Disclaimer: The following is a KhaosOmega fanfic. The only things i own are the Jace Davies character and certain plot elements; everything else belongs to their respective owners. Please support the official release.

Chapter 4: Operation Relic Rescue

Takuto's POV

"Angels, we've got a hostile automated fleet confronting us. Get ready to engage." i said. What i wasn't aware of was that Anise would find herself in a dangerous situation set up by the other four.

As i watched the five Emblem Frames take off i noticed a group of ships way in back that Anise was gunning for. Understandable, Relic Raider is the fastest of the Emblem Frames. The other four Angels had split up, each dealing with a group of tougher ships.

Once Anise reached the group in back an insane amount of automated ships left Chrono Drive, completely surrounding her.

"Don't worry, Tact. I've got this!" Jace said. He then turned for the door and raced off. Returning my view to the screen i opened a communication log with Anise.

"Anise, hang in there. Help is on the way!"

Coronet's POV

"This is not looking good for Anise." i said, looking at the situation on my radar.

"Jace is the only one who hasn't tried to get Unit Z working. You'll have to find him." Croix told me. I nodded, turned to the right - and immediately got sent spiraling by a figure racing past me. The long black hair confirmed it to be Jace.

"Found him." i said before blacking out.

Jace's POV

Again Coronet was in the wrong place at the wrong time. First time i was racing TO the hangar, though; normally i'm racing FROM it whenever i end up levelling her. It didn't take me long to reach where Unit Z was sitting. With time not on my side i jumped straight into the cockpit.

'Welcome, Jace. Destiny awaits.' a female voice said in my head. I could feel Unit Z powering on. Then another voice spoke up - and it sounded suspiciously like Lily.

"Unit Z, powering up." she said. I felt Unit Z detach from the supports keeping it equipped to the hangar and proceeded to race toward where Anise was. Not knowing what weapons Unit Z had equipped i started spamming the various weapon buttons on Unit Z's control panel. Following an insane barrage of weapons i couldn't identify all that remained of the scenario was an unscathed Relic Raider.

Takuto's POV

"So, Lily, what's this theory of yours?" i asked the blue-haired pilot of Unit 002.

"Jace was the only one who hadn't tried to get Unit Z working, so i thought he could get it working for him. Turns out i was right."

"You didn't have to make me a damsel in distress to test it, Lily." Anise said as she joined in.

"Lily?" i asked, my suspicions raised.

"I have no idea what she's talking about." Lily said in response. By the sounds of her voice she was trying to defend herself.

"Not buying it." Jace stated, joining the conversation.

"Who asked for your two cents, Jace?" Nano asked as she got involved. Okay, something's up. By how her voice sounded Lily may have planned something, and with Nano's question to Jace getting involved maybe she was in on it.

"Jace, you saved me!" an emotional Anise said.

"When i said i'd do whatever i had to in order to keep you safe, i meant it." Jace responded.

"I thought so." Rico said as she got involved.

"RICO! You're FOURTEEN! You're too young for that sort of thing!" a shocked Anise exclaimed.

"Says the sixteen-year-old who was getting railed." Tequila butted in.

"Rico, you may only be 14, but you should probably know the look of a bare breast." Jace stated.

That knocked the smirk off Tequila's face.

"No thanks to you!"

"Hey, you keep putting your chest where Jace can reach it!" Anise retorted.

"Tact, i'm sending you something i recorded on my ZeraLog. Has a lot to do with what just happened." Jace said once everyone else cut their transmissions. A device equipped to my left arm beeped, indicating i had just received what Jace was referring to.

"Impressive work, Angels. Especially Jace, who was able to get Unit Z working for him." i said once the Angels returned to the hangar. Turning to Croix, i asked him a question.

"Is Coronet okay?"

"Yeah. Luckily she landed on her butt considering Jace gave her one hell of a wicked clothesline." the head engineer answered. I then turned to the Angels.

"Jace, Anise, you two are dismissed. Meet Coco in the bridge, she has something for you two." i said. The two Angels in question nodded before running off, hand-in-hand. It was easy to tell they had feelings for each other, something i'm familiar with. I then turned to the other four.

"The rest of you, come with me." i said, my normal friendly tone replaced with a very stern one. With that i led the four girls to an elevator that, unlike the others on the Luxiole, wasn't see-through. Once everyone was in i started the elevator up. But it din't go far before i stopped it, embracing my inner Gibbs.

"What do you girls have to say for yourselves?" i asked in an accusing tone. Thanks to Jace i learned that Kazuya, the lone male before Jace got Unit Z working for him, was the only Angel other than Anise who wasn't involved in the scenario that came up. Then again, since Anise was the damsel in distress in it there was no way she'd be involved in creating the scheme.

"I have no idea what you're talking about." Tequila started, in a defensive tone.

"That was a very mean thing you girls did to Anise; she would've died if Jace hadn't been able to get Unit Z working." i explained. The way Lily's face went crimson it seemed as though she hadn't considered that possibility.

"Lily, you said you'd tell her she wasn't in danger during the battle." Rico said.

"That was if Jace couldn't activate Unit Z. Besides, that was the fall-back plan; if she knew that from the start Jace wouldn't have had a reason to try to get Unit Z working." Lily retorted.

So she did consider it, then. But if that was the fall-back plan then she must've taken in all the possibilities while planning. Which means the four had conspired to set it up.

"Rico, how would Milfie feel if she knew you were in on the plan?" i asked. The orange-haired girl gasped audibly before dropping to her knees and burying her face in her arms. "And Nano, you're supposed to heal the Angels while in battle. What would Vanilla think if she learned you partook in a scheme that almost killed another Angel?"

"Please don't tell her!" Nano pleaded.

"I won't tell her or Milfie." i said. Inside, though, i was smirking. While i had no intention of telling either Vanilla or Milfie, i never said anything regarding Jace doing so. AND it was his ZeraLog that recorded the evidence. With that, i started the elevator back up and we exited it on the bridge. Jace and Anise stood there, both now in Angel Wing jackets; the one Anise wore had almost non-existant sleeves.

Forte was on an open transmission when we got there.

"By any chance do you know about the scheme Lily and three others pulled?" i asked the red-haired former Moon Angel.

"Sure did. It was i who sent the ships. The ones that had Anise surrounded had no weapons whatsoever and almost non-existant armor. With Vivi Hendrick having contacted me to inform me she destroyed the Crust Breakers with her Chrono Eclipse Cannon, combined with Jace having killed Dieta, gave me enough incentive to go rogue on Verel. Used an XQ-created virus Vivi gave me access to in order to hack the Shadow Moon and create said ships."

"I'm only learning that NOW?!" Anise asked.

"It was the fall-back plan in case Jace couldn't get Unit Z active." Lily said. "If you'd known that from the start Jace wouldn't have a reason to test it."

"While that is a good point, something sounds like you four may have been conspiring against me there. That was mean."

"I agree with you on that one, Anise." i said. "Due to the nature of the scheme, Anise, i'm putting you and Jace in charge of selecting what punishments the others have to go through for their involvement. But it's just the girls, Kazuya had no involvement whatsoever."

"I had a feeling he wasn't, since he didn't partake in the battle. Especially since Tequila had him try something that made him so ill he couldn't participate." Jace stated.

"He could've been a threat to the plan!" Tequila yelled, arms raised defensively. With that, everyone but myself and Jace left the bridge. I then turned to head to my office, but before i was out of hearing range Jace asked Forte something.

"Is it possible for you to contact Vivi? Anise and i already have a plan for Tequila and maybe she knows someone who could help us get what we need."