-00:34 HRS. Unknown Location-

Dead of night. The only thing that made the place lively is the busy streets down below.

A tower loomed over the city. It looked as if it was already abandoned, but there was something more that meets the eye.

A figure stood at the window as she observed the city streets from above. Blonde, Around her twenties. She had a voluptuous body that was covered by a bath robe, revealing some of her generous bust.

"Squall. You called me?" One of her lackeys asked. Her Auburn hair stood out as Squall called her.

"Yes I did, Autumn. How's M holding up?"

"Hmph. Sitting in her room. Like I care much ahout her." Autumn grunted.

Squall could only chuckle at Her temper. "Now, Now... No need to be so rash at her."

"She was muttering about someone." Autumn continued.

"Her sister? Of that I'm painfully aware, dear. She told me never to underestimate Chifuyu Orimura." Squall added.

"No. Not just her."

This took Squall's attention. "Oh? Then who else was she talking about?"

Autum could only glare at the thought. "I'm guessing it's that damn Cop."

"Cop?"

"You know... Police officer, Five-oh, Pig..."

"I know what a cop means, Autumn. I'm not an idiot." Squall tersed. "Although, I'm surprised about a couple of things about it... M doesn't talk of another target to kill. Save for her sister..." She added.

"What else were you surprised?" Autumn asked.

"That a Police Officer stirred you two up. He's nothing more than just a dead man soon. Why do you even bother yourselves about it? He can be dispatched easily." Squall chuckled.

"He's no pushover. Haven't you heard? LAPD stopped our Operations at the port of LA a few months ago. Some of our best pilots tried to get away, but they were arrested because THIS one piloted one unmanned unit and caught them!" Autumn snarled out.

"And our shipments?"

"Either destroyed or Confiscated. I can show you the news clip."

This took Squall by surprise. In her side, she was expecting news from the group that was dispatched in California. No wonder she hasn't heard from them for months on end. Everyone affiliated to the Phantom Task in California are either dead or arrested.

"We lost valuable assets that could help our cause... All because of a single... worthless pig." Squall growled under her breath. She turned to Autumn.

"Head to LA soon. Find out more about this Officer. Don't blow your cover."

"Understood."

-1205 HRS. Class 1-1. Day 80.-

All alone, Alex was at it again. Toiling down on his work. Much to everyone's surprise, he was able to get the schoolwork done without any trouble. He was focusing on the files that he was reviewing from his previous reports. He was able to request a copy of some reports from Fairs back in LA- All were details of the black market weapons they confiscated.

Maya proactively helped him out by firing up the main screen up front. He was reviewing the camera feeds that he was able to take during his investigation with Houki and cross-references it from the files that Fairs gave him. Maya was answering any questions that Alex could ask regarding about the security team's response, evacuations, anything. They were stopped when Chifuyu entered the room.

"Fields. It's already lunchtime. Get something to eat." Chifuyu told.

"I'll be out in a minute. Maya, thanks for the info." Alex thanked.

"Happy to help, Alex." She smiled at him before they shut down their screens and for Alex to exit the room.

"I swear, that boy knows no bounds." Chifuyu sighed in frustration.

"I can see that, Sensei... Admirable, yet it's worrying if he does overdo it." Maya analyzed.

"What did he asked you?"

"Security-related questions mostly. He was about to ask how quick can a response unit enter ground zero. Same old stuff, Orimiura-Sensei. I don't know if giving him the info would change this."

"Hardly. I bet it wouldn't slow him down. Don't you think you're adding more fuel to his fire?" Chifuyu asked her.

"E-Eeh?! How so?!" Maya stuttered, blushing.

"No, It's not THAT kind of fire. What I meant is that it won't stop him from working his sorry butt off just to nail these scum to the floor? I can already tell that he'll drive himself more to do it." Chifuyu told off.

"I-I see... But he has a good reason to do so, Sensei! Won't you do the same for Ichika?" Maya reasoned out. Chifuyu was at a loss of words. For what it was worth, the last question drilled into her mind. She contemplated about it.

"I would, Yamada! But on my case, it's Ichika. Alex is a completely different story." She sighed after.

"Whatever Ichika and the rest found out about him that night, It's too risky to ignore. I have no choice. I need to speak to his handler. Her, and soon, the Lieutenant."

-12:35 PM, Dormitories-

"He'd been what?!"

Lt. Barnes was completely shocked when he heard the news about his nephew. Charlotte and Houki confirmed what they saw. They had no choice but to spill the beans to the Lieutenant.

"We saw what happened, Uncle Doug... Alex was completely losing it that night." Charlotte confirmed. The lieutenant still had the shocked look on his face. At the same time, worry was etched along with it. The two girls saw it through the video feed when they contacted him.

"Miss Shinonono?" Douglas called out, startling Houki.

"Y-Yes, sir?"

"Was there anything else you saw in him that night?" He asked. Houki could only stutter before giving an answer.

"That look on his eyes... there was something disturbing that I saw in him... He looked as if he saw something that we don't want to..."

The lieutenant's blood could only freeze in shock as they described what happened to his nephew.

"He just passed it off as a migraine that night, but I don't know. I've never seen that look on his eyes before. It was just... All I can say that it was a murderous look in his eyes..." Houki continued. Charlotte was just rubbing her back as she tries to comfort her. Even for someone as iron-willed as Houki Shinonono, something that she saw even unnerved her.

"Uncle Doug... Could it be because of his..."

"Don't say it here. Not out loud where Alex could be anywhere..." Douglas cut Charlotte's words off before sighing.

"As much as I don't want that to be true... but It may be possible. It's been more than three years since the last time I've seen that look on him..."

"Three years? Lieutenant, Charlotte, what's going on?" Houki asked.

"It's... It's complicated to explain, Houki. Uncle Doug told me what I need to know about Alex when I was at their home in Los Angeles." Charlotte summarized.

"It's too risky to say it here, Miss Shinonono. I understand your concern about this as much as Charlotte. But it's too risky. And being Alex's legal and ONLY guardian, I already have some suits breathing down my neck." Douglas spat out the last part like a rotten meat in his mouth.

Houki seemed discontented already about the whole thing. Just what did Charlotte found out about Him? And what caused Alex to tick that night? Just what does she know about Alex?

"Lieutenant... We're Alex's friends... there's no reason for him to hide anything... Just what is Alex hiding from us?" Houki asked.

"It's not that easy, Miss Shinonono. Alex is not that kind of person who would speak of his own ghosts, of his own hell that easy. Too many reasons not to spill it out. Same as you, Miss Shinonono. I've read about your file before Alex came there. You're the sister of the brains who started all this. Tabane Shinonono, Right?"

Douglas struck her out as he made mention of her sister. She felt her heart pang at the mere thought of it. Nonetheless, he continued.

"Knowing how heavy your situation is now, you didn't made mention of anything about her. Hell, even on rare occasions it was still a no. I'm sure you have your reasons why you don't talk about your sister that much. Alex was on the different side of the boat you're riding on. Both of you didn't want to talk about something that was EXTREMELY Personal, and you have reasons NOT to talk about it..."

Houki cringed as his words struck her to heart. She regretted putting her nose on Alex's issues when she herself has something she did not want to speak about. Guess Pot called the kettle black on that.

"Listen, I'm sorry if I brought it up. I was just making a point." Douglas apologized.

"No… It's all right, sir. I… I didn't realize what I was doing. I forgot that I have my own reasons why I don't talk about my sister. Thank you for reminding me." She moped.

"It's all right, I guess…" He Sighed.

"Miss Shinonono, Charlotte… I want you to do this for me. Now that I'm made aware of this happening, I want you to keep a close eye on him for me. I want to help him out if I was only there. But I can only do so much back here. Charlotte, it's up to you if you want to tell her about him… But please be careful of telling the ones you trust. God knows what Alex would do if he finds out."

Charlotte and Houki nodded at the Lieutenant's instructions.

"Good. I should be going. I'm still on duty at the station…"

The call ends, leaving the two with their wits.

"Charlotte…" Houki started after a long pause.

"Yeah…?"

"About Alex… what did he told you?" Houki probed.

"The Lieutenant?" It was Charlotte's turn to ask.

"Yeah…"

"It's too risky to say it here… Come on. Let's head back. They might ask where we've been if we're gone for too long." Charlotte hushed.

Little did they know, a silver-haired girl had overheard everything.

-12:38 HRS. Hallway-

While the two were talking about what they had seen, Alex became on the move again. He contacted Fairs to get some updates. When he got an answer, he was greeted by a frustrated tone from her voice.

"Dammit, Alex! Do you have to call at a time like this?!"

He blinks in surprise. Sounded like everything was all hands back in the station.

"Something wrong?"

"Thanks to that damn stunt the Phantom task pulled off at the docks, the top brass back in DC have been breathing down our necks! They're having doubts about sending you alone in the first place! They're thinking about sending a damn squad to back you up you know!" Natasha tersed. From the sound of the voice, things were getting heavy.

"I don't need a damn squad to be put in a god-damn crossfire. I'm the one who piloted the damn IS, I'm the one who needs to be in this damn Place. You can tell the top brass to keep their damn panties from tying up a knot." Alex snapped.

"Language, Fields!" Natasha mockingly gasped.

"Whatever. Anyway, you know why I called. I wanted some update on the files I sent you… and as well any leads with those two Phantom Task fellows."

"Pretty Incriminating, alright. And the clip with the Silent Zephyrs gives us proof that it was one of those bastards. Though the fact that It looks like Chifuyu Orimura… Jesus that's disturbing… Knowing the Mondo Grosso Champion, it was a long shot that she had some skeletons in her closet… maybe? We need to dig deeper."

"Ichika told that her name was… Madoka… Coincidence?"

"Possibly. It's a long shot. Can't take word that we'll get something from Orimura's family tree."

"It's a start. We can't rely on the chance that she'll pop up again. God knows when will that happen. It could be now, or in a few months."

Natasha validated his point. Who knows when she'll pop up. And the chances are that everyone's on alert for her. So It may take a while for that chance to show. "Though that's true. How are you supposed to hunt them down? All we have is a bunch of papers, a few video clippings and some names from Phantom task's prisoners! So far, That might not be enough!" She added.

Alex was unsure at this point. Natasha's reason does make sense. It's worth a shot getting more info from the ones arrested, but chances are they might just be mere cannon fodder to the Phantom task. How would he start when the pieces were not enough to put together the picture?

"I Don't know, Natasha. But We'll come up with something. Can I ask another thing?"

"Shoot."

"Silver Gospel. Your IS unit." It was Natasha's turn to stay silent. "Tell me what the hell happened."

"Phantom Task. That's what happened."

"And?"

"One of their agents infiltrated the base in Hawaii where my unit was docked. Whoever was their agent wasn't messing around. According to the reports, She killed a handful of our best men and along with the team who developed my IS before hijacking it." Natasha grimaced as she spat the last part like rotten food in her mouth.

"We had to Hire PMCs that had backgrounds. Former SEALs, MARSOC and SFOD. Top brass think that it was too costly to put our best men to the task. To think a handful of our operators were killed by her... They never even had a single fighting chance."

Alex became eerily silent afterwards. "Were there any traces of that incident? Photos? Footages? Anything?"

"Th-They have... Even in the Military, they've been finding it difficult to ID her because most of the security systems were fried that time... not to mention the sensitivity of the incident is just too much to disclose. But Alex, what are you looking up against?"

"If it's Phantom Task, I need you to ID the attacker if it matched the ones I sent. They're in serious business if they had to launch an attack on the Military base."

"You know that'll take some time. And not to mention, the risk. If they didn't let you download the files in the academy, what makes you think if a freaking military base would be a piece of cake?!"

"Natasha... People were killed. I'm sure as hell they wanted payback to whoever the hell that did it. I don't want any more lives lost because of these bastards, and the both of us need to know if the one who attacked the base, is the same one who attacked Ichika that night. And you're supposed to be Silver Gospel's pilot for crying out loud! You should have the right to this!"

Natasha sighed once more. "All right. But you already know the time and risk for this. And you know this is not yours to shoulder."

"It is now. It's been ever since the moment I signed up."

-10:30 HRS. Police HQ, South Division-

Natasha had heard Alex drop the call. What he wanted her to do was completely risky. But he was not wrong.

Natasha Fairs was the pilot of the Silver Gospel. It was her IS Unit. HER IS Unit. Not only that, before she became Alex's handler, she was Military. She earned the rank of Captain in the US Army when she became a Pilot for the IS during her early to Mid-twenties. The fact that she was an IS Pilot alone brought something more on her name. Due to restrictions, when she was called to duty, she was just any ordinary soldier.

She had history with Alex Fields. When his name became on the news, she was mortified. Without hesitation, she quickly took the opportunity to act as her handler, but she had to be out of the military field because of the Restrictions. Though the flipside of it is that she was transferred to Intelligence Support Activity (ISA) while she retained the rank of Captain. She was working with the LAPD for some time just to make sure Alex stayed in one piece. She had no problem with Alex surviving anything. But knowing what skeletons she had with him in her closet, she wouldn't take the risk.

Her thoughts were interrupted when a certain Lieutenant called her.

"Fairs, we got a situation." Barnes called.

"Huh… what?" She trailed off.

"It's Alex. Some of his friends called me and told what happened." He started. Looking by the expression, it wasn't good news.

"What happened, Lieutenant?"

"Ichika saw him about to snap when he did some investigations. Natasha, It's happening again. The last time this happened, we were there. But this time's different." He reported. Her blood froze upon hearing this as she was the very first person who saw him snap. She knew it well… too well.

"What else have you told to the girls?" She asked.

"I've told them to keep an Eye out for him and try to calm things down before it all blows up on us. It's a hell of a small chance. But it's better than nothing." The Lieutenant told. She sighed deeply as the situation escalates bit by bit.

"Dammit, Alex… I sure hope you know what you're doing." She grumbled to herself. Moments Later, they receive a phone call. She responds. "Captain Natasha Fairs Speaking."

"Fairs. It's Orimura." Chifuyu spoke.

"O-Orimura-sensei?" Natasha asked.

"Even if you already graduated, you still call me that. It's annoying yet nostalgic." Chifuyu coldly scoffed.

"I knew that they gave you our contacts since Alex came here. But still, it's out of respect of course." Natasha defended.

"I Know, I know… But I did not come here to walk down memory lane, Fairs. Two of my students told me something about Fields. I had to do some of my own homework after class before calling. I could ask the Lieutenant himself, but that comes later. I would rather hear this from you first."

Natasha gulped. "What did you call me for then?"

"A Military Operation. Long ago."

She didn't like the sound of that. "There's a lot of them, Sensei. What Operation are we talking about here?"

What she heard after from Chifuyu mortified her and shook her to the very core.

"Have you heard of the Operation: 'Winged Steel'?"