They watched the video in horror. While most were able to stomach the sight of the brutal executions, it was Hitch and Pipp who cast their gaze a little aside, unwilling to watch. They would see the footage of the albino man, torturing and then killing off captives, the footage recorded by a hidden camera.

Admiral Briggs sighed as he had to show the footage to the squad. "...Known only as DeFalco. Our undercover operative shot this off of Socotra Island, Yemen…Farid."

The video ended - and the Admiral gestured over to a young Middle Eastern man, who approached the projected video.

"Thank you, Admiral." Farid nodded, and turned to the team."DeFalco is Menendez' number three. The concept of empathy is understood by him, but... irrelevant."

"Number three, huh…? But who's number two?" Asked Section.

Briggs nodded to Farid, and the projection changed."We don't know her name." Farid said."But we have identified her partially. She seems to avoid any environment within which she could be recorded. Doesn't attend meetings or deals."

The projection displayed a tall woman hidden in the shadows - with long, flowing silvery hair brushed over behind her head.

Izzy tilted her head curiously. "She's number two but won't even take care of things like that? Is she just really camera-shy or somethin'?"

Misty shrugged. "I think she's just really good at what she does! She must be like, really good at subterfuge and clandestine work. It's something that Menendez really needs - infiltration, mole operations, counter-intelligence, and from what I can tell, she's a pro!"

Sprout laughed softly. "What are you, the president of her fan club?"

Misty blushed, and looked aside - and Sprout immediately caught a glare from Sunny. The blond man looked away and sighed.

With that, the briefing resumed. They showed footage of DeFalco and the mysterious woman - the latter still hard to see and identify.

"A whisper drone captured this two days ago, at an abandoned prison in Lahore, Pakistan." Briggs explained - though then, the footage from the drone had promptly disappeared. Harper coughed to catch everyone's attention.

"We uh…lost contact with a reconnaissance drone over Pakistan last week…" Harper mentioned. It was curious - how such a small and undetectable drone had disappeared so fast.

Section squinted his eyes and stood up - trying to think over the implications of the footage. "Wait a minute…The scientist we captured at Myanmar told us Menendez is using Celerium to develop a cyber weapon called Karma. What if it's Karma taking out our drones…?"

"Well…" Sunny scratched her head. "There's no guarantee they've finished its development…"

Harper thought for a bit, and smirked. "... You know what? This DeFalco guy and that mystery chick could be fairly entertaining.

"Fairly?" Salazar and Misty scoffed, saying it at the same time. All of them stood up.

"What do you say we blow off a little steam, huh?" Harper grinned. "Throw a few punches first?" He said. He then approached both section and Manuel, and feigned a series of punches that for a moment, startled Section, but left Manuel unphased and smirking at the sight.

"CQC before an op…" Zipp said. "I don't mind as long as you don't screw up a throw and twist someone's arm out again, Harper."

"Hey, Sprout just fell the wrong way, ain't my fault!" Harper defensive raised his arms.

At the idea, Section chuckled. "Alright, sure."

Harper smirked wide. "Come on, come suffer with me."

At those words, Section, Sunny, Zipp, Pipp, Hitch, and Izzy quieted down. There was an odd sense of weight in the room.

"...Come suffer what…?" Section whispered - looking forward with a disoriented gaze.

"...Mason, you okay?" Manuel frowned, putting a hand on his brother's shoulder.

Sunny shook her head. "No, Manuel, it's…What Harper said. That phrase…"

"What's the big deal with it?" Suddenly asked Sprout.

"None of your concern." Suddenly Sunny barked.

"Huh?! What do you mean it's none of--"

"SPROUT!" Shouted Sunny. "I fucking told you - it's NONE of your concern!"

"...Then I'd like to know, if it's okay." Frowned Manuel. "...As his brother."

" Come suffer with me…" Zipp quietly said. At that, Pipp began to shiver and hyperventilate. She was thinking about those words…

"I heard it before…" Hitch said. "It…"

"On that day…" Izzy said. "When Mr. Mason was killed…David, and us, we were…"

David nodded. "These flashes I'm getting…I know we were kidnapped the night my father died, but…I could never see…"

"...But now that you mention it…" Sunny put her hands in her hair, staring at the ground full of thought and realization.

"..." Section raised his head up as he stopped staring at the ground, and turned to Manuel, looking him in the eyes. "...It was Menendez…! Did…he kill our father?"

The silence heavily settled in the room. The possibility was there - the possibility was suffocatingly chilling.

"That's not what Woods told us." Zipp said - not to deny the hypothesis, but to point out that there was a possibility of misinformation. "Woods always told us that…"

"Yeah." Section nodded. "Ok, look, you know Woods raised me after my father died, right? But Woods always told me it was some nut that did it... some drifter... What the hell's going on?"

"Why would Woods lie to us?" Sunny whispered. "About the man who killed your father? About…that night that changed our lives?"

Section remembered those words - remembered the words that flooded his ears clearly. And the same words rang in the heads of the others who were there - to witness the dead body of Alex Mason.

You suffer with me. For all the sins of those who came before you.

They remembered how Mason, as a boy, tried to punch and fight Menendez - how the others were either tied up or unconscious and unable to help him, except for Sunny who tried to run in to assist him.

"Why didn't Woods tell us…?" Softly whispered David.

Woods, Hudson...They created this. For Josefina... Tonight, your father will die!

*

The terrifyingly loud sound of bullets pounding against the metallic doors had muffled all sounds - the double-doors mere inches away from being completely torn apart.

They all took cover - knee deep in dirty flood water - which was much more inviting than the death that awaited them on the other side of those doors.

Harper barked at Hitch. "ISI got us pinned down! C'mon, we need this thing up and running, today!"

"I'm trying!" Hitch said, muttering to the large four-legged drone as he looked all over it. Section was by his side, trying to get the drone operational. "It's unresponsive! Is it water damage!? Is the signal getting jammed!?"

"Your GCM must be stuck!" Shouted Harper.

"They're closing in!" Exclaimed Salazar, doing his best to secure their flanks.

"HIIIITCH!" Sunny cried out. "Get that CLAW running!"

Harper grunted. It was a desperate move as he turned his attention to the large drone, and opted to raise his knee up into the air, before his leg powerfully collided and struck the mechanisms inside. Hitch gasped - always feeling terror when his drones were hit, as if they were his own animals. And yet, then came the terrible whirring as the machine - and then happy beeping, almost as if it was happy to get hit and struck as it did. The legs began to extend, and the large beast began to rise.

"There, unstuck!" Shouted Harper. Immediately, Hitch got to work - connecting his interface to the large four-legged drone.

"O-Okay, Maximus is online! Brutus is gonna come up from the left!" Hitch exclaimed.

The sound of a grenade being launched made it self apparent - forcing the team to dodge to the side. A massive blast had torn open the doors, which were already near breaking point. And yet, it was the mistake of the enemy to do so.

For now, the CLAW had no obstacle between itself and the many ISI agents that attempted to assault the team began to fall back in the face of deafening machine gun and grenade-launcher fire, all of them screaming and yelling - shouting at one another in Urdu to retreat and seek cover.

"I always wanted to visit Pakistan, but…" Zipp grunted, reloading her Skorpion Evo. "I don't like this welcome at all!"

"The flooding rain wasn't bad enough, huh?" Asked Pipp as she put a magazine into her SVU-AS - though the scope was reduced in power to allow her to more comfortably use it within the very crowded streets and alleyways of the city. They would run through the doors - facing down the enemies up front.

"The flamethrower on Brutus is disabled!" Exclaimed Hitch.

"Dont'cha worry about that!" Grinned Izzy. She sprinted her way through the muddy water and immediately got behind the secondary CLAW, who rained fire upon ISI agents that were on the far side of the room in which the gunfight took place. With her UNICYCLE system, it was able to produce a signal that manually refreshed the CLAW's systems. It allowed for the flamethrower to reconnect - and immediately, the four-legged machine began to spew flames and fire upon the enemy soldiers. A helicopter drone that attempted to meet them at the entrance to the building they pushed through hadn't lasted long - for the airborne machine was mowed down by the CLAW's miniguns.

"Good work!" Exclaimed Manuel to the team. "That should give them something to think about before they try pushing our positions again!"

"Are they even gonna back down at this point, though!?" Barked Sunny in disbelief. "Feels like we're definitely attracting a lot of heat!"

Zipp chuckled. "The ISI definitely doesn't like foreigners who come to their country with CLAWs and guns, I can tell you that much, Sunny!"

"Alright, let's move!" Exclaimed Section - who narrowly avoided a bus as it was carried away by the heavy tide of the flood. Nevertheless they moved on forward, guns trained at the enemy agents through the darkness of the ruined streets.

"Is there even anything left of this place anymore…?" Misty said with a frown. "It's awful - the Pakistani government put no effort into helping the people who live here…!"

"East or West - seems like all governments are the same." Sighed Salazar - their short moment of silence broken by renewed fire, as the squad took cover behind the corners of walls. Hitch frowned as he faced trouble - for the CLAWs constantly needed to be reminded of their commands, and they constantly missed certain targets.

"Oh this flood water is just great!" Hitch sarcastically shouted. "The CLAWs are bugging out! Can we get them somewhere dry!? Uh…drier!?"

"We'll split up, one half can take the higher ground with the CLAWs - rest will be on me. Manuel, Salazar, Misty, Zipp!" Exclaimed Section to select them into the order. "Take Brutus and Maximus up top to provide cover fire while we push through the street. We'll regroup at Anthem!"

"On it!" Exclaimed Manuel.

"Hold on!" Grinned Izzy who saw an opportunity to help. With her system, she was able to produce a wedge-like device that she planted into a control panel, and with a bit of pressure it opened. The controls to a garage door were presented to her, and as she pressed it, it gave the other half of the team an easy opening to get on the roof with the CLAWs so that they could start raining fire from above. "Good luck!" Giggled the deep-blue-haired girl, before reuniting with Section's half of the team.

"Please take care of them!" Exclaimed Hitch - as he relinquished his access of the CLAWs over to Zipp - who smirked and gave him a salute, before she too went through the garage door.

With that, Section, Harper, Sunny, Hitch, Izzy, and Pipp were left on the ground floor covered in water - taking cover from the bullets. They would push up the streets, past the obnoxiously pouring rain as best as they could. Sunny used her ALICORN system to fire micro-missiles into the enemy positions, but she found that the water had made them much too inaccurate - the electronic sensors were too jammed by the constant movement.

And yet, as the push down the street seemed impossible, minigun fire ripped from an adjacent building. Carefully aiming, Zipp let the two drones wash the enemy positions with fire - bullets shredding into windows and sandbags that demolished the ISI, and forced them back.

"Alright!" Cheered Harper.

"Thanks for the breathing room!" Said Section - glad that due to Zipp having access to the CLAWs, he did not need to worry about marking enemy positions. Instead, they were able to move on forward down the street. However, it became apparent that with the many twists and turns, and with the row of buildings splitting…the teams would not be nearby forever.

"Section." Manuel said. "Salazar's given me the city map. We're not gonna have you in our line of sight for a while. You're on your own 'till Anthem."

"Got it. We'll be alright! Regroup at Anthem!" Section said. With that, the teams would split - one running along the rooftops of the city, while the other would stick to the ground floor, braving the water - and more enemies, who were still relying on the intel that the enemies were moving across that street.

Pipp's marksman-based SVU was able to line up headshot after headshot - her eyes deadly even in the face of the darkness and rain, as several of the ISI agents fell into the water. Hitch still had a drone - and was able to deploy one that vaguely resembled a large dragonfly. He threw the drone at the enemy forces, as it began to fly around and scan for threats. It seemed too meager for the enemy to attack - but as one of the ISI agents threw the grenade, the drone immediately flew at high-speeds to wrap itself around that grenade, before using its wings to direct it right back at the ISI agent who threw it - making his own projectile explode under his own feet. With the skill and numbers, the team was able to remove the resistance that the agents attempted to pose.

"Clear!" Exclaimed Harper. With that, they were able to run further down the street - with only a kilometer and half left to target. They had to walk against the tide, fighting and resisting against the torrent of water…

But a terrible metal croaking noise perturbed them all.

"Anyone…Else hear that?" Muttered Sunny.

They kept moving up the street - paying attention to what Sunny could have been pointing to.

Until they saw two headlights. Both squinted their eyes at it. A bus was being carried downstream - and it had spun to be horizontal, sweeping absolutely everything off the street as it barrelled towards them.

"...O-Oooooh shit!" Gasped Izzy. It immediately alarmed Hitch - who knew that when she swore, it really meant trouble.

"Get off the street!" Yelled Harper. Immediately, the team darted off to the side. They saw a closed gate - the nearest access point for them to get to safety. Yet, no matter how much Harper and then Section tried, the gate appeared too difficult to push through - while the bus continued to barrel down them.

"Crap, push!" Sunny and Hitch joined in. With Sunny's efforts, the gate seemed to budge somewhat, and yet not quite. Her exoskeleton had strength, but not enough to get it through. "Izzy!" Shouted Sunny.

"Uh, the UNICYCLE is stuck! Too much water!" Cried out Izzy. "I'm trying to get it out! Uh…Uhh…"

"IZZY!" Barked Harper - the bus had been stuck in the wall - but it was very clearly tearing through it; and was almost on top of them, about to destroy the wall and wipe them off of the street.

"Got it!" Cried out Izzy. Her system was able to form itself into a ramming rod. "Move!"

The five made their way, and gave Izzy the opportunity. With the ram, Izzy rushed the gates, and smashed through them with the powerful, strong ram - breaking the doors completely. Immediately, the team jumped past the threshold. It was moments before the bus would break through the walls, and continued its path of destruction - totally destroying the street as it swept everything in its way.

With a gasp, the squad members sat on the floor - catching their breath after the fear and exhaustion of trying to break through the gate.

Harper let out a deep sigh of relief. "Oh shit. That was a close one, huh? Still got my balls... How about you?" He chuckled. It was Section and Hitch who chuckled in return, but the males blushed as they saw the very bemused and displeased looks that were given to them by Pipp, Sunny, and Izzy.

"Ahem. Let's go." Harper said. The squad rose, and they made their way into the alleyway. As they entered, wading through with their guns, they looked around to see civilians who sat in the alley - injured, hiding, and scared. They frowned, solemnly looking at the unarmed and covering people around them.

"...These poor people." Sunny whispered. "What Misty said was right…"

"Yeah…" Sighed Harper. "What a fucking mess... Obviously, these folks weren't prepared for the flooding. Looks like they've just been left to fend for themselves. Not good... Not good."

"Not good at all." Pipp frowned. "Things should never be like this…"

All of them sighed, and went further down the alleyway. Yet, they stopped in their tracks, and pressed close to the dark walls. A spotlight made its way across the flooded street - the source being a drone that constantly scanned for targets.

"Don't move. We got a drone scouting the area…" Whispered Harper.

"Could hack it…" Pipp proposed.

"No. Might attract more…" Sunny whispered. They waited - and finally, did the drone leave. They moved on forward.

The team made their way back to the flooded portion of the streets. Corpses floating in the water were in their way, bumping against them. They all frowned and looked away. Harper cursed, the sight making him grunt. "Aw shit…Son of a bitch…"

The drone ahead of them would swoop around on the street. Then, its spotlight caught track of several unarmed men - the gunfire ripping right into them and killing the civilians.

"Wait, that drone is ISI…" Whispered Izzy. "Why would they…?"

"Seems the drones are killing off looters…At-least what the pilot identifies as them." Sighed Sunny. The team would make their way underneath the cover of the shadows and whatever other objects that could break up the line of sight, and give them shelter from the intense spotlight. They ran through buildings, debris - not losing neither time nor speed.

Hitch squinted his eyes. He was the most knowledgeable on their chances of making it through the streets. He knew about the limitations of these drones - and most of the cues to move were on him. "Okay, this is good enough. Let's go!" He said. They would be able to walk further down upon the flooded streets, avoiding the spotlight, until once again it began to cover the area they intended to move through.

The drone would hang in the area, constantly looking over the area and not giving the team the opportunity…But soon, it began to turn.

"Drone's turning around…" Whispered Harper - staring it down with a challenging smirk. "Oh, I'm watchin' you…"

Finally, after a tense moment of waiting in the shadows, the drone relented and flew away into the skies - starting to scour through the streets as the team ran deeper into the flooded town.

"Yeah that's right. Keep looking the wrong fucking way…" He chuckled - and then froze in place as a spotlight had nearly touched him. He looked up to see another drone hovering above. "Shit, got another drone up ahead…"

"Another one?" Pipp muttered. "Are they really this worried about some looters!?"

"The meeting should be involving someone pretty high-up in the ISI…" Said Sunny. "They'll spend money on security, but not on helping the citizens…"

"Guess Menendez is a bit of a hypocrite, ain't he…?" Muttered Izzy.

"Let's focus on getting off these streets." Said Section. All nodded at him. They made their way to a particularly open, flooded street - and on the end, a large ruined skyscraper stood, crooked and diagonal.

"Let's move through there." Said Sunny. "That's our best way to get to Anthem."

The team would run from object to object, sticking to the walls as they would take cover behind barrels and trucks. Due to the size of the team, they would need to split up, for there wasn't enough concealment in one spot for all of them.

In horror however, the team saw the spotlight, as it began to move towards one of their separated team members.

"Crap!" Section grit his teeth. "No!"

"Izzy!" Hitch cried out, but tried not to raise his voice much knowing the drone could hear him.

All turned their heads to where Izzy stood. And as the spotlight made its way to her position, the drone locked onto the area, hovered for a few more seconds…And looked away, continuing its flight.

Izzy uncloaked with a soft sigh. "Phew. I'm sure glad R and D made these waterproof!" She gigged. With a collective sigh, the team finally made their way into the collapsing building. It had been croaking, sliding, and falling in-front of their very eyes, concrete and glass falling down upon the ground. Nevertheless, they moved one forward, with the drones circling the building from above, but never able to lock in their target. They then saw a large flooded canal - and on the other side, the entrance to the sewers.

"Section." Pipp made a hand gesture - a "V" sign and a vertical slice with her palm. This was her command as the team's sniper - a cue where she selected a team member who had the best-fitting weapon in order to execute the simultaneous attack. It made sense to her that in the heavy rain, Section's millimeter scanner could give an upper hand to make out the silhouettes in the rain. She aimed up her SVU, and Section aimed his MTAR. With two shots, the ISI soldiers that were posted above the sewer entrance fell into the flood water, sinking underneath. Without any obstacles on their way, the team continued to wade through the water, and jogged up to a sewer gate.

"Anthem is through the sewers." Sunny noted.

"Talk about a dirty job…" Sighed Harper. Izzy immediately approached the gate, and with her UNICYCLE system ready, she was able to procure a blowtorch - that produced a searing-hot flame enough to totally cut the gate open. With that, the team stepped into the dark sewers, disappearing underground.

As they walked through, the sound of Salazar's voice on the radio came apparent. "Section, in position. Train yard. Lots of activity..."

Manuel's voice came after. "They're pretty frantic up here, Section. Their drones are swimming around. Pipp, think you can hack one during the exfil?"

"I'll sure try. Easier said than done…" She sighed.

"Oh, good." Hitch smiled. "I'll be glad to finally get access to one. I feel unarmed without at-least one AGR on my side." He said.

"...Hey, you guys hear that?" Asked Izzy.

"We don't got time, Iz." Sighed Sunny. "We gotta--"

But it was too late, for Izzy already used the blowtorch on her UNICYCLE system to open up a metal door.

"Izzy!" Sunny quietly barked. "What are you--"

It was then when it became apparent that Izzy's action made sense. The door revealed that behind it was a chamber, and above the ceiling was a grate, allowing the team to record the audio from two soldiers that walked above. Their earpieces immediately picked up the speech and their built-in translation software allowed them to immediately acquire the information they had been looking for.

"Manuel." Section said into the radio. "The ISI have taken delivery of some new SOC-Ts near your position." He spoke.

"Understood." His brother confirmed.

With that, the six would be able to make it out of the sewers - their data reporting that they were right underneath Anthem. As they made their way closer, Salazar's voice emerged from the radio.

"Menendez is here. Main courtyard, with ISI Leader!"

"I'll contact Briggs." Said Section, as they slowly walked to emerge from the underground. He turned on the device on his glove, and connected himself to the admiral. "We're in position, admiral."

"Well done, Commander. I'm patching you through Anthem's interior schematics. Now your best vantage point is going to be here... Overlooking the courtyard. CLAWs will flank you on your infiltration route.These boys are all you got. So if you lose one of them, you're on your own. And you keep your eye on that patrolling drone, son. If that cocksucker gets a bead on you, you can run, but you'll die tired..."

"If I choose to run, Admiral, it will be right at him." Nodded Section.

Pipp nervously chuckled. "Heheh…Hopefully after I've hacked it and gave the controls over to Hitch."

Briggs smirked."Good luck, Commander!"

*

The team had used the wrist-mounted rope launchers to propel themselves upon the rooftop. The team emerged behind two ISI marksmen who stood above the open field. Immediately, they were disposed of - Izzy and Section snuck up to them and plunged their blades into their throats, before hiding the two corpses in the darkness.

The team went prone underneath the cover. The facility was filled to the brim with enemy equipment - drones that flew across the night sky, armed patrols, and other defensive equipment that made the place armed to the teeth. Infiltration was a daunting task. But the six carried on.

Section and Pipp prepared their recording devices. The scanners were able to copy a complete 3D observation - with a powerful high-range microphone to boot. It was a highly advanced device, even if it took terabytes of data at a time.

"No shortage of suspects…You see him?" Asked Harper.

"...There." Section said. Finally, their target was clear. They saw him. Raul Menendez, standing beside a beret-wearing Pakistani man…

And behind Raul was a woman with longer, flowing silvery hair.

"Hey, that's the one we couldn't identify!" Hitch softly said.

Pipp mumbled. "I see her. But scanner can't pick up her ID…And can't pick up anything about her either."

"She could be wearing something that jams it…But we have good audio and visual on Menendez and the ISI leader." Said Section. Indeed, the scanner had blurred the face of the woman, but their primary targets were heard anyway.

The ISI leader shook his head as he spoke with Menendez."This city crumbles around us, but the government pretends like everything is under control..."

In turn, the old one-eyed man sighed, putting a hand on the other man's shoulder.

"They care nothing for the suffering of their people. Neither do the Americans, or the Chinese..." He said.

The Pakistani agent spoke with contempt."They care. They care for their own interest, nothing more..."

As they began to walk, the woman spoke. Though her words were discernible, her voice was not."Do not worry, Mr. ISI. The time of weak and cowardly governments is coming to an end. We can assure you that with your help." She said. The three would walk into the shadows, constantly getting out of their range. However, to compensate for this, Section and his team would slowly creep along the rooftops, ensuring that their sensor was trained on the three.

"I still don't get who she could be." Whispered Sunny. "She's hiding her identity, too. Is she afraid we'd discover something if we ID her…?" She asked Section.

"No way to be sure when databases get us nothing anyway." He sighed. They got into another position, allowing them to continue listening.

They, once again, heard the ISI leader speaking. "The drone was taken down as it scanned the southeast region of the city. We think it was looking for evidence of terrorist involvement within the region. Could they know you just met with Tian Zhao?"

"Of course." Smirked Raul Menendez."The Americans are always watching me..."

"Though that means nothing." Said the woman. "Eyes only mean so much with no ears. Besides, if you want my honest opinion, they wouldn't know what to do if they had half as much intel as they claim to have."

"You truly don't hold the Americans in high standards, miss" The ISI leader commented.

"I don't like amateurs." Laughed the woman softly. "Trust me, You'll see what I mean by this quite soon..."

Once again, the team had to break contact, for their line of sight was broken. With that they moved further along the rooftops. They would enter a room with windows that provided a good view of a helicopter landing pad, though an ISI agent sat behind the computer. Izzy, with her silent step, approached to swiftly plunge her blade into his throat. The ISI agent was unable to let out any sounds of pain, before Izzy positioned him to look as if he had fallen asleep at his computer.

Pipp and Section crouched by the window, and finally were able to re-establish their audio feed. The ISI leader had gone away, but now Menendez remained with the strange, mysterious woman.

"Did DeFalco report?" He asked her.

"Indeed." The woman said."Next meet shall be in Peshawar, northern Pakistan."

Smirking, Menendez put a hand on her shoulder. "Ensure that all intelligence relating to the drone is available ahead of our discussion." He told her.

"Understood." She smiled."What about DeFalco himself?"

The words coaxed a chuckle from Menendez. "Well...With someone like you by my side, we need not involve him for anything more than mercenary work. After all, they are just that. Dogs of fortune. You are a visionary. With that, I trust you more."

Though her face was blurred, it was clear she had smiled."Indeed. Perhaps we see things a little differently, the outcome is the same. You want a world not ruled by the weak and greedy. I wish for a world led by the strong. Seems like these two ideas propagate one another."

"Hm." The old man nodded."If only the world's governments had the likes of you, Ms. Arcana."

"I am one of a kind. Don't count on it." Laughed the woman - and waved to Menendez, as she parted the VTOL.

"Arcana…" Whispered Sunny to Section. "Ever heard of someone like that?"

"...No, never." David sighed. "Let's follow." He said. Menendez had walked into one of the buildings underneath, and once again the contact had been broken. The team moved further along the rainy rooftops.

"Arcana…" Muttered Pipp as they walked, and turned on her radio. "Manuel - you caught that, right? Ever heard of someone named…or codenamed Arcana?"

"I...guess I'll have to check." Sighed Manuel over the radio."It's nothing too apparent yet. I'll get the CIA working overtime till they give me a lead, though, when we're home."

The team would make their way around the rooftops - trailing Menendez's supposed trail based on callouts from Salazar, which would lead them back to the ground level. A truck had parked up on their way, with the driver and passenger disembarking - the latter went to the back, checking something within.

Section, standing behind the soldier at the back of the truck, quickly slammed his head into the door, killing him on the spot. Before the driver could react, a small drone had shot out from Hitch's wrist, before landing on the neck of the soldier. It delivered a sharp, quick electric shock that launched itself into the soldier's vulnerable spots, killing him. The squad would move one body underneath the truck, and one into the back, before they continued moving.

The team stepped into a quiet, rather decrepit room. Televisions had filled it, and a seat sat in the middle. One with straps on the armrests. The team looked around rather uncomfortably - but there was an opening that allowed them to once more see the ISI leader and Menendez.

"...So who was she?" Asked the agent.

"Someone with drive and brains." The older man said.

"Right." Continued the ISI agent."The drone itself is very different from the older models. Extracting the central computer is not a simple task. A series of security barriers are directly linked to the unit's self-destruct mechanism..."

"Such things are not a concern. The meeting on June 17th will resolve any remaining barriers to our success."

Before they could record more, their vision was blocked off by a train that drove right between them and blocked all line of sight. Pipp cursed. "Crap. Can't see 'im. We'll have to go around."

The team acquiesced. They would walk deeper into the room. The sight of the interrogation equipment, the tools of torture and suffering - brainwashing…They had made the team feel a tinge of serious unease, Izzy gulping at the sight of pliers on which blood had dried a long time ago.

Harper sighed, slowly moving a television to give them room to walk. "At one point in time, the CIA had interrogation rooms like this all over the world. All of 'em was geared towards some sort of psychological manipulation. God knows the kind of shit that went down back then…"

"...This shouldn't happen. Ever." Sighed Sunny pensively. They had no choice but to keep moving forward. They would finally be able to get deeper into the building, with a flooded level of the building presented before them. Collectively sighing, the team would wade into the water, and begin swimming - to make their way to the next position. Swimming, they'd emerge on a platform, quietly below it as they heard the voice of their target from above.

"...Okay.. Let's try this again." Whispered Section. With that, he and Pipp took out their scanners, starting to listen to the voice above them. They'd be able to see a scan of what was above - the screen turning blue as they could make out Menendez's silhouette.

They would hear the voice of Menendez as he spoke into a phone.

"...Of course. Not only am i aware of the infiltration..."

Pipp's eyes ever-so-slightly widened in horror as Menendez had suddenly looked down…and crouched.

"... I engineered it."

With a click of a button on the phone, there was a surge of interference that whistled and howled in the ears of the earpieces of the operators.

"Gah, fuck!" Harper cried out.

"O-Ow! Ow, my ears!" Gasped Izzy, throwing her headset aside.

"C-Crap, he's jamming our comms!" Sunny barked. "He's onto us!"

"...Grenade!" Shouted Hitch. All saw two canisters land at their feet. They would once more-jump into the water, and above its surface, all had become awash in orange, as the grenades ruptured, and fire broke out in the room. They turned in the water to swim away from harm's way, as gunfire began to rain upon their positions, bullets sinking into the water. Finally emerging, they would step out, reaching the surface on the path through which they came.

"Section!" Manuel called out on the radio."They're closing in on you guys - the CLAWs are in position! Maximus above, Brutus below!"

"And the evac vehicles?" Sunny cried out as they began to fight their way through the hallways of the building, leading to a garage. The ISI agents had attempted to break through, but Izzy and Section took the lead. With her shotgun and his MTAR, they would not allow the soldiers to cut off their escape.

"Misty and I hacked a drone for you guys." Salazar said."Also, we're going to get Sprout's backup to get us another SOC-T to make sure we all got room."

"You're a miracle worker!" Exclaimed Section. They would approach the windows of the garage and begin to fight back against the ISI soldiers that had locked down the building at gunpoint. They would stack up against the windows - but the bullets raining upon them had their faces covering behind walls.

"Half of Pakistan's outside the door!" Harper exclaimed.

"Are we gonna even make it out if the city's locked down!?" Cried out Pipp.

"Doesn't matter, just keep fighting!" Zipp exclaimed."Hey, are those CLAWs helping us or what!?"

"I got it!" Hitch said. He was able to reconnect his interface to the CLAWs. Immediately, at the same time, Brutus and Maximus had activated - the two drones would begin to fire upon the ISI soldiers, some of which had approached the drones thinking they were inactive. Standing up on their feet, the two drones began to walk and fire, giving Section and his group the means to defend themselves.

Misty's gadget had re-directed much fire off of them, her device confusing the ISI and their own sensors, with fake AI-generated radio callouts that made them believe that they were being flanked by another enemy force. It allowed Pipp to pop out of cover and fire her sniper, and for Zipp to fly up to rain fire from above.

Using Maximus, Hitch had shot down a drone that attempted to attack the group as it started to hover above them. It was shot down momentarily, crashing into a nearby building, scattering the ISI agents that were using it as their position.

"Where are you guys!?" Cried out Pipp into the radio.

It was within a moment that three SOC-T cars had rolled through the streets - one of them driven by Sprout, who drifted and ran over an ISI soldier who had attempted to shoot at Izzy.

"Your taxis here!" Sprout grinned. "Hop on, we're leaving this flooded town!"

"I never thought I'd be happy to see you!" Laughed Zipp, jumping into another SOC-T. Manuel had joined that one, getting into the turret where a machine gun was mounted and would allow him to protect themselves.

Sunny sat behind the wheel of the front vehicles, with Harper getting himself into the turret, and Section sitting right beside her. Hitch sat in the back, and prepared to use the drone that they had hacked. With the sound of screeching rubber, the vehicles began to drive forward as fast as they could.

As they would begin to drive, Section's wrist-mounted device came to attention as he began to press its buttons, connecting his comms to Briggs.

"Admiral…" Section said, tension in his voice. "We've commandeered enemy SOC-Ts. Request immediate air support and extraction!"

On the screen, the admiral waved one hand with disapproval."Negative, Commander! You got the whole fucking SDC descending on your current position." He said. Then, a map of the city appeared on the device."Alright, now there are many escape routes throughout the town. Use the drones to clear safe passage for the SOC-Ts!"

"Admiral…" Sunny frowned. "We cannot engage the SDC, or else we risk causing a really bad global conflict, especially if we do it here in Lahore!"

"I understand that, Starscout. That's why if they get to you - you better hope they're in a fuckin' good mood! Now burn rubber and get your asses here on the double!"

Terminating the connection, they would drive through the falling ruins of the flooded city. With the drone above them controlled by Hitch, no car or enemy drone would be able to approach them. The flying helicopter-like machine would rain fire and missiles, with the team using the machine gun turrets on their vehicles to fight back the approaching enemies.

"I hope you're a good driver Sunny!" Cried out Hitch. "I don't wanna die when we're this close to makin' it outta here!"

"We'll be fine!" Sunny exclaimed. "You just make sure that drone keeps us safe 'cause I can't drive if we're getting shred apart!"

The SOC-T's would make a mad dash through the broken streets. Several ISI troops would emerge on their position, breaking through the flooded waters on vehicles of their own as they began to tail Section and his team. Manuel would immediately turn his machine gun to the threat, and let out a hail of bullets that would keep the enemies far behind and dead in the water.

"They're not giving up, are they!?" Cried out Pipp.

"I don't think they're happy to know we kinda spied on them this whole time!" Izzy said, bracing herself as she used her shotgun to fire back at any of the enemy forces that came too close.

"What the FUCK!?" Shouted Harper as an enemy vehicle emerged from around the corner and began to chase them, with Sunny pulling out a KAP-40 she had in her holster to fire at it with one hand, while the other held the wheel.

Sunny would drive through the most narrow gaps she could find, through the ruins of buildings that were the only viable way for them to reach their exit. As she did, she nearly swerved off-course, as a hail of bullets nearly stopped her in her tracks. Above them, a myriad of drones had started to circle them, each flying and attempting to pick them off.

"Hitch!" Sunny shouted. Just in time, he was able to command their hacked drone to fire at the opposing drones - the machine gun shredding into them and blowing them out of the sky.

They would begin to drive through the large lobby of an abandoned hotel ,before emerging out into the areas behind it. Pipes fell all over them, many exploding as the enemy hadn't cared of what they had been doing to their own city. The path would then take them through hangars and utility buildings, where the enemy had in-vain attempted to catch them.

However, as they made it deeper into the hangar, an enemy drone had been heading right for them…And immediately, it collided with the one that Hitch had been controlling, the two machines intertwining into a flurry of explosion and flame.

"Damn, we lost a drone!" Harper exclaimed.

"The evac point's ahead!" Section said. With that, Sunny intensified her driving, making it a straight, mad dash for their evacuation site.

"...Drone's causing a chain reaction!" Shouted Harper. When the drones collapsed into the buildings, a flurry of explosions followed, as they had detonated the pipes that connected the buildings with gas. Still - they were so close…

However, although the way to the finish line was clear, they were to make their way through a ruined building -there were many hazards that would dare stop them. Though their way had not been blocked, a gas pipe had suddenly snapped off the ceiling as they drove, and a cone of fire began to spew at them. The only way to drive through would be underneath the arc, towards the right side of the path.

Sunny's split second reaction allowed her to turn the SOC-T to avoid the blazing flames that would have nearly melted half of Harper's face. "That was a nut's hair away from taking my face off!" He cried out. "Shit, good drivin', Sunny!"

Finally, the three vehicles would be able to park. Before them was a gap in the wall, one that led to a passage covered in smoke.

"Finally…" Gasped Izzy.

"Let's go!" Manuel said, waving his hand as he called the team over.

As the group ran to the exit, they would run through the smoke. And although there was a VTOL that had landed and was grounded…The soldiers surrounding the vehicle were anything but American. Not judging by their camouflage, helmets, nor weapons.

"Oh shit, now what?" Harper hissed.

"Crap." Zipp hissed. "SDC…"

The Chinese soldiers spotted Section's team, and immediately turned to them. Pointing their assault weapons, they began to shout at them in Chinese, though it was not hard to tell by their body language that they were demanding that the group drop their weapons.

"Whoa! Chill! Everyone relax!" Izzy cried out, holding her shotgun at only a half-downwards angle, not wanting to appear hostile, but unwilling to let her guard down.

As the SDC soldiers had the group in their sights, they would see a middle-aged, grey-haired asian man near the VTOL. He noticed them, and began to make their way to them, walking slowly and confidently. "American forces should not be in Pakistan." He firmly said.

"Tian Zhao…" Whispered Section.

"You know that guy…?" Softly asked Hitch as he held his pistol at the ready.

"Yeah. He fought alongside my father in Afghanistan…" Section softly nodded.

Manuel stepped forward, hand placed forward in a disarming manner. "General Tian Zhao. We are here for Raul Menendez - that is our sole interest in Pakistan. We have no quarrel with China."

The older Chinese man smiled. "Then we have something in common." He said. With his hands, he put his men's guns to point at the ground. "But know this, American…If you really are here for Raul Menendez…I have no need to kill you." He said. With that, he turned around to face the VTOL, and waved to his men. They followed them, though they kept a close look at the American team.

"What a swell guy." Muttered Izzy.

"You're telling me." Chuckled Sunny. "Your dad really fought beside that guy, huh?" She turned to Section.

Manuel, however, chuckled in turn. "...Yeah, what can I say? Dad was always around the crazy types."