The waiting period had to be the hardest. Alyosha sat at his desk, tapping his foot and rubbing the leg he'd nearly broken in that previous encounter with the Raptures, murmuring something to himself about needing his own protective system kind of like the Chief's. Goddessium armor was relegated to Nikkes for an important reason, but maybe they could build something like an exoskeleton for humans to be able to wield in battle, sort of like Chief's armor. He sighed deeply, then ran his hands through his hair due to concern.

Anis had noticed this, rather obviously, simply tapping her foot as she was sat down with her arms crossed below her chest. Lest she gently squeeze the air out of her own biomechanical lungs. Beside her, Neon fiddled with her shotgun shells, looking them over and peering into each to ensure that the powder was loaded properly or whatever. The grenadier looked to the Commander and said, "Don't worry... If I know Rapi, she'll..." but her words waned. She didn't want to lose Rapi. Her memories or anything. They'd been best friends since forever.

Neon herself did not say much, simply making sure her firepower would be in tip-top shape for when they needed to head out again. She had not known Rapi for that long, sadly, but from what little she could tell, she was both a connoisseur in the finer arts of armaments and a very good person. One she'd hate to see lost to a Memory Wipe. But one sadly never tried to go against the Central Government without major support. Something a simple Nikke squad lacked beyond their own weapons.

And as much as Neon would've liked to be a bit brash and try to break Rapi out, she'd have probably wound up dismantled, or worse, another victim of the Mind Wipe. She sighed and set aside her weapon, before staring at the shells she'd lined up on the floor from over her glasses. She hummed and started, "I'm sorry... I should have told Ingrid ahead of time... Maybe we could've..."

"It's not your fault, Neon," Sighed Alyosha, "Nobody's but mine for accepting Syuen's mission without even more of a fight..."

"It's not your fault either, Commander," Anis shot back, standing to her feet and walking to him, "Syuen. She used us and then threw us under the bus immediately after we tried doing her bidding. Little rat really ain't worth the effort, so don't blame yourself, okay? We'll... Make new memories with Rapi. She's still gonna be her at the core," And she set a hand on his shoulder. He sighed, the tension in his body loosening for a moment. He nodded and smiled.

"Thanks, Anis."

"Any time," She smiled and patted him on the back, then the entire group paused as the door to the Commander's room slid open. They paused as they saw the Chief walking in, with a certain figure clad in black and red very close behind. All of them stood to their feet and turned toward Rapi, expectant, while the Chief took a step to the side alongside Delta, who'd also tagged in to help escort her.

Rapi and Alyosha's gazes met and, for a brief moment, the Commander saw something off. Rapi's lips curled into a faint smile as she saluted and said, "Commander... Everyone..."

"Rapi...?" Neon paused, "Y-You..."

"Remember? Yes," She chuckled and crossed her arms, "A rather funny story, that one."

Anis beamed at that, charging and nearly tackling her bestie in a hearty hug. Rapi snorted and said, "Good to see you, too, Anis..." as she patted her on the back. Had they missed her that much, she thought. Had she worried them enough about the Mind Wipe that they'd all be this doom and gloom about her coming back without her thoughts? It made her happy.

Anis backed up, hands on her friend's shoulders. The Commander, however, stole her words from her mouth as he approached and asked, "How...?" with a smile.

Rapi looked over to the Chief and said, "The Chief has quite a few surprises up his gauntlets. One of them was key in making sure neither I, nor Mihara got our minds wiped... Though we'll certainly make sure the Central Government and especially Syuen never find out..." which caused the entire room to pause. All of them, Rapi included, looked to the Chief, who paused.

"Well, John... Cat's gotta be out of the bag some time, eh?" Cortana asked. Chief sighed deeply, then, with a nod, he moved his right hand to the back of his helmet and yanked the Chip. As confusion streaked across the faces of most of the people present, save for Rapi, who seemed to have an inkling, the Spartan turned the Chip face-up, the blue glow emanating from the center soon resolving into the avatar frame of a beautiful young woman with short hair. Various stunned gasps and even an expletive slipped out from the mouths of everyone present.

Cortana smiled, "Well. Good afternoon, Counters... I am John's little shoulder devil that helped with the Mind Wipe issue."

"Holy shit," Murmured Alyosha, staring at her.

Anis blinked, "The heck are you...?"

"I'm Cortana. An Artificial Intelligence," She chuckled and crossed her arms to her chest, "I and the Chief have been partnered up for a little over eight years at this point. I even helped him compile data on the Human-Covenant War for that briefing back there. Said briefing was... Well," She looked up at John with a smile, "Fairly trivial, considering what else we went through."

As if to emphasize her point, her light seemed to peer into the crevices formed of the damage on the Chief's armor, including the sharp, jagged white scratch in the titanium on the left of his chest, just below the faded '117' on the breastplate. She spoke to them all, "I talked with the Ark's central AI about this issue... Convinced her that it was in her and the Ark's best interest to... Keep this on the down-low. Meanwhile, I promised I'd hunt for a lot of evidence regarding Syuen's illicit activities. Get her a little comeuppance."

Anis smirked, "Already liked ya for saving Rapi there, Cortana. No need to toot your horn that much."

The AI chuckled at that, replying, "I also may or may not have ordered you extra Soda from Syuen's money," which caused Anis to blank, then burst into laughter. CT then turned toward Alyosha and said, "I must say, it's a pleasure to finally not hide in John's armor. I do have to ask you all to keep this as top secret as possible. Nothing leaves this room, save for Delta," She turned to the soldier, "Explaining it to our squad of Nikke."

"Understood, ma'am," Delta replied with a nod, "My mouth is shut... Aside from our squad."

"Yeah, same here," Anis chuckled, "Wouldn't want Syuen getting any funny ideas now, would we."

A few laughs escaped the crew again, before everyone pointedly stared at Neon. She raised her hands defensively and asked, "What?! Just because I'm a spy, you think I'll reveal something like this...?" which caused everyone to stare even harder. Her shoulders sagged, "Aw, c'mon... Have some faith in your Firepower connoisseur!" which made Cortana chuckle while Alyosha gave the girl a gentle pat on the head.

"I trust her," She shrugged, "And, hell, honestly? Even if it does get revealed to Ingrid, maybe it isn't such a bad thing..."

"One ally in a sea of issues is better than nothing," Alyosha shrugged, crossing his arms, "Ingrid does seem the more sane out of the lot. Still haven't met Tetra's CEO, though..." only to see Anis wince. He blinked and thought to himself that he hoped it was only Anis overreacting. Cortana chuckled and crossed her arms to her chest, while Alyosha continued, "Thanks for telling us about yourselves. A little more, I mean."

"No problem," Chief nodded, "One more thing, sir... Since we're here."

"Go on, Chief," The man nodded. The Spartan hummed and pulled out a second data crystal, which he handed to the man. He slid it into the computer and watched a map flash on-screen, followed by multiple golden dots denoting locations. He blinked, then looked to the Chief and asked, "Are these...?" as he could probably guess why Chief felt this was important. The Spartan gave a nod.

Rapi and the others approached the screen, with Rapi murmuring, "Incredible... So many?" while Anis, Neon and Delta all smiled. Chief nodded. He'd counted about two dozen IFF tags that played across the screen, meaning approximately two dozen friendlies that'd landed nearby. Having utilized Delta and Signal's radar system on-site within the confines of the outpost to confirm these locations, he knew that more friendlies had dropped in.

And with Linda obviously present...?

"We should get started trying to recover them," Alyosha looked to the Chief, seemingly excited.

He replied in his usually cool-under-pressure tone, "I already put out the request for me and LUCKY to move out and grab them, sir. Best to keep this contained to a single Squad so we have space to transport them on board the armored air assets we have," As he quickly did a checkup of his assault rifle. Alyosha wanted to comment on the necessity of that, but didn't have the time.

A certain figure entered the place, growling as she marched up to the group. The short-statured CEO of Missilis stepped inside, belting out an ear-splitting screech, "ARE YOU INSANE!?" as she marched up to the Commander. She started rambling, while Rapi looked to the Commander and Chief and winked at both of them, confusing both men and Cortana. The AI, however, snorted. She had a feeling regarding where this was going.

"Commander! Intruder detected, take cover!" She called out to Alyosha before, probably, the most glorious event in the world happened. The Chief heard the whoosh of the foot going through the air in a perfect roundhouse, followed by the impact and the crack of ribs against what must've been the steel toes of the Cyborg executive officer of the Counters. To put it bluntly, Rapi had just delivered the most beautiful Roundhouse kick to the chest of Syuen, which took a hot minute for the entire room to process as blood foamed at the corners of Syuen's mouth.

Rapi settled her stance, maintaining an impassive face as she glared at Syuen. The diminutive CEO collapsed, coughing hoarsely as bone rubbed against bone. Chief himself had to stifle a snort of his own as he watched the girl drop to the floor, while Anis and the others seemed to be quietly snickering at them. The Commander couldn't contain his snort, however, asking, "Are you okay, Syuen...?" though strained.

Rapi feigned confusion, while Syuen groaned and said, "No... I think she broke my ribs...!"

"Ouch... Want me to call you an ambulance?" He raised a brow at her. She barely groaned out a 'yes' as she collapsed onto the floor. Some minutes later, Pepper and Mary had arrived and wheeled Syuen away, Mary giving Rapi a knowing look and a smirk despite her perpetually-closed eyes as they walked away. Once the wounded Syuen was out of earshot, everyone but the Chief burst into laughter, Cortana included.

Chief yanked the Chip and looked at her as she held onto her virtual stomach, hollering, while Anis patted Rapi's back and said to her, "That was amazing!"

Rapi chuckled, "A trick that will only work once, sadly..."

Delta, though more stoic, still smiled, hiding it behind her hand as she said, "Saddening, but it is what it is..."

The Spartan nodded, then stated, "We'll take our leave, Commander. And we'll hopefully bring back someone before long..." as he slid the chip back into his helmet. The two men nodded and saluted each-other, with Delta tagging in as well. The Chief nodded to Rapi as well, then the Lucky leadership stepped off. They had a working AI with them, one that had lived for eight years at this point.

"Well, that's a new trick," Anis snorted, "An AI, huh?"

"Yeah," Rapi nodded, "I and Mihara have her to thank for our brains still being intact..." and she seemed to hesitate for a minute. Nobody pressed her on the matter, simply giving her reassuring hugs. The Commander himself, meanwhile, set a hand on her shoulder. She seemed to relax now, tension leaving her body as she did so. The Chief and his team were about to receive even more reinforcements, or so it seemed.

Surface

Sector Gamma-3

Greener pastures stood beyond the limits of the city, in its abandoned suburbia. Once fenced-off properties with two-floor houses now resembled unkempt fields that man had not treaded in centuries. The sole markings of travel were the hoof-marks of various Rapture units that had undoubtedly travelled through the area. The sole markings of former habitation, dilapidated ruins, bearing the scars of spent anti-tank rounds and bullets, crumbling walls testament to what were once beautiful homes and the destroyed remnants of vehicles, both civilian and military.

Peering out from the vine-covered remnants of a window, a sole man stood, rifle in hand. He shifted uneasily, feeling the gentle action-reaction combination of his armor's neural link and his gene-modified nerves interacting. While the MJOLNIR was nothing to scoff at, he still wasn't sure if he wanted to try and be rough-and-tumble with what he could only assume had defeated an entire ABCT here. The husks of the IFVs and tanks left nearby were worrying.

He sighed, then looked back at the reason he was even in this place. Well, in this destroyed house, specifically. Two children sat, curled up together behind an overturned bed. He crouch-walked toward them, slinging his MA5 onto his back and checking them over. While it was funny to refer to these youngsters as 'children' due to his own age, the Spartan had to remember he was fourteen still.

Nominally a children's age, he thought as he settled in front of them. He extended his hand to the older brother, who gently took it, still shaking, before he told him, "It'll be alright. Those things seem to be gone... I'll get you to whatever elevator you're lookin' for and we can head somewhere safe together..." and hummed. The brother nodded, holding close his baby sister.

He paused as he heard a thunder of footsteps, then showed the kids to be quiet by putting a finger up to the front of his MJOLNIR helmet. He walked in a crouch back to the window as stealthily as he could. And he was incredibly stealthy, thought the young boy. Not even the rotting floorboards below him creaked as he skulked to the window. He took a knee beside it and pulled a vine aside.

A dozen enemy machines marched through the place, two of which were tall enough to tower over him. Their armored feet stomped through the tops of the damaged cars, crumpling them like tin cans exposed suddenly to a vacuum. Their baleful red eyes scanned the surroundings, turrets mounted to both them and their subordinate units scanning for targets, belts of strange ammunition clinking.

He checked his weapons. He still had a pack of C12 with him, but wondered if it had enough of a punch to break through the armor of these things. He still had half-a-dozen mags for his MA5 and four for his M6. Enough to fight, maybe. Maybe enough to cover the kids while they ran for some form of better cover than this abandoned old building. No point in worrying about that. They'd be dead without him around.

He paused as one of the leading machines' eyes swiveled toward him, glaring at him with a burning fury. He ducked behind the wall, hoping that that'd be enough cover to make sure whatever sensor suite was peering at him could not see him. It, however, presumably did. It and its drones soon swiveled about and aimed their machine guns and other weapons at the house, causing the Spartan to rush toward the kids' sides, as to shield them. He loomed over them, exposing his armor to the enemy's guns and praying he would get to fire off his own.

He covered the kids as the first bullets punched through the waning concrete, drilling holes through which sunlight poked. The dust around them rose as more and more rounds were expended by the machines outside, volleys of automatic fire washing the Spartan's armor in marks, but not puncturing. The children screamed, their voices muffled by their gas masks, but were alive.

When the volleys stopped, the Spartan stood to his feet and aimed his weapons. He called out to them, "Cover your ears!" before opening up on the machines. 7,62 rounds spat out of the muzzle of his MA5, spent casings hitting the bedframe and clinking on the floor. He could hear the impacts of the rounds on the machines' armor, but didn't know if he was doing any damage.

A smaller one jumped through the vines and he focused on it, bullets cutting into the oculus in the center. The smaller machine detonated in a blaze of fire, but the return fire from the enemy forced Sam back down, his arms wrapped around the kids as more and more rounds sparked off the Titanium alloy and composites of the armor. He spoke to the fearful children, "Everything's gonna be okay, just hang on tight, alright?"

He expected hell to rain on them, or a bullet to finally pierce his armor. Or something to break the seal. Anything that so much as noted that he would die within the next few seconds. He had been revived here by something and dropped square in the midst of a combat area. However, much to his surprise, the gunfire ceased. Or, at least, it wasn't focused on him anymore. One of the machines let out a roar, which caused him to pause. He told the kids, "Take cover well enough and stay prone... I'll go check it out."

Despite the kids' protests, he pushed up to the window, pulling aside the curtain of vines, only to see a lone figure standing at the end of the overgrown street. He squinted, his visor polarizing to reveal a woman clad in almost monochrome, strangely revealing clothes, her strange platform shoes clacking against the floor. Her silver hair blew in the wind, auburn eyes glaring at the machines as her hand rested at the base of a sheathed blade attached at her hip by mechanical arms. She grabbed the edge of her strange, white sedge hat with two prongs poking out of the top.

She spoke rather proudly, her accent audible all the way out here, "My, my, my, what hath the devil brought upon mine lands? More of ye, beasts? Hark, what a surprise!" And that last bit was tinged with Sarcasm. She tipped her hat gently, then hummed, "Whom dost thou harm today? What fools dare tread the surface unprotected or under attack...?" as she glared at them.

A ronin, going by the frame and weapons. The purple accentuated the monochromia quite well when he spotted it on the sash holding her strangely cut-down yukata or kimono together. The breast window felt a little unnecessary, much like the revealed shoulders, however. And the poofy hat didn't help her case. She even had light vambraces covering her forearms.

She spoke rather annoyedly, "No answer, then?"

... Before a railgun round burst right past her head. She had tilted it to the right, out of the way of the shot, before commenting, "Now, that's certainly more like ye, old foe!" before she took off her hat and threw it into the sky. The confusion of both the Machines and the Spartan was rather obvious to anyone who dared look, but, for now, the woman could not see it.

She grinned, "Ten..."

Then surged forward... The speed was something awe-inspiring to the Spartan. As his mind adjusted and entered Spartan Time, he saw her move as if she was in Real Time instead, the strength behind each of her well-balanced steps denoting the poise of a well-trained swordsman. With a flick of her wrist, the woman unsheathed what looked like a micron-sharpened blade made of unknown, glowing metals.

The speed with which she moved still betrayed the Spartan's ability to see. The enemy had fired just as she drew the blade, so the bullet caught on the edge of the blade. She mouthed, "Nine..." to herself as she dodged a volley of bullets from the other machines. She slid beneath the tallest of the beasts and sliced at its leg, sending black ooze flowing out onto the street and causing the thing to stumble.

The flourish with which the blade swept upward next only barely masked the grotesque strength behind the strike. A larger creature, though not as large as the two seeming leaders, was split in twain from belly to crest, before the girl dug her heels into the floor to brake, swiveling on her feet and lifting her blade to parry one of the leader Machines' legs.

She slashed downward, cutting it in half, before another quick flick of her wrist began a flurry of strikes against it that rent armor and biomechanical flesh. A death by a thousand cuts if the Spartan didn't know better. It seemed to be meant just to stagger the machine, though. As his mind began perceiving things in real time again, he drew his pistol without a second thought and put several rounds through several smaller machines' eyes to cover her. She turned to the shooter as he jumped over the windowsill, before smiling, "Eight. Good afternoon, sir."

"Hey," He replied, drawing his Assault Rifle. The woman dodged the slam of one of the larger machine-beasts' good feet as he said, "Nice sword skills."

"My thanks," She bowed courteously, before charging forward once more and jumping onto one of the Machines. He opened fire toward the smaller ones, moving to dodge their shots and rolling out of the way of one's beam. He swiveled on his axis and opened fire mid-jump, bullets puncturing the thinner armor of the machines ahead as they tried to charge him.

"Seven..." The woman murmured as she jumped, dodging the bullets from her quarry's comrades. She spun her blade around in her hand, lifted it and put it clean through the oculus, shattering it before she jumped back off the machine, landing in style. She swept with her blade to the right and cut down another smaller Rapture, before turning to the Spartan to see him work. She smiled as she saw him kick down a beast and shoot it to death, before murmuring, "Six..."

Memories of old flashed as blades danced and bullets rang through the rifle's bolt. Of a red blade and black armor. "Five..." She spoke to herself as she moved as if in a trance. Smaller creatures charged her and she cut them down, while her newfound compatriot covered her with gun and fist. She hummed and stabbed behind her, lifting one of the creatures with the tip of her blade, before quickly turning on one heel and slicing diagonally to the left. "Four..." She murmured once more.

Times past talked to her as she joined the man with the rifle, thinking of how she had just recently met and helped someone like him. Said someone had joined her in caring for a nearby garden, a tad wounded, but alive. The blade in her hand glowed red as in her memories for but a moment as she brought it down upon an unwitting healer machine, cutting it into ribbons with multiple, rapid-fire slices. "Three..."

Sam turned about and put rounds into monsters as she watched the woman rush toward the second command unit, which was still alive. She grit her teeth as she sheathed the blade for a moment, dodging past and getting scratched by bullet and missile from it. It braced and aimed all weapons at the woman, who moved with grace, poise and agility not unlike an old friend of Sam's. "Two..." She called out as a glow came to her eyes

The blade moved almost imperceptibly for the Spartan, glowing scarlet as the woman grinned, eyes glowing a faint scarlet as she called out, "One! Begone!" as she cut. Like a limb, a blast of energy extended outward from the blade, burning red with the fury of its user. It, at first, made contact with and cut into metal and biocomponents, before beginning to vaporize them. With one clean, milisecond-precise strike, the woman had vaporized the machine in one swoop. With some flourish, she sheathed the blade, locking it to the magnet in the sheath with a click.

She caught the hat she had thrown into the air and put it back onto her head, cocking it to her right as she had had it when she entered combat, before turning about to the Spartan. Said Spartan stared at her for a moment, his rifle's muzzle pointing at the stained pavement as the rest of the Machines around collapsed. She spoke softly to him, "Now that these foul Tyrants have gone, 'tis a time for proper introductions. Greetings to thee, Armored Warrior... I am named Scarlet and I tread this world's surface, fighting the good fight. Now..." she turned her head gently to the house he'd burst out of, to see the kids, "... Ah, mine eyes see and tell me of why you are here. A most noble endeavor..."

"Thanks... I'm Sam, by the way. Sam-034. A friend..."