging assault.

"Holy shit he's going berserk!" Jack said. "Alright, if someone can stun this bot, I think I can finish it off! Something, anything!"

"I got you covered Jack!" Siege said, pulling out an EMP and tossing it at the remaining LQ-84i, which did the trick in stunning it.

"Systems… locking up…." The remaining LQ-84i said in a static tone as it was stunned.

"Perfect." Raiden smirked as he began to kill this LQ-84i like he did the red one.

"No, impossible, NO!" The remaining LQ-84i said as Raiden soon finished it off, before its system began to shut down from critical damage. "Directive… Liberate… nation… ensure freedom… Obey directive… must obey directive… no freedom… critical mission failure… synchronised unit lost.. No freedom… no hope… Freedom undefined… Hope… un… de… fined…"

"Damn, that really gave us a shock there." Richard remarked with a deep sigh, before turning to Siege. "Good save, we wouldn't want to try and fight a berserk wolf, would we?"

"No, but I'm certain that he would be dangerous even without this." Siege answered back.

Battle Results

Combat Rank: A+

"Well… I think I can use these two, unlike the Blade Wolf I had back home." Jack said, before trying to contact Erika. "Erika, come in."

"There is no need, I have been observing the situation. Your request is underway." Erika responded back, before several drones decloaked from the area, as they turned out to be the same Eater drones that she was using before. "Do not worry about their appearance, they are integrated to me as manual units."

The drones then collected the scrap with a tractor beam to their storage units, before they cloaked once again, heading to the skies.

"You'll need a while to get results on their rebuilding." Erika told the rest of the group. "In the meantime, once their AI has been fully repaired, I shall parley with them. Continue the mission."

Richard nodded, before the group made their way across the bridge, before they noticed that there were several Desperado helis aiming for them, firing missiles that broke the bridge behind them. They rushed across the falling bridge, and reached another plaza area, where there were several soldiers wielding modern rocket-launchers. One of them was assassinated by Reisen mid-run, as she swiped the rocket launcher off the falling corpse, and quickly moved around, while holding aim on it. She then fired the rocket right towards the head of the heli, damaging it severely, before Richard leapt and finished the job with a downwards slash that cut the entire vehicle in half, before it exploded.

"Nice work." Jack said to Richard and Reisen. "Those things are a pain to take down alone…"

"There is no need for praise. We are doing the best we can." Reisen modestly answered back.

"Yeah, I agree with that." Richard nodded, before gesturing to the path. "Let's get moving. Ayase, keep that rocket launcher, you're going to need it. And help yourself if you find rockets on the way, they'll be of use for you."

Reisen nodded back, before the group made their way through the plaza, and reaching another set of streets, as they managed to reach the front of the refinery gates, which were sealed suit, being several tonnes of durable metal blocking their path.

"You're at the refinery." Erika responded back. "All you need is to get past the gate."

"Hm, looks like this needs an electronic ID." Richard commented, as he saw the verification console, before turning to Siege with a smirk. "But unfortunately for them, we have a universal password for doors like these. Care to educate?"

"With pleasure." Siege grinned back, before he then sliced through the electronic locks with a single swing of his blade, before then shoving the doors open enough to jam them like that.

As the group made their way to the front of the refinery, many Desperado cyborgs, as well as vulture-like drones swarmed them from all sides. However, to Gus, Reisen, and Thrasir, the vulture drones were just moving targets that were shot down by the dozen, while the others took quick work of the cyborgs, while Lif decided to indulge himself with some more electrolytes from cyborg spines, to recover what energy he lost during the fights.

"Heh, now I know why you like doing this, Jack." Líf said. "This is fun!"

"Glad you see the excitement in this too." Jack said with a chuckle. "Just don't go doing it to real people you know, ain't exactly a fun experience when blood and gore spills everywhere, and you won't be expecting any electrolytes to give you a buzz."

"Duly noted." Lif answered back, before the group proceeded through the building, reaching the top floor of it, that had a clear view of the refinery ahead. Reisen took the moment to pull out a set of digital lenses, as she observed the situation on one of the refinery plants.

There was a bearded man that was wearing a woolen ushanka, and a coat, with worn pants, pointing a gun at what seemed to be another Desperado operative, a woman with black and red camouflage exo-suit on her, with red and white mechanica legs, and crimson-red hair that was long and flowed to one side. The device logged the former as Andrey Dolzaev, while the other was marked as Mistral. As Andrey talked with Mistral, he then visibly snarled, before then stomping away out of view. When Reisen turned her sight back to Mistral, she was surprised to see the Desperado operative looking their way, before she then gave off a mocking wink.

Reisen then lowered her binoculars, with a scowl on her face. "...Siege, Rei, Raiden, I politely ask you to let me deal with Mistral." She answered back. "She seems like the kind of opponent that I excel at surpassing in terms of similar parameters, and I do not take lightly to her insult."

"Did she do something to you? Last I remember, she blew a kiss to me. Thought it was some long-range weapon, so I overreacted a little." Jack asked Reisen. "Either way, if you think you can handle her, suit yourself."

The group then jumped off the side of the building, as they made their way along the rocky path to the refinery, expecting to reach Andrey and Mistral, and take them both out. More cyborgs stood in their way, although the group were already prepared for them, cutting through them quite quickly.

When the group managed to breach through the refinery plant's gates, they encountered a new type of enemies, which were small mechanical creatures with a spherical body, and a single dotted eye, as well as three arms attached to it, one being on top of it, and two acting like its legs. They let out a series of robotic whirs and screeches, as it their voices were like digital imps.

When one of them tried to approach Thrasir, she punted it in the body so hard that it smashed right into the head of the cyborg that the mechanical creature was flying towards, pulping it, while the creature itself was broken to pieces when it hit the nearest metal wall that crushed it.

"Urgh… What are these things…?" Thrasir asked, before the group took out the rest of the creatures, and the accompanying cyborgs.

"Dwarf Gekkos. They're slippery bastards, all of them. Also, Mistral has an abundance of them under her command." Jack informed the group. "You might figure out what her specialty is from all that."

"She uses these things?" Thrasir asked. "What use are these things other than- AGH!" Thrasir yelled, as a Dwarf Gekko jumped on to her back, as she quickly smashed it with her elbow. "Being very, very annoying…."

Jack didn't speak further, as the group smashed into the facility, which was surprisingly empty, considering the reception they got when arriving on the entrance. They quickly navigated through the various laser detection device, before they reached the door, which would take them up to the side of the refinery plant, where they expected their targets to be.

By the time they were outside, the sky turned to night, and they found themselves right before a round platform, where Mistral was standing, waiting for them.

"I was wondering when you'd come… Valhalla Company." Mistral responded back. "Interesting name you got there."

"Same with Desperado." Gus retorted back. "Out with it, where's Dolzaev?"

"Hah! I can show you a better time than that crusty old bear, little boy." Mistral barked back, before she then slid her hand across the ledge rail.

"You're in charge here?" Lif asked back.

"I am 'Mistral'..." Mistral responded back, before she then faced them, before a large gust blew by them, as if symbolising something. "...the Cold Wind of France. And all of you, your first encounter with us intrigues me. To have faced down Sam in equal terms, and made us fail a mission for the first time in a long, long time."

Reisen then stepped forward, as she was ready to fight. "I have no intention of standing by. Our mission is to eradicate you, since you are a threat to us, and our objectives." Reisen coldly answered back.

"Ah yes, the purple haired maiden." Mistral spoke, before she then walked a little closer. "When our faces met each other, I could tell that there is something similar from you. The look of a natural-born soldier, without a shred of regret on her face, and a willingness to kill for a purpose, one that lasted for when you were a simple child. I was born in Algeria myself. I'm only half French. We had our civil war in the 90s. So you can see where I am going?"

"I see nothing that relates you to me." Reisen growled back. "Are you planning to stall me with words, while your partner in crime runs? Because I could just simply have the others go after him and finish the job, while I take care of you."

"Ruthless as expected." Mistral chuckled. "Truly, you are cut from the same cloth as I, saying those words without hesitation. We share the loss of our family, everything that was ours. And we sought vengeance against the ones who commited the sin against us, and succeeded. I'll tell you this, young girl. I found out after I finished my vow to avenge myself, that I was a killer and a good one at that."

She then strode around the ground. "I slaughtered dozens in Iraq, in Afghanistan." She continued. "I'd found my calling. But in truth, all of it was quite dull."

She then unclipped the camouflage coat around her body, revealing her entire exo-suit to the group. "My enemies fell like dominoes, one after the other. Not once against any of them, did I feel threatened. I was adrift…"

Suddenly, the group noticed that there was a large group of Dwarf Gekkos climbing up from all sides, as everyone but Reisen were on guard, as if expecting a sudden attack. Reisen however, remained still, eyes focused on Mistral.

"Without challenge… without purpose…" Mistral stated, before turning back to Reisen. "At times, I even envied my prey. At least they had a cause to die for. Much like you. But then, I met him. And I knew what I'd been missing."

She then walked over to one of the Dwarf Gekkos, as she sat down upon it, as the small creature bore her weight firmly, while she stroked its body with one hand. "His ideals gave my life meaning." She continued. "What are yours, la fille?"

"Why are you asking me this?" Reisen retorted back, before she then crossed her arms. "I don't need ideals. I just simply do what it takes to keep order. Protecting the innocent is merely a sub-objective to me. I do my job by killing insurgents. Like you."

Mistral then chuckled, before she then grabbed the Dwarf Gekko by two of its arms, and using her foot to hold the third. "Hah, so that's how you see it?" Mistral responded back, before she then tore the machine's arm off, as the creature writhed out, letting out a series of frantic sounds. "I don't even know whether to say you're ingenious with your words, or you're simply naive."

"Don't insult me, you said it yourself that you clung onto someone's ambition." Reisen coldly argued back. "You are a killer without a motive, what makes you think that you have more right to speak than me?"

Mistral scoffed, before she then placed a foot against the body of the disarmed Dwarf Gekko, before then cutting it open with her bladed heel, with some force. "Looks like we have our differences." She answered back, a lot less amicable than before.

"I don't need your approval." Reisen snarled back. "You're just my enemy. I won't sympathise with you at all, especially when you have no intentions of returning the motion."

"Well said." Mistral laughed, before she then slowly drew the severed arms together, as electricity exchanged between the ports, before they were magnetised together, as she then twisted the limbs, before they formed a rigid straight staff. "If you would kill for your ideals, then surely you are ready to die for them!"

Suddenly, various Dwarf Gekkos swarmed around Mistral, clambering onto her body, before they they mutilated themselves, tearing their own arms off, and attaching them to the ports along Mistral's back, as she cried with surprise from the sensory overload with each limb integrating with her, before the rest sacrificed their arms to elongate the staff of arms that she was holding. By the time it was all over, the defunct bodies of the Dwarf Gekkos rolled across the ground, before Mistral raised her head, as her sole uncovered eye glinted red.

Reisen then immediately drew her blade out, ready to fight, while one of Mistral's back arms took a knife from the side of her leg, as the knife was passed around the arms, before then given to the arm staff, which turned the weapon into a one-sided bladed weapon. She then raised a hand.

"Just so that your copains don't get in between us…" Mistral remarked, before she then snapped her fingers, as it summoned a large number of cyborg reinforcements, both ranged and melee. "Gotta keep this playing field even for the both of us."

"I won't need any of your help against her. Go, all of you." Reisen informed the rest of the group, giving them a side-glance.

"You take care of yourself, Ayase." Said Lif with slight concern. "Let's get rid of these reinforcements."

"Right." Raiden said, as both ends of this battle began.

~BGM: Stranger I Remain~

"Come, la dame!" Mistral gestured at Reisen, as the purple-haired Lunarian charged at her.

Reisen also made sure to clear out the nearby Dwarf Gekkos, expecting that they would try to grapple her and leave her open for Mistral's attacks. However, in doing so, it gave Mistral herself enough time to take the first strike, as she swung her staff across with the bladed end, as Reisen barely dodged in time, leaning backwards, before then slashing at her. However, all of her attacks were blocked by the staff, as Mistral twirled it skillfully to block each strike.

"Sorry, but this staff is hardened to not break." Mistral mocked Reisen. "Good attempt though."

"I wouldn't be so cocky, if I were you." Reisen retorted back, before she then avoided a upwards swing from Mistral. "Every weapon has its breaking point."

She then readied herself, before launching a flurry of strikes that unbalanced Mistral, as her staff was left exposed to attack, before Reisen used a quick Zandaitsu to cut through the connection joints of the staff, as it fell to pieces.

"Well played." Mistral growled back, before she then leapt back, as Reisen chased her. She then kicked off one of the pipes, before doing a dive-kick towards Reisen, as she used her blade to block the bladed foot aiming for her head.

Mistral then backed off, before she then leapt onto the top of one of the pipes, as there was an abundance of Dwarf Gekkos, as she ruthlessly tore the limbs of every one of them quickly. "A present… from me!" Mistral stated, before she then threw them with the force of all of her arms, enough to make the spherical bodies of the mechanical creatures act like miniature meteors. "Here we go!"

Reisen then rushed along the entire circumference of the arena, dodging the fiery Dwarf Gekko bodies, before Mistral ran out of them, although she reconstructed her arm staff.

"Ready to slice off some more?" Mistral asked, before she then jumped down, and did a series of extended slashes towards Reisen, who dodged and parried each attack, moving closer and closer to Mistral, as she struck, only to be blocked again.

It didn't take long for Mistral's staff to be dismantled once again, as Reisen dodged a thrust from her, and sliced through the staff's weak-points once again, as it fell to pieces, before she was slashed through by Reisen several times, before she then vaulted over to the other side, before she then leapt up on one of the pipes, and repeated the same ranged attack onto Reisen, while she built another staff from the Dwarf Gekkos' arms.

"Let's see how you keep up with this!" Mistral exclaimed, before she then slapped her staff on the ground, as it turned into some sort of whip, before she then swung it towards Reisen's ankle, as the arms curled to ensnare it, as she was turned upside down. Reisen snarled, before she then brutally sliced the part of the staff off, as it sent her flying towards one of the pipes.

Her reflexes were enough to catch the pipe, and swing around it, before returning back with a double-footed kick to Mistral's body, as she was sent over the edge of the round platform with a pained cry. Reisen then did a running start, before leaping after her.

They soon reached on top of one of the longer pipes, as the fighting was intense beneath them, with the team tearing through the Desperado cyborgs, Gekkos and Dwarf Gekkos with great ease. They landed on opposite sides, while Mistral stood up.

"I can handle a lot more than this." Mistral growled back.

"Then I'll push you more, until you break." Reisen answered back, before Mistral then jumped on top of one of the towers that the pipe was connected to, as her back arms chucked the bodies of the arm-less Dwarf Gekkos along the length of the pipes, forcing Reisen to roll under the barrage, while Mistral reformed her staff, as she kept it on whip form.

She then leapt down, before swinging at Reisen several times. Already knowing her opponent's attack method, she minimised contact while parrying with her blade, to ensure that the whip doesn't ensnare her blade, and jumping up to meet Mistral mid-somersault and send her flying back with a quick slash, and following up with a quick flurry of strikes that cut into Mistral's body.

"Heh, now this is the fight I've yearned for." Mistral stated, before she then leapt into the air, before both sides of her arms staff extended, and destroyed the section of pipe that Reisen was on, as Reisen leapt backwards, and dodged the dive attack from Mistral, as the two of them landed on the ground, as the damaged pipeline caused explosions that ignited the area around them. Mistral then whistled, as more Dwarf Gekkos came to her aid. "This ends now!"

"Yes, it will. But not as you intend for it." Reisen answered back, before the fight began anew, as the fighters cycled through confronting each other, and Mistral moved out of Reisen's range to rebuild her staff several times while bombarding her with the bodies of Dwarf Gekkos.

The fight was dragged out for a while, as neither side intended to back down, although Mistral was on the losing side, as her wounds were becoming more apparent, and she was slowing down considerably, while Reisen only had a few glancing wounds from surprise attacks. Mistral growled, before she then leapt into the air, before twirling her staff for a long down-wards slash. "You will fall!"

Reisen quickly blocked the strike, before sliding across the length of the staff, before Mistral could control it into whip form, before striking Mistral with the pommel of her hilt in the face, hard enough to cause her to backpedal, while Reisen backed away. She then eyed the tanks behind her,as they were labelled 'Nitrogen Tank' in the local language.

Mistral then rushed at Reisen, as she curled her staff up. "Don't fuck with me!" She snarled, while Reisen lured her towards the nitrogen tanks, and rolled away on the last moment, as Mistral accidentally pierced the tank with her staff, as she tried to get it out.

Reisen swerved around her towards the back, before kicking her towards the tank with a forward kick, as Mistral was smashed against the tank back-first, as the leaking nitrogen froze her extra limbs, as she groaned and tried to move away, although they all froze quite quickly. Reisen then rushed after her, before shattering the extra arms with two well-aimed slashes, before pinning her down on the ground with her blade, right through her abdomen, as she cried in pain.

Battle Results:

Combat: S

Reisen then held Mistral down, as she was pinned against the ground, as she had an expression of respect on her face.

"I lost… So this is how they felt…" Mistral muttered, as her eyes lingered in the distance. "...Dying for a cause… I admit my defeat. Claim my head as you please. You are the one with the right."

"As you wish." Reisen emotionless answered back, before withdrawing her blade, and poised to sever Mistral's head with a well-aimed slash.

"Ayase, wait." Raiden said, as Reisen turned to him, halting her swing, as he looked in Mistral's eyes.

Mistral looked like she had many emotions going through her mind, but the most prominent one was fear, she was afraid of dying at this point. It looked like she wanted to live for so much more than who she was, and in the end, death was going to come to her, or so she thought.

"She's not worth the kill, Ayase." Jack said. "She wasn't telling the full truth. Desperado dragged her ass into servitude. Now that she's been beaten, they'll have no use for her."

"You're stepping in…. To save me? But why? What reason do you have for saving me?" Mistral asked.

"Maybe because I see the good side of your heart, the side that wants to live instead of die. You said it yourself. You yearned for a purpose to live. We got better ideals for you to follow. Sure, it doesn't cater towards your killing tendencies, but you'll have someone to watch your back." Jack stated, as he crossed his arms. "Besides, your bosses won't need you, now that you failed your mission. Why not give us a try? You'll see that there's more to us that meets our eye, and it'll be interesting."

Understanding Jack's point of view, though she was hesitant, Reisen removed herself from atop Mistral, as Mistral still lay there, wondering why she was being saved.

"Come to us when you've made up your mind." Jack said, removing the Desperado communicator from Mistral's ear, and then getting in contact with Dolzaev. "Alright you Russian bastard, your prized woman is dead."

"Mistral!? Dead! Damn you! Damn all of you!" Dolzaev yelled through the comms at Jack.

"It's over Dolzaev. Surrender." Jack said.

Dolzaev stopped, before beginning to laugh.

"What's so fucking funny?" Jack asked with a scowl.

"Ah ty tupoi sukin syn." Dolzaev said in his native tongue.

"Translation?" Jack asked.

"Why would I surrender?" Dolzaev asked with a chuckle, making his way to the top of another tower in the distance, as the group looked that way to see Dolzaev. "We are exactly where I want. Built with Russia money to make Russia money. It is no plant for Abkhaz, it is their prison!"

Dolzaev soon threw off his jacket while standing atop the tower he was on, holding a detonator in hand. Thrasir immediately pulled out one of her pistols, aiming for Dolzaev's head as she used hidden magic to make a scope on her pistol to make sure she was on target.

"But now, they will be free!" Dolzaev said, ready to push the detonator…

When Thrasir shot him in the head, killing him then and there, the detonator broke upon hitting the ground, and not detonating the tower upon which Dolzaev once stood.

"They are free now. It just costs them less money to rebuild thanks to me." Thrasir said with a smirk.

"Nice work." Richard nodded, before he then activated his comms. "Erika…"

"Transport's already here." Erika responded back, before their drop-ship arrived at the scene, directed by Erika's digital influence in the auto-pilot system, before the rappel ropes dropped down. "Let's get moving to the next target."

The group then entered the dropship one by one, before it then exited the area.