LASAHO was an abbreviation of Last Safe Home, which was the VUM's most well-kept secret. Pein and Konan were responsible for its construction and upkeep; no other Falks knew where the base was, or exactly what went on there. This was due to the fact that LASAHO was not meant to be used except for dire emergencies, such as when the main base under Regi fell. This would in fact be the first time that anyone other than Pein or Konan had stayed in the base for an extended period of time, and the other Falks initially weren't sure what to expect when Konan gave them the coordinates for LASAHO during the evacuation.

As it turned out, the Falk stronghold was at the bottom of a very deep, very flooded mineshaft that hadn't been operational for about a hundred years. It was a tight squeeze in some spots to make the shuttles avoid the murky water below and the rocky ceiling above. Eventually the narrow tunnel they traversed opened up into a huge cavern that housed a massive lake. In the center of this lake floated several old warships welded together that seemed to be as deserted as the rest of the mineshaft. It wasn't until Konan's ship landed and the woman began activating the electrical systems that the lights flickered on and gave the Falks some hint that this was their destination.

Sasori and Deidara's ship had barely touched down on the deck of one of these ships before a Falk soldier had burst through the rear door to get a head count. "Any fatalities?" he asked gruffly.

"Kakuzu's passed out and he lost a fuckton of blood," Hidan called out from his place beside the mute Falk. The newcomer barked out a series of orders in his native tongue, and moments later two Falks with a stretcher were hurrying onto the shuttle to tend to their fallen comrade. Not caring what anyone would say about him for doing so, Hidan followed the Falks off the ship at a short distance, eyes never leaving Kakuzu.

Sasori had just long enough to wonder about what he should do now before a familiar head of short blue hair appeared in the door. "Sasori, there you are!" Kisame exclaimed with visible relief as he stepped onto the escape shuttle. The calm on his face dissipated somewhat when the shark took a moment to look around the shuttle and failed to find something. "Where's Hidan? Don't tell me that idiot-"

"Kakuzu was injured in the evacuation," Sasori replied. "Hidan followed him into the medical facilities, wherever those are."

"And of course he didn't even think to check in with his commanding officer first," Kisame grumbled, but he was too relieved at having all his men accounted for to be too upset at the Jashinist. "We were very lucky; from what I can tell, there are only a few bumps and scrapes among all the troops who made it here. The biggest losses we suffered were the supplies we had to leave behind and the collapsed tunnels, but we can't know for sure until they get a complete head count."

"Kisame, what is going on?" Sasori demanded. "Why did we have to run? What happened at Regi? What will we-"

"Sasori, if I could answer any of your questions I would," Kisame promised. He looked briefly at the two Falk soldiers across the room who appeared to be deep in discussion, and then pulled the redhead aside to speak to him in a low whisper. "Right now Konan and I are almost as clueless as you are. There was some kind of coup in Regi, but we don't know who was behind it or what their goals are. All I can tell you right now is that you and the others need to get into the base and find a room to settle down in, maybe help unload the supplies from the other shuttles if you can."

Sasori let out a sigh of agitation as he hefted his bag onto his shoulder and motioned for Deidara to do the same. "I'm really sick of being left in the dark," he grumbled as Kisame led him and Deidara off the shuttle. "When are we going to get some answers?"

"I don't know," the shark replied darkly. "But if we don't get something soon, VUM is going to be in deep trouble."

-n-

Hours later Konan was able to get a report from Regi on the current situation. Apparently the coup had been perpetuated by a group that called themselves the Sound Minds, a radical organization that felt the current government wasn't doing enough to counter the "human menace" as they called it. Right now the capital of Domini and the governing council were safe, but there was no guarantee that things would stay that way for long. This put VUM in an uncomfortable position, as Konan was quickly finding out when she gathered her commanding officers in the meeting room. "I don't see any reason to change our operating procedure," Pein stated amidst murmured agreements. "We've never been formally allied with the central government, and there's no reason to ally ourselves with the Sound Minds! Besides, what reason is there to believe that they'll be able to hold the capital once the army has a chance to regroup?"

"We can't know how long it will take for the army to muster up enough forces to respond to this!" Tsunade argued. "The bulk of their attention is devoted to fighting off the human forces in orbit around Verden! And if Jiraiya really did betray us, then the Sound Minds know about our existence and will try to wipe us out unless they see us as their allies!"

"And how exactly are we supposed to make that case, when we're harboring a major human commander and his troops?!" Pein shot back. "We're not going to hand them over to a group that actively refers to them as a menace; they'd be dead before we lost sight of them!"

"Both of you, enough," Konan snapped. "I am far more concerned about having to reestablish a central command center than I am about whether or not we should ally ourselves with a rouge terrorist group. In case you haven't noticed, our medical facility is understocked, we barely have enough food to get through the next few days, and one of my top officers and several of his subordinates were shot by something in the tunnels! We will worry about the issue of the Sound Minds when it becomes an issue, and not a moment before then! For now, I want you to settle your subordinates into your new living quarters and prepare for several retrieval assignments over the next few days. Is that clear?" Muttered grumbles of assertion came from the troops before they were dismissed, leaving Konan alone with her thoughts. "Please, whatever gods may be up there, give us something," she begged.

-two days later-

Kakuzu licked his lips in an attempt to alleviate his thirst. He'd finished the glass of water on the table by his cot, so if he wanted a drink he'd have to go down to the MESS and get some water from there, which did not seem particularly appealing to a Falk with fresh stitches in his side. On the other hand, dying of thirst was probably worse. Sighing, he swung his legs over the side of the cot and began to sit up-

"Take one step off that cot and I'll kick your ass."

-and then sighed in defeat as he lay back down. Hidan was standing in the doorway with two trays of food in hands, meaning that he had to kick their door shut. The pair of them had been given a room to share after Kakuzu had been treated, and to their delight the accommodations here were roomier and sturdier than their little tent under Regi. Kakuzu especially had gained quite an appreciation for their lodgings, since Hidan was refusing to let him leave the room. "Hidan, I'm fine," Kakuzu signed as the zealot set down a tray of food on the table. "I've been through worse."

"Oh like that makes it any better," Hidan snapped. "I was soaked in your blood, Kakuzu, so forgive me for flipping a shit." The zealot helped his friend sit up and set a tray on his lap. "Now eat. I've gotta check on your stitches."

Kakuzu resigned himself to his fate and allowed Hidan to pull back the bandages on his side to look at the stitching underneath. "Jashin damn, these docs are pretty good," he remarked before re-taping the bandage. "Still, you're gonna have one hell of a new scar."

"Just one more," Kakuzu signed bitterly.

Hidan realized his faux pas too late and cursed himself for it. Of course Kakuzu was sensitive about his scars, that was why he went to such great lengths to cover them up. He knew that better than anyone. "Sorry Kakuzu."

"Don't worry. I know you're not cruel, just an idiot."

"Hey!" Hidan exclaimed in indignation. "You're lucky you're an invalid, otherwise I'd kick your ass. Stupid Falk, I hope your stitches get infected and turn green!"

"Calm down shii-shi," Kakuzu whispered, enjoying seeing the Jashinist get so ruffled up.

"You ever gonna tell me what that means?" Hidan asked, not at all surprised when the Falk shook his head. He'd been trying to get an answer out of Kakuzu since the Falk had been released from the medical bay, all to no avail. "Come on, tell meeeee," he whined in his most annoying tone. Kakuzu frowned at the noise, only encouraging Hidan further. If you can't beat 'em, wear 'em down. "Dumbass, you're stuck in here with me all day, and if you don't tell me I'll whine like this until you answerrrrrr-"

At that point Kakuzu had had quite enough of Hidan's bitching and decided to shut him up. Quicker than human eyes could follow the Falk was up and had flipped Hidan, pinning the human to the cot by his shoulders. Hidan's eyes widened in surprise, having wrongly assumed that his friend was in no condition for that kind of moving. "Shit, where'd you learn to do that?"

"…"

"Hm? Dumbass, what is it?"

Kakuzu was giving him a very strange look, but without a strong knowledge of Falk facial expressions Hidan couldn't quite place it; though there was something about it that reminded Hidan of the look he'd seen on Kakuzu's face when the Falk had tried to calm him down on the escape shuttle. "Kakuzu?"

The Falk shut his eyes and slowly lowered his head until his forehead was against Hidan's. The Jashinist felt his face heat up at the contact, but said nothing. Where was this coming from? What was Kakuzu trying to do? And why wasn't he stopping the Falk?

Cautiously, Hidan raised his hands to grasp the forearms above him that were still pinning him down, squeezing the scarred limbs gently. Kakuzu opened his eyes and drew back from the Jashinist, giving the human another strange look. Before Hidan could speak, however, Kakuzu winced slightly and shifted his weight to one side. Hidan looked down to see what might have caused the Falk to react like this, and could see the bandages on Kakuzu's side darkening. He blinked once. Twice. Thrice. "You fucking dumbass, YOU RIPPED YOUR JASHIN-DAMNED STITCHES!"

A surge of adrenaline gave Hidan the strength to throw Kakuzu off of him and back down onto the bed, where he immediately began swatting every square inch of Falk that he could reach. "I told you not to fucking move because your dumb ass was injured, but no, fuck that shit, you just had to throw me around and rip your stitches like a MOTHER FUCKING ASSHAT IDIOT!" Kakuzu could merely cower below the enraged Jashinist and shield himself from the swats, which while not forceful enough to actually harm him did necessitate that he take his hands off the human to guard against them. Needless to say, it was quite some time before either of them got around to fixing the Falk's injury.

-n-

Sasori and Kisame were both seated in front of the desk in Konan's office, having been summoned here late at night and told that the meeting couldn't wait for anything. The blue-haired woman had several files spread out on her desk, and she was looking at the duo with a grim expression. "We've made some progress that I want you two to 'ear about."

"What's happened?" Kisame inquired.

Konan pulled one of the files in front of her and began skimming its contents. "Ze Sound Minds group was able to take over Regi using neurotoxin in ze slums. We recently found out in addition zat plasma rifles were used to suppress military power in ze more upscale districts. Both of zese indicate zat Sound Minds are being aided by Orochimaru. Our top priority is now to find zis bastard."

"Wait, what does Orochimaru stand to gain by taking over a major city?" Sasori demanded. "The attacks on VUM I could understand, because he was clearing small rebel groups out of a few remote spots. No one would have the time or see the need to bother him with the war going on. Stepping up his attacks to go after Regi…that just doesn't make sense!"

"Oui, it strikes me as very strange as well," Konan agreed. "But we 'ave yet anozer concern right now. I sent some of my men to clear one of the tunnels that Kakuzu reported seeing an attack robot in. They were unable to extract the body but took plenty of pictures for me instead." Here Konan pulled out a picture from the file and handed it to Sasori. "Recognize somezing?"

Sasori's eyes widened as he stared at the picture. It was partially obscured by the rubble surrounding the downed machine, but he could clearly make out the inscription NADSRaD. "What the hell?"

"Exactly," Konan replied as she passed the picture to Kisame. "First in ze mine, zen in Zabuza's library, and now here in a tunnel under Regi. I cannot ignore all zese run-ins, Monsieurs Fishy and Sasori. So I 'ad some of my subordinates do a little investigating on ze company. We found some zings zat I believe you should know."

"Such as?" Kisame asked, not liking where this was going.

Konan took hold of another file from her massive pile and flipped it open. "The company 'as been conducting observations and experiments in your planet's oceans for years. Unfortunately, ze wartime economy 'as not been kind to zem. After ze army cancelled all contracts with NADSRaD, zere were difficulties in making…ends meet, I believe? NADSRaD actually declared bankruptcy over six months ago."

"Then why are we finding stuff with their logos all over Verden?" Kisame demanded.

"I agree, it doesn't make any sense. And Monsieur Sasori, when my researchers looked into zat report you told me about a possible underwater colony, zey could find no records of NADSRaD ever publishing such a document. Now before you can protest, I believe you zat a report of zat nature was published at some point. We found massive gaps of information missing in their records, sometimes months at a time. It wasn't just classified or zere would 'ave been some trace left somewhere; ze records are simply gone. Someone 'as gone to great pains to make sure zat no one, Falk or 'uman, could find whatever information zey are trying to 'ide from us now."

Sasori's head was spinning, and it was several minutes before he could properly process this information. "So, just to make sure we're clear," Kisame began, seeing that his comrade wasn't in a state to speak, "A human company that is supposedly bankrupt has somehow managed to get their technology onto an alien planet in the middle of an inter-planetary war. This company was only supposedly developing technology for use under seas, but something with their logo attacked several Falks on dry land. And that attack just happened to coincide with Orochimaru's takeover of Regi, a move for which the motives are still unknown. Somehow I doubt that was a coincidence."

"But why are Orochimaru and NADSRaD working together?" Sasori asked. "What possible connection could a black market king and a research company possibly have?"

"I don't know," Konan admitted. "But if we can get our 'ands on Orochimaru, I'm sure we'll get some answers. And I already 'ave a plan to do just zat."