THREE WEEKS AFTER THE EVENTS OF CHAPTER ELEVEN

Night shift in the crumbling hospital anchored to the side of the cliff. OJRP staff paced the halls, exchanging clipboards and greetings between sips of coffee, their tones too lighthearted to belong to a group of morally ambiguous scientists skilled in the art of dissecting kids.

Dr. Nemintz was the last to straggle in, slipping his badge through the security office right before he could be considered late and immediately found his way to the back of one of the many forgotten utility closets, intent on spending his shift sitting on a discarded medical bed, looking at cat pictures on his phone.

He didn't expect to be interrupted, considering that there was only one "patient" at this hospital, and he believed that the rest of his group were more than enough to handle one sickly little freak like CT-325. No, he didn't expect anyone would disturb him.

Until he heard some ominous whispers from the vent overhead.

"Alright, I'll just pop open the vent and snap his neck."

"Nu-uh Striker! Marshal said no neck snapping on our first mission!"

"He might of said that to you, Gipsy, but he didn't say that to me. Lemme' do it. I come from a long line of neck snappers!"

"Can we for once stick to the guidelines here? Marshal Pentecost firmly told us: Stealth first, violence later."

"Ugh, fine. Have it your way, Crimson."

The doctor looked up just in time to see the vent grate get kicked open with a crash, slamming straight into his head. He was instantly knocked unconscious.

Four jaegers dropped from the ceiling, all clad in black stealth gear, courtesy of Aleksis Kaidenovsky, who hand sewn them himself.

"Ah, so glad to be out of that vent," Gipsy panted, stretching her cramped back.

"Hate vents," Cherno grunted beside her, shaking slightly.

"It wasn't that bad, you only got stuck three times," Striker snickered sarcastically, "and I could of sworn I heard you crying on the third one." He nonchalantly kicked the unconscious man with his combat boot as Crimson and Gipsy tried to hold back the snarling Russian.

"Remind me to push his face into a lamp after we rescue Coyote," Gipsy muttered grumpily to Cherno, who huffed in agreement.

"Come on, guys, we didn't infiltrate that old sewer system and crawl through a maze of ducts just to fight each other, we'll have plenty of time to do that in the remaining chapters of this story, " Crimson motioned for them to keep their voices down as he opened the closet door a crack, peering into the empty hallway. "Alright, according to that old map Tendo procured for us, Coyote is most likely going to be held somewhere in the next hallway."

"I don't feel so good about just stepping outside, what if someone catches us?" Gipsy's brow furrowed in concern as she tugged at the red streaks popping out of her ponytail.

"Well, according to all those spy movies I watched, disguises seem to work," the Chinese jaeger rubbed his chin thoughtfully.

"Good thing this guy looks to be about my size," Striker said gruffly as he began stripping the unconscious doctor.

"Ooo, look!" Gipsy opened a cabinet, revealing spare lab coats and medical gear.

"What to do with these?" Cherno nibbled at a lab coat curiously.

"Don't worry, guys, "Crimson gave a shy smile, "I have a plan!"

A lone guard stood vigil at the door, seemingly entranced in the bland whiteness of the opposing wall, until the sharp squeaking of a moving stretcher reached his ears. Turning, his dark brow cocked in confusion at the three figures wheeling a covered, blanketed bulk towards him.

"Stop right there. I'm going to need some I.D before anyone enters this room," he commanded.

"Er-right, um, of course. I'm Dr. Nemintz," the one in the lead spoke softly behind his surgeons mask, flicking a name card at him. He proceeded to point to the rather young looking female beside him, "and this is Dr….um… Dr. Lady."

"Hi!" She waved at him cheerfully. He then pointed to the scowling, reddish brown haired one that was pushing the stretcher, "and this is my lovely assistant, Nurse Hansen."

"yeah, yeah, shove it," Nurse Hansen grumbled under his breath.

"I've never seen you here before. I'm going to have to call this in," the guard's hand twitched towards his radio, and 'Dr. Nemintz' instantly paled.

"Hold on, uh, we're new here. We…uh…just been sent to pick you for a routine checkup."

"Routine checkup? With who?" The guard suspiciously tapped his holster.

"With Dr. Stealth Chop."

"Who the hell is Dr. Stealth Chop-"

"STEALTH CHOP!" Crimson yelled as he tore off the mask and brought his hand smashing down on the man's neck. He instantly collapsed.

"Coast clear? Let's go," Cherno flung the sheet off of him and hopped off the stretcher, pushing past the door, the other jaegers followed him inside.

The temperature dropped as they entered the room. Wires hung from the ceiling like mechanical vines, intertwining with the various box-like machines and array of medical equipment. Gipsy hugged herself nervously, gazing into the giant two-way mirror and row of serrated, menacing-looking surgeon tools hanging on the wall. "Now I know why Raleigh hates hospital rooms…"

"Hey Coyote, you still alive in here?" Striker poked around, the uncaring in his voice a ruse to hide the growing worry in his eyes.

They found him in the center, nothing but a limp body crumpled on a blood stained hospital bed. All four of their cores skipped a beat in horror as they approached.

"Oh god, is he….is he…?" Gipsy tentatively grabbed his hand which hung off the side of the bed. There wasn't much to him, his skin was more pale than before, with blackened circles underneath his closed eyes. Wires laced his thin body, shooting off readings to the machines he was connected too.

"N-nah, he can't be," Striker's optimism was forced, "he's a Mark 1, no way he'd let himself go out like this."

"Wake up, tovarish," Cherno pleaded, hand running over the nodes glued into the side of Coyote's half-shaved head.

Slowly, his eyes flickered open, starring blurrily up at the group of now smiling faces. "Wh-wha…?"

"It's us, Coyote! Here to get you," Cherno announced, scooping the jaeger into his arms.

"S-Santa…? I knew you'd come rescue me…" Coyote mumbled before passing out again, his fingers weakly entwined into Cherno's shirt.

"We're the best spies ever," Crimson whispered to himself happily before turned towards the door. "Okay, now let's find a way out of here before-"

WHACK!

Crimson fell to the floor, clutching his nose as Tacit Ronin nonchalantly wiped off the hilt of her katana, snowy hair falling around her face. "There's only one way out of here, and that's on the end of my sword."

TO BE CONTINUED! Special thanks to Titan Atlas, Xahraxs, KnightPheonix2, CatMaz, Winged Pyro, Prophet21, Meta Nui, and last but not least the supah amazing Tel Nok Shock. :3 And as always, read, review, enjoy. :D