We spent a little while debriefing with Col. Sharp of the recent engagement, and to give Dr. Wilson Proctor, Kagamine's second hand man, time to analyze the technology our newfound enemy had acquired. "WARRIORS, you just fought some of the most technologically advanced enemies I have ever seen. The question is who the hell are they, who are they working for, and why they have a bone to pick with us." Sharp began. "The symbol that Corporal Adams and Rin found on one of the bodies has led us to a Japanese terrorist organization called "Bushido". They are a group of extremists who believe firmly in Shintoism and still largely blame the U.S. for the bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki." Sharp explained. "Doesn't make any sense." I said. "Why would these bastards still be sour over something that happened well over 70 years ago?" I asked. "Because of Bushido." Rin spoke up. "Bushido translates to the way of the samurai. According to this code, surrender was never to be rendered, and the enemy was to be wiped out completely." Rin explained. "Precisely Rin." The colonel said. "In addition to this, we have gained intel on their leader as well." He said as he produced several photos of the terrorist leader. "This Daichi Hasegawa apparently was apparently a friend of Kagamine's at one point as well. However, once he began Bushido and began raiding U.S. tourist transports, Kagamine broke relations with him." "But how did those guys get a hold of that tech?" Howard asked. "When Kagamine left, he only took vital notes and equipment with him. He left behind several blueprints and prototypes, and these are the result." Sharp explained. "Dr. Proctor, would you care to brief the team on the stealth suits?" Sharp said. "Yes sir." Proctor said coming forward. "Well team, as you already know, these suits are very similar to your own, but much less advanced. As you already observed, they can still allow for invisibility to the naked eye, but not to your suit's thermal optics." Proctor said. "So does that mean we'll be visible on thermals too?" Rogers asked. "No. Kagamine perfected the body suit only when he arrived here to completely mask your visual as well as your thermal image. This should give you an edge against these terrorists." Proctor explained. "Speaking of the suits however, the symbol you found Corporal is the insignia for the elite operators within the organization. They are known as the Red Dragons, and are the only ones who posses the most advanced technology." Proctor added. "Well, we know who these bastards are and who they're working for now, but where is their base of operations?" Wilkens asked. "Interesting that you ask that Sergeant." The doctor said. "I've been analyzing these suits and I've come up with a few soil samples on several. This type of soil is obviously Japanese, but it only comes from an island several miles off the coast of Japan. This type of soil is rich in sulfur, which can only mean that it comes from.." "Iwo Jima!" Rin and I said in unision. "That is correct. This type of soil is only found on the island of Iwo Jima." "The same place the Marines fought on during World War II?" Rogers asked. "That's the one." The colonel chimed in as he pulled up a projector screen. "The satellite images you see before you were taken just over an hour ago." He said as we all gazed at several images of the terrorists re-constructing the ancient tunnels and bunkers used by the Japanese during the Second World War. Many Marines had lost their lives due to the strategic entrenchment of the Japanese as well as their sheer determination to kill as many Americans as possible. "So where does this leave us sir?" I asked. "Shadow team, your mission is very simple. You are to infiltrate the terrorist base, find out what they're up to, kill Hasegawa, and destroy any and all of Kagamine's technology they may have." The colonel replied. "Wilkens and Howard, you both will perform a maritime insertion and recon Mt. Surabachi. Adams and Rogers, you both will do a HALO insertion and recon the southern half of the island. Once the recon is complete, you will re-group, and go after Hasegawa. Once he is dealt with, you will destroy all sensitive data, and extract via helo." Sharp explained. "Wheels up for the mission is in thirty-six hours, so check your equipment, get what you need, and get ready for an op. Dismissed!" Sharp said. "Yes sir!" we all said in unision as we snapped off a slaute and exited the ready room. Rin and I walked with the rest of the team and androids to the lab so that we could fully explain everything. Rin with a heavy heart, told Teto and Miku of what really happened. They were both overcome with emotion like Rin had been. She revealed to them the details of Kokoro and how Kagamine had ultimately been her father. She also input the memory codes to make them remember as well. Now the truth was finally revelaed to them all. Rogers and Howard did their best to comfort Teto and Miku as I had done with Rin earlier. It truly was a large shock to them all to find out about this all of the sudden. Finally though, we were able to hear what actually happened the night that all three nearly died. As the team and I took a seat next to our girls, we listened quietly to the details of their terrible tragedy. "Before the accident, Father and I lived on post at Nellis AFB." Rin explained. "All of us went to school on post, but we attended a dance troop in Vegas as a hobby." Miku added. "That why you kicked my boy's asses in that dance game?" Wilkens asked jokingly. We all laughed slightly. "I think we had a late night getting back in one night." Teto said. "Yeah, we were heading back when….when a car pulled out in front of us from nowhere…" Rin recalled. "Then another got behind us.." Teto added. "Then….the last thing I remember was a big explosion…" Miku said weakly. "Explosion!? Cars don't just blow up on their own!" I said suspiciously. "Unless they're rigged to…" Howard said. " I'm beginning to think someone was behind that "accident." Rogers said. "We should give that wreck site a good going over. It might give us some clues as to what these terrorists were up to." Wilkens said. "Do you guys remember where the accident happened?" I asked Rin. "Yeah, we'll take you to it." She said. "Alright then, let's go." Wilkens said as we all stood to exit the lab. "Wait!" Miku said suddenly. "I remember something else!" "What is it Miku?" Rin asked worried. "Neru! What happened to Neru!?" Miku asked in desperation. "My God Neru! I'd forgotten all about her!" Rin said tearfully. "Oh no, what if she didn't make it?" Teto said worried. "Neru?" I asked Rin in confusion. "Neru was another one of our friends who was with us when the accident happened." Rin explained. "Maybe there's another file of what happened to her on that disc Dr. Kagamine gave you." I suggested. "Let's see. I just hope that she's ok…" Rin said worried. We moved back over to the computer to access the disc once again. It turned out we were right, and there was more on that disc than we had realized. We accessed another video file and listened as it played another recording of Dr. Kagamine. "WARRIORS, girls, by now I'm sure you're all well aware of the truth behind the unfortunate accident. I am truly sorry for having to keep this secret from you all for so long, but it was necessary for the secrecy of the program, as well as to protect you all. I can now reveal to you all more in depth details of the accident however. The "accident" was no accident at all, it was staged from the start. By the same terrorist organization that I'm sure you are all now aware of. The explosion that nearly claimed your lives was triggered by suicide bombers within the two vehicles that surrounded yours. It was the sort of bomb that they used which caused you all to be burned so badly, thermite in fact." Kagamine explained. "That makes sense." Howard said as he was an expert on explosives. "Thermite can burn at extremely high temperatures, and is usually used in military-grade incindiary weapons." He said. "This of course is the cause of why I had to re-construct your appearances completely. The burn damage was so bad, you all were barely recognizable." Kagamine said. "Furthermore, I had to replace nearly all of your vital organs, save for your hearts and brains. Your brains however, were given an upgrade, your neuro-processor in fact. Therefore, you all retained half of your original brain, and were given a cybernetic brain as the other half, which of course allows you to sync to your respective WARRIORS." Kagamine explained. Things made a lot more sense now. "This still doesn't explain what happened to Neru!" Rin said in frustration. "Now then, I'm sure you are all wondering what happened to your friend, Neru Akita." We all perked up in anticipation. "As Neru was the oldest of you girls, she was somehow the first to recover from the android procedure. It was during this time that I decided to make her the central command android. Namely, the team leader for you girls." Kagamine said. Rin and I exchanged confused glances. "In other words, SGT. Wilkens has an android assistant as well. It was simply a matter of timing that orchestrated when he would receive his assistant. In short Neru is still here in the base, and it is now time to re-activate her, and officially bring her into the team. Proceed to the lower level of this lab, and enter the code N-001/AUTH SHADOW 1 into the terminal there. Good luck Shadow Team, and never forget Simul Pugnare!" Kagamine said as the video log closed. We all now looked at Wilkens expectantly. "Well, let's go meet this new assistant of mine!" he said as he rose to his feet. We all followed him into the lower level, and found the terminal the doctor had spoken of. Rin's eyes widened with anticipation as Wilkens entered the code. Suddenly a hidden door slid open to reveal what looked to be several chryo-pods. In one of the pods there was a girl who looked a little older than the other girls, and had the number "01" in red on her left shoulder. The pod then began to come to life, and began to re-activate Neru. We all stared wide-eyed as Neru awoke, and climbed out of the pod. She looked at us all strangely for a moment, then said, "Boy do you all sure give the worst wake up calls!"