Nova 7 - Sunset

by Phantom R.D.S. Foxx

OC focused story. The sequel to Nova 7 - By Bones And Patches. The team has officially been established and made complete with a fifth member. Question is, can this new team stick together as an enemy they thought destroyed crawls out into the light? Rated M for descriptive violence and heavy themes. Featuring Kip Starnova from Minty-Fivestar.

13. Episode 13: Lucky Us

Final Phase

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Episode 13: Lucky Us

1 - Incoming

- Strap In

The doors of the non-existent Armory 3B open up and out steps the brand new Nova 7 team. With their brand new weapons, high-tech gear, extreme confidence, and a healthy, Cornerian vigor to kill that damn Aparoid. During their stride through the many corridors that lead to their Drop pods, they can hear the intercom call up Corporal Munt's team to report for duty. Meaning that they are about to join them in the assault. Meanwhile in their ears, they hear the Major giving some final words of encouragement but they only somewhat register it in the moment.

Many people pass by or stop dead in their tracks as they pass through. It is a rare sight to see people dressed both so radically, both in terms of fashion choices as well as infused with technology that is way beyond their pay grades. They must be some kind of new military project for a cyborg army or something. That and many other rumors are whispered and muttered around before they finally end up in the wing of the ship where there is barely anyone. All they have to do is get across the crossroads and then take a left at the end. As they cross however, at the same time they are seen by Munt and his team as they were coming from the left.

"Holy smokes! Nova 7… did you guys fall into a pile of magnetized scrap iron? What type of get up are you guys wearing?" he wonders while doing his best high school bully impression.

"Oh Munt, I know you're lashing out of jealousy. If only you guys trained as hard as we did, then maybe you could've gotten to run with the grown-ups. Sadly, we no longer have any positions available. Blame my friend here." Trevor responds smugly while holding up his fist, which Phantom bumps in return.

"Last time I met him, he had his head split open in the middle of the Macbeth wasteland."

"And the first time we met you, you were getting your teeth kicked in by Oikonny's rebellious leftovers."

There is a momentary bit of tension which instantly resolves itself when the two stop trying to pretend to impress each other and just burst into laughter, cordial conversation, steady handshakes and full-on hugs. A big battle is coming up and they have to do it together. So it is a good thing that they can all get along. Munt's squad is particularly pleased to see that Kip and Calamity are still a part of the team, despite the bad news they heard. That is before they start gawking at the new gear the Militia's got. And Munt himself can now in person apologize to PAL about the mistreatment he gave him. Which the machine forgives.

"I heard you guys will take our ship. Better be careful with her." Patches states with a raised finger.

Munt is prepared for such a question and he calls forth his piloting team who were tactically hidden behind the wall that his men formed. And out come Cherokee 3-0, with the pilot and the crew chief at the ready.

"Satisfied?" Munt checks.

"Very."

"So, you gentlemen ready for the final push?" Munt then coos.

"Oh don't even bother. We've heard that so many times before." Calamity sighs.

"True, but never in the way he just described it." Kip is quick to correct.

"Fair point. That makes it so much better."

"Right? Sorry Munt, just jesting."

"I know your team's style of humor like the back of my hand."

"Oh really? Wanna meet mine?" Kip asks with a big smile as the armored glove extends from her knuckle duster.

"Wow. Yeah no, I prefer to keep this face intact. I'd be a shame if everyone has to miss this, eh?"

"It's really all he has…" mutters one of his own squad members, barely keeping it together after he is heard by pretty much everyone.

"Some uproar in the ranks?" Calamity asks as she readies her shield.

"I got the proper equipment to quell any riot."

"Thank you for the offer, but I got this." Munt states as he walks backwards without breaking eye contact with her before he is close enough to smack the unruly private on the back of the head.

"See? A soft, corrective tap and we're good again."

"From what religious book did you get that?" Phantom asks, fussing.

"The holy book of knuckle sandwiches. I really recommend it. I believe Kip actually has a feature in it."

"I got plenty of features in a lot of stories, no need to flatter me further." Kip replies, charmed.

"Alright alright, we're deviating into nonsense. We gotta go or else some higher ups will get very angry with us and take our toys away.. Munt, good luck with the mission." Trevor wishes.

"You too man."

The two men then come closer. First to shake hands before they just embrace.

"Don't get killed before we do. Wouldn't look good for your reputation" Munt whispers to him.

"How about you do the same, Corporal?"

"Yes Sir."

The embrace ends naturally and the two salute each other. Followed by those who stand beside and behind them. The hands go down and after some final good luck wishes, each team goes their separate ways. With Patches at the tail end calling out to take good care of their ship or else. For good measure

Now they are again on their way to their destination. And after turning left, they are there. In an empty hallway and with the pods visible through the glass panels. The Drop pod room must be cleared of any personnel with the exception of the passengers. Especially on a mission like this. From very thick, mirrored glass, two technicians guide the team through the preparation procedures, which are akin to those on a rollercoaster. But safety first so they need to go through all the points.

Once the pre-flight checks have all been done, the members stand ready at their designated pods. Trevor goes with Kip as Team 1 to establish an overwatch from the top down, Calamity and Patches as Team 2 will go straight in and cause enough general mayhem for Patches to slip past and sneak into the small crevices, while Phantom has to share his with PAL as Team 3 to get cracking on taking over everything automated and give everyone one step ahead in the fight by pointing out where all the bad guys are. In essence, he is not alone in his pod but still separate from the rest of the team. But he knows why and while it does bother him, he knows that it will be better soon.

As each "team" take their seats and strap themselves in according to the instructions given, which is harder than it was described because of the rather cramped interior. But eventually everyone is seated and ready for action. The technicians tell them that the launch will occur the moment they get the green light from the Admiral. So that will be a moment.

"So…" coos Kip.

"Finally a mission all to ourselves. Been a while, huh?"

"Oh. Yeah, now that you mention it. It is quite nostalgic. Let's show the others what tricks we still have up our sleeves."

"Yes we will!"

- Internal Affairs

"They are coming." says the only man that was left unnamed at the table as he stares out into the vast distance of space, possibly meeting a gaze of someone on one of those Cornerian ships in the closer distance.

He has not seen any movement in the ships or anything that would indicate that they have opened fire. Not that they would be close enough to do so. Otherwise he would have already been obliterated. A control room is a very valuable target after all. So not to draw any attention, he keeps his words and voice soft so only he can hear it.

The last loyal man to Star Wolf's stay here. Before those other vultures took over, Miles included. He is left alive; too useful, as he knows how all the systems that run the base function. Too stubborn to teach anyone else, too strong to remove, but not strong enough to have the lion share of the territory. Plus, he is on Alvarez' good side so he is safe in that regard. Not that he ever counted himself as truly safe. He has seen too many fools like that. Who burned bright and died quickly. And he can feel the snuffer come closer to his pilot light.

The doors behind him open horizontally and Miles enters. He seems very panicked and desperate, his hair completely out of shape and his belt is undone. So either something was not agreeing with his stomach just moments before he barged in, or he had a panic attack. He spots the unnamed man still looking out of the windows, who barely looked back over his shoulder when the doors opened. Nevermind when it was Miles coming in.

"You! Did you see them? They are coming!" Miles rambles as drags himself towards him.

There is no vocal response, just a long sigh as he jams his nails into his own skin to keep his emotions down. It is better he does not speak on something a madman blurted out.

"Did you not hear me!? They are coming, I know it for sure!"

"Who is… "they"? Miles?"

"Oh screw off! You know exactly who I am talking about!"

"I see you've lost your contractions. Welcome back, Miles. Now I believe you know who you're talking about. But I'm afraid… they are already here."

He lifts his finger and points right at Miles.

"Standing just right there. Yes, I saw them. Meteorites. I'm well aware of their presence." he says calmly before lowering his finger and hand and turning away to look out of the window once more.

"What are you… talking about? Nevermind that, they are coming! Those are not meteorites! Those are those that come to kill me! See!?" the Miles Hybrid shouts as he points at the nearby radar screen while only keeping up appearances for the rest present.

"Didn't you say there was only their vanguard coming for you? Those are multiple bogey's of various sizes. That indicates meteorites. I know you're worried, but we'll keep an eye open for those that hunt you. After all, that is why you're here. Isn't it?"

A small smirk escapes his wrinkled, old concrete face before he turns around fully and demands that the meteorite defense screen is to be set up. An order is followed as the defensive guns are retracted and replaced with special pushers that emit a strong force to repel those space rocks. However, to turn them on, they require his permission.

"What? No! Turn those guns back on! That is the Cornerian Army coming this way! You fools! Turn it back on!"

His screaming has an intimidating effect on the personnel sitting at the desks. And some are indeed going to turn it back around. However, the unnamed man puts a stop to it. Not by shouting a counterorder, but simply by putting his hand over the button that reactivates the guns on a console close to him. This effectively stops everyone else from trying the same thing.

"Everyone of you. Leave. Get out of here. Avoid everyone else but our own." he states, while on that same console he makes sure to reserve all escape pods for those with a special numerical code.

Everyone obeys this command and runs out of the room. While Miles demands them to stay by screaming and threatening incoherently until the doors close and the personnel is now out of earshot. The unnamed man then turns back around to look out of the window while Miles turns to him. His face smolders and then starts contorting in unnatural ways as the Aparoid inside of him no longer has to hide.

"And there is the imposter. I knew it wasn't you, Miles. You died. I never liked you but at the very least, I never wanted this for you."

"How very noble of you. I never got your name, did I?" the Miles Hybrid asks, with a low, distant and a progressively more glitchy voice.

"I never gave you mine." the man replies as he subtly reaches for his four-barreled pocket pistol hidden inside the inner pocket of his suit.

And in the ensuing silence, he grabs a hold of the grip, pulls it out and shoots the Miles Hybrid three times in the chest area and one time right in the forehead, just left of straight between the eyes. Four barrels are left smoking and the Miles Hybrid stumbles backwards as dark, purple blood pours out of the wounds. There is disbelief with the Hybrid, which soon turns into a maniacal laughter as the blood is sucked back in and the wounds are covered over by purple scales before they project bare skin and fur like an advanced chameleon.

The man is bothered by this but he saw this coming. A monster like this cannot be killed by four shots alone. But one must know when to admit defeat in the face of an enemy one cannot kill. Who wants to kill you. He turns back to the window to await his demise. Then the old, tired eyes spot the escape pods flying away with his people on it. This brings a smile to his face. The smile does not disappear when he sees exactly what that Miles monster meant. Multiple bogeys. Smart move, to make themselves look like meteorites. Better them taking over this old joint than whatever creature is standing next to him.

He stands straight and takes a deep breath as the Miles Hybrid morphs its hand into a massive blade and is coming closer. But for fear he has no room. What is coming, is coming. He delayed it long enough to see both the preservation of his hard work and the coming of the new owners. Sure, they will paint the wall with plenty of red. But it is not like he is about to do the same to the window in front of him.

It is done rather quickly. He can just about see the tip of the blade pierce through his ribs before the light goes out. All of the breath he had inhaled is forced out through his quivering lips. Muscles tense up one last time and his heart beats its last. And with one final push, the blade slides all the way through and sprays the window with blood. The Hybrid is not done however, as he cuts all the way down until the man's corpse has been practically cut diagonally in half. The blood on the blade is absorbed before it turns back into a normal hand. Then the Hybrid approaches one of the stations and calls Alvarez on the radio to tell him that they have been betrayed and that all the tech personnel have fled. Which means that they have to activate his order.

- Knocking Is Overrated

A few minutes before…

"3… 2… 1… Ignition! Drop 1, away. Drop 2, away. Drop 3, away. Thank you for using Deck 31 as your Drop pod launch site. Pleasant flight and we hope to see you again soon." is the message given as the drop pods are launched one after the other.

The pod's boosters activate and with the built-in guidance system, they are guided towards their target. They themselves have no control over where they are going and are always going forward. Although they can move in any direction they please in order to avoid potential gunfire, but they will be on a rail throughout the whole flight until they smash into the walls. However, they do not have much to avoid. As the space station is coming closer, its defensive guns even retract.

"That's strange. I figured we weren't welcome." Trevor mentions.

"Maybe Munt is ahead of us?"

"Now that would be something, wouldn't it Kip?" Munt sarcastically calls in as Nova 7's ship comes flying next to them.

"Fancy saying you two, come here often?"

"I half expected you to ask whether or not we liked jazz…"

"Oh Sergeant, you hurt my heart! You really think I'd stoop that low? I expected more of you."

"Then hear this Corporal; Nova 7! Ready yourselves! Steady your nerves until they are hard as steel. Then use that steel to pierce our enemies' hearts! Anyone that stands in our way to squash that nasty bug, is considered to be one. Stomp, punch, bash or shoot; whatever you wish. Kill them all, leave none alive. Nova 7! Forever!"

"Forever!" is chanted right back.

Then there is a moment of silence on the radio before Munt comes back on it.

"You know, showing off like that is a sign you're trying to compensate for something."

Calamity giggles in response, correcting his wrong statement. As much Trevor enjoys it however, he calls for focus. It is time to rid the universe of that disgusting creature. And for those in the pods to hold on; the target is getting closer. Cherokee in turn diverts away and flies towards the entrance. And the pods themselves separate from one another as well as each goes to their intended target.

"Brace!" Trevor shouts over his shoulder to Kip just before the pod he is in slams its way through the exterior.

The impact would be life-ending if it were not for the strong straps that keep them in place. They tighten properly to keep them still, especially around the head area. As the last thing the designer wanted was for the head to act like a bobble-head or decapitate the occupant.

Now that they have barged their way in, the straps automatically pull away and the cylindrical door at the front opens. Trevor is the first to crawl out and Kip follows shortly after when Trevor's chair slides down into the frame so she can exit without any hassle. As she tumbles out all tactical like, she can already hear the deadly bark of Trevor's revolver blowing chunks out of two unfortunate ape soldiers we were knocked away by their entrance. With her own secondary weapon in hand, she joins in with the fun by introducing the third one to two barrels of her new laser buckshot. What remains of his torso falls to the ground along with the rest of his lifeless corpse.

"Meaty. Nice. You all good?" Trevor checks.

"I may have left some teeth on the ship." she replies humorously.

"Noted. As long as you can fire your weapon. Team 2 and 3, report in."

"This is Team 2, we have secured our landing. We had some opposition but we almost took care of all of them." Patches reports.

"Almost?"

For a moment, the sound of a panicked plea for mercy is heard before the bottom of Calamity's shield is used as a chisel to split the ape soldier's head in twine.

"Now we took care of all of them."

"That sounded like squashing rotten fruit. If I were Rook, I'd be so ticked off right now."

"Don't use his name in vain, Kip. Remember what he did for us." Trevor tries to say with sincerity but he cannot help but chuckle at the end.

"Team 3?"

"Yeah uhm… I think I missed the party. Our pod crashed into the control room but everything was already torn up. Terminals, consoles, the whole lot. And we found the bloody, now smeared-all-over remains of just one person." Phantom reports a little disappointed he could not find any targets himself.

"That's strange. But focus on the mission. Take over everything."

"No need to remind me Sarge; PAL is already tapping into everything. And he doesn't need a keyboard to operate it at all. I can at least report that our entrance went unnoticed so far. No alarms have been sounded."

"Good, let me know when you cracked it." Trevor orders while he mouths to Kip to set up her SAW rifle on the edge of the platform they are on.

"Patch, find yourself a sneaky way through and Cal, just go absolutely ham. We'll cover you for above. Speaking of which; Cherokee 3-0, have you brought our present?"

"Patience please, Sergeant. Gosh, if you are this persistent waiting for your present now, I'd hate to see how you are around Christmas." she snarks back as the pilot makes a sharp turn to the left to enter through the red protective screen.

"Insufferable." Calamity answers.

"Cal! Come on, you're supposed to be on my side in this." Trevor complains as he sets up his sniper rifle on the other side of the platform so that they can cover both sides.

All she can do is chuckle and promise to be better. And Trevor accepts this apology. Then Cherokee starts firing the onboard weapons at the protective screen that prevents them from getting in. After a few good shots, the screen gives way. Which causes the vacuum of space to be allowed inside, which pulls in a lot of helpless soldiers and a lot of parked ships. A good way to make room but to also trigger every alarm there is on base.

Cherokee 3-0 lands Nova 7's ship just after the screen reactivates and everything is back to normal again. The doors open up and from the ramp Munt and his team pour out to meet those still left. Because they surely are not standing anymore after that. And while they open fire, Team 1 has had the privilege to watch this effective if unorthodox method of entering an enemy base.

He compliments Munt and Cherokee of the lovely show before turning back to this team. Complimenting all of them as well on the approach but stating that this is only the start. Now it is time to find and kill that bug.

Meanwhile, on the lower levels, Patches has found a vent she can crawl into. However, the door in the distance ahead of them opens and a lot of armed soldiers are coming in. Calamity therefore helps her friend up into it and once she is safely in, does she deploy her shield and puts her shotgun in its indentation.

"Bring it!" she shouts, whereupon all of the soldiers open up.

As those ape soldiers hold down the triggers down there, so does Kip as she rains hell down upon those that managed to escape Munt's team. And Trevor picks off those that managed to escape both. Ensuring total confusion for those on the ground floor and a breakdown of morale for many. Even for some of the hardened gangsters, this is too much. No cover is effective and nowhere are they safe. To add insult to the killing, PAL has managed to infiltrate all of the systems. And he has a message prior to some blaring alarms to catch everyone's attention.

"Attention! This announcement system is now under Cornerian Military control. You are in the service of a leadership that is in cooperation with a filthy Aparoid. The last of its dangerous ilk. You may know him as one Miles Joinville. But he is not Miles. Nor is he a person. It is a filthy Aparoid! You have been warned; surrender now or be killed as a traitor to Lylat and as a co-conspirator to a genocidal bug. We will not warn you again."

2 - The Thick Of It

- Predatory Reminder

She wishes she had these boots working properly way earlier. It would have made trying to climb up vertical vents so much easier now that they can literally stick to anything. And those gloves are a blessing too. At least now she can spare her stamina for more useful things. Like keeping the good mood going. Which is helped by the sounds of gunfire she can hear in the distance as they echo throughout the space station. It seems not that not a lot of people took PAL's warning to heart. Quite a bad move all things considered. Then again, some people only learn it the heart way.

In her earpiece she can occasionally hear one of her teammates say something. From Trevor she hears him counting every head he pops. It is slow but precise. Although there is one misser in there so the expletive uttered makes sense. She almost wants to correct him on his use of foul language but she lets it be. For this one time.

From Phantom, she hears an unsettling whistle which reminds her of a slasher movie where the psychotic killer was coming closer and closer to gut his hapless victim with a knife. And now that she thinks about it, she could not think of a more apt description for that white-furred nutcase. At least he is still on her side.

From Kip she hears nothing except for the rattling gunfire of her weapon. Occasionally there is a sniff or a grunt, especially when someone dares to fire back at her. She can practically hear her ears fall back and her teeth gnash before the culprit has been showered with fully automatic death. She would not have expected anything else.

And finally from Calamity she hears nothing surprising. She is in the thick of it and loving it through and through. The screams of her victims are only drowned out by the crack of her shotgun unleashing red hot, spread-out death or the loud clang of her shield smacking someone's teeth out of their mouth. Godspeed and spread fear and terror, Boogeywoman.

While she was thinking and listening, she still kept her eyes open and did lose track of where she was going; the internal security room. Every guard in this base will likely be going there to get a weapon. And those inside will do anything in their power to try and get in the way of PAL's interference. Better to remove those nuisances.

She finds out however that the vent she is in does not lead to anywhere close to the security room. She can see it through the grate but it is on the other side of the hallway. Meaning that she has to get there on foot for the remainder of her run. Out in the open she is not useless but she would rather not have any attention directed at her. Just to be sure, she screws on the silencer on both her pistols and puts the laser ammunition in them. Before removing the grate so she can get out of the vent.

Just before hopping out, she activates the silent mode. And like it was advertised, landing on the floor makes absolutely no noise. She thinks it is very impressive and has to give it to Nelson; this is some really good stuff. Right now she is very tempted to use that ice skate ability but she has to remain professional. Despite the hallway being devoid of any obstacles for now.

"This is 7-2, I got the security room in sight. No sign of any enemies yet." Patches reports.

"Copy that, Patch. Proceed and terminate all unknowns." Trevor replies, to which she activates the CIW system.

The stocks on her pistols removed themselves from their holders and clamp around her wrist. Tightly but comfortably. And now she is locked in until she turns it off. Then she proceeds forward, slightly hunched over and on alert for anything. She has her screen down so she can keep an eye out on the battery life of her various upgrades. Not that is particularly necessary considering they are full but it is nice to have.

Then she hears voices and footsteps coming near. They are clearly in a hurry and judging by the tone in their voices, very panicked. One claiming he needs more ammo while the other verbally dresses the other down as she should be happy she still has a gun left that was not cut in two by a Cornerian projectile. Which left a nasty burn wound on the palm of her hand as well.

"Poor thing." Patches whispers to herself sarcastically, as those two are about to get more than just a boo-boo on the hand.

She puts herself against the left wall so that she is not immediately visible from peripheral vision. However, she hears more voices coming but from the opposite end. And they are both feminine and masculine voices. Which gives her the excuse to use the other upgrade to her boots. The silent ones worked, better hope that the Spider-mode works just as well.

A few moments later, the female base soldiers have arrived at the door of the security room but they find it closed. And they are actively denied access because they are under attack by those inside, who are clearly shell shocked by everything that is happening. The other soldiers start approaching too and when they learn about the situation, they get very angry. With fists pounding at the door, they demand to be let in. Which works counterproductive as those inside cower away even more now.

Patches almost has sympathy for them. Almost. However, as she observes this from her upside down position, there are more pressing matters. She had to turn off the CIW on her left hand so she could stick to the ceiling easier but the right hand still has it turned on. And her orders were clear; terminate all unknowns. She takes aim at the one with the wounded hand and makes her whining stop forever. Four shots later and the others drop dead as well.

From inside the security room, one curious person looks through the bulletproof window to see what is going on. He heard a lot of screaming before suddenly it all went to confusion, then to blood staining the window and now silence. And as the terrified, shivering eyes look outside, he can see that from the ceiling the killer droops down. Gracefully yet terrifyingly so as the moment this soldier stands upright, she reaches for her second gun again and then comes walking over. Like a sentry gun, the pistol held in her left hand instantly snapped onto his head. The laser sight underneath it is blinding.

And now she stands at the door, stepping over or pushing aside the bodies of the soldiers. Unlike the big bad wolf, she does not threaten to huff, puff and blow the door down. She pulls the trigger on the man behind the glass and it leaves a massive crack in the window. It makes the man recoil in fear while Patches maintains eye contact with the desperate ape. She continues to fire at the same spot, as the cracks grow larger and larger. Meanwhile gesturing with the other hand to open up. Or else.

Not having much choice and corrupted by fear, one of the others opens up the door for her. The gunfire stops as she marches in. Everyone inside is piss-terrified of her, some perhaps literally. And judging by their attire, these people are not part of the gangs in this place. Not even like any type of security guard. They are dressed for the office, completely business casual. White button-up shirts galore with stylish yet practical pants. These are civilian contractors. Or at least civilians in some capacity. Four males, one female. And they are very much out of their depth here.

"A-are y-you…?" one tries to utter before Patches instinctively snaps towards him and nearly puts the silencer on her pistol practically through his nose.

"What is your name?" she asks, ready to pull the trigger at any moment.

"Wha… Raymond… please don't kill us!" he squeaks as he tries to cover as much of his body as possible.

"And the rest of you?" Patches asks, as the rest give their names.

She sighs, turns off her CIW and lowers her pistols.

"Then you are no longer unknowns. Close that door behind us; you're working with me now. And for your information; yes, I am military. Cornerian Army. Call me Ms. Patches." she introduces herself as she holsters her pistols and reaches her hand out to Raymond.

At first, Raymond is very hesitant but seeing that she puts her pistols away, he takes her hand. Before he knows it, he is back on his feet as Patches almost picks him up one-handed. After briefly recovering from everything that just happened, Raymond closes the door to the security room and Patches puts the rest of the team to work. After which, she promises that she would let them go so that they can get out of here. But first, it seems that the goons in here require a reminder who is the apex predator around here.

"7-2 here. I have secured the security room. I found it occupied by innocent civilians who were forcibly co-opted into this operation. Minimal resistance was encountered by the enemy; they have been dealt with." she reports as she looks at her new coworkers while explaining this lie to Trevor.

She would prefer not to shoot them as accomplices to these bastards. Trevor, not knowing anything else, commends her for her work. He also tells her that the civilians could be very useful in aiding their operations.

"Great minds think alike, Sergeant. I'll see what we can do. In the meantime: let me make PAL get all of this." she replies as she puts the dongle into the console's access port.

"PAL, take it away. This system you are allowed to take over."

"Sarcasm detected. Be careful Specialist; you are starting to sound like the Sergeant more and more."

"Are you saying that is a bad thing?"

"Not in the slightest. But you have no need for imitation."

"Is that a compliment I'm detecting there?"

"You would be correct."

"Again, I can see why they call you Specialist." Phantom chuckles.

Patches rolls her eyes and warns that another snarky comment will result in her actually spin kicking his jaw off. Then Trevor silences the children and tells them all to play nice before telling Phantom to reinforce Calamity as she is currently pinned down by an amount of enemies that is just too much for her to deal with.

"Copy, moving out to 7-4's position. PAL, hold down the fort while I'm gone."

"Understood." PAL replies as he activates his new weaponry and turns himself into a floating gun turret.

"7-2, remain at your current position and have PAL assist you in finding Miles Joinville. Or whatever the hell he is now. 7-1, out!"

Patches turns and rallies those around her to help her with what needs to be done. She also reminds them that no matter what their reasons were for being here, they were here because they were forced to. No other reason. And she makes sure that each of them swears that they will tell that story and nothing else.

"Good. Then let's work for your redemption. PAL, assist our new assets with finding that bastard. I reckon you got complete control now?"

"Affirmative. They are not taking this away from me anymore. I have spotted several emergency lifepods still available. Shall I transmit their location to our new assets?"

"Go ahead. I think they deserve that at the very least."

Within a second, every civilian gets a message on their phone with detailed instructions on how to reach the remaining lifepods before anyone else. They are in awe and grateful, if a little startled at how easy it was for someone they do not know to send them some exacting information based on their exact galactic coordinates. Which also updates whenever they take a step in any direction for the extra creep factor.

However, they must focus on finding this guy that bunny soldier wants them to find. And they are all too happy to. It is much better than serving that man. It does not take long before they have found him as he is being escorted through the hallways to the same lifepods. His appearance confuses PAL as he looks perfectly normal. Which should not be the case. But then he notices something on his suit.

"Found him!" exclaims Raymond as Patches comes over to take a look.

"Excellent. PAL, any guns around him?"

"Negative. But I have a better idea."

Before anyone can even blink, the door in front of Miles' escort is shut and will no longer open. No matter what code is being put in or how much damage a rifle butt will do to the numeric keypad. The escort realizes they cannot go any further and find a way around.

"Which is exactly what I was hoping for." PAL states.

With the flick of an unseen switch, the intercom is turned on in that particular portion of the hallway. It starts with a beep, like a flatlining heart monitor. Before PAL's own spiteful voice graces the audio channels.

"Hello there, vile scum. I know what you are. And I know you know what I am. You see me as the ultimate prize. The infinite potential. To be used as your pawn. But you have failed to trick me. Because I have something you could never attain; trust. You are not the apex predator here; I am. I control your vessel and I control your fate. This is not a warning, this is a reminder."

The door behind them then opens, allowing them to escape. With PAL taunting them to run for their lives if they wish to continue breathing for a little while longer.

"Sergeant Trevor, come in."

- Run Miles, Run!

A few minutes before…

A shot that the target would never hear later, Trevor can add another one to the LCD counter. The front line that the enemy had hastily set up has crumbled completely which allowed Munt's team to break out and take most of the ground floor. All that is left is the executive elevator that is protected extensively. To an almost zealot-like degree. And Munt could use some help with them.

From Trevor's position, he cannot see them however. And given that Kip is still suppressing and taking care of those fleeing to secondary positions on the elevated levels, she cannot be moved at the moment. Phantom and Calamity are likely too engaged and not close enough to begin with.

"Kip, I'm moving to a better position to assist Munt. Keep doing what you do best." Trevor reports as he stands up and reloads his sniper.

"Always do." she replies short but sweet before Trevor goes over the catwalk to reach the elevator from above.

Once there, he sees what Munt meant. Those guys brought out the big guns. A large stack of grenades and some old combat mech suits that have definitely seen better days as well as a blaster turret that looks like it is held together with spit and a prayer. However, despite the state of those weapons, their firepower is nothing to scoff at. Munt and some of his team are in good cover but advancing means entering into a scrap yard-like killzone.

"Munt, I'm above you. Going for the grenade throwers first. Keep your heads down." Trevor states as he does not use his sniper for this one.

Instead, he grabs his revolver and goes for the use of his new underbarrel slug launcher underneath the barrel. Then he asks PAL to guide his shot so it hits right into the bottom side of that big bundle of potential explosive spectacle. And the A.I. is more than happy to help as he gives Trevor's exacting instructions on elevation and direction. Only once it is perfect, does PAL state that he is clear to fire.

With a satisfying thump sound effect, the slug is launched. It sizzles and smokes like a flying ground bloom flower as the chemical reaction starts to trigger. Leaving a tracer trail of green-yellowish light as it arcs down and lands right on the stack's edge facing Munt's team. As was the intention. Soon enough, the heat and the corrosive nature of the slug starts to ignite with the explosives. One by one, the grenades start to glow red before one explodes. Causing a fiery chain reaction that tears through the entire supply as it spreads out like a water spray towards the enemies that used them. The ignited grenades then go everywhere away from Munt's position and detonate all over the place around the enemy. A chaotic display of smoke and fire ensues. Screaming and panic goes hand in hand with flying bodies, limbs, torn armor plates and gun barrels.

Once the smoke clears, all the zealots have been killed and all the machinery has been reduced to scrap. Those that are still alive somehow, use the smart option and surrender.

"Thanks for the assist, Sergeant! I'll report that we cleared the ground floor." Munt reports.

"Don't mention it." Trevor answers while reloading the slug.

Then PAL contacts him, stating that they have found Miles and that he has been redirected to come into Trevor's sights soon enough. In response, he holsters his revolver and takes position with his sniper rifle.

"Sergeant, may I suggest something?"

"Go ahead PAL. Speak your mind."

"I noticed that Miles looks different. He looks "whole", so to say. No deformities in the face whatsoever. That is how he managed to fool everyone into believing he was still alive and Miles. Not an Aparoid monstrosity."

"You think he's using make-up?"

"Doubtful that cosmetics can do so much. No, he is using a holographic imager hidden in a pin he is wearing on his clothing. Shoot that pin and his hideous identity will be revealed to all. Then all will realize that my warning was not merely an attempt to subvert their morale." PAL explains.

"Interesting. However, how is defacing going to help us?"

"We are not the only ones with a seething hatred for Aparoids. Those around him will likely turn on him upon noticing."

Trevor likes this idea. It saves him ammunition and it would be a huge blow for the Hybrid's ego. If it even has something like that. At least it would see its plan go up in flame and a hail of gunfire. But first things first.

"7-1 to 7-0, we have located Miles. He'll be walking into my sights soon enough."

"Copy that, Trevor. The Major and the Lieutenant are here with me. We're looking forward to it." Nelson replies as the Major steps next to him and takes over the radio for a while.

"Sergeant Trevor. 1. That's all."

Then the Major steps away and returns to his previous position. It leaves Trevor speechless for a moment before he then smiles and acknowledges the order given. How that mutt found it appropriate to use the kill/spare code that he and Patches came up with is anyone's guess. But soon enough, Trevor no longer has to worry about that thought bothering him. As the first portion of Miles' security team comes in. Along with the entire set of kingpins as they are likely ready to get out of here to save their own criminal asses.

"Sorry, PAL. It seems no unmasking this time. 7-0, how about the others surrounding Miles?"

"Secondary priority. Focus on Miles."

"Copy. Taking the shot." Trevor relays as he puts the crosshairs of his scope over Miles' black void where presumably at some point there was a heart.

Then he follows along how fast he is walking to make sure that the projectile hits precisely where it needs to after some elapsed time. He also has to take into account that he is firing from an elevated position. But once he is confident in his shot, he declines PAL's assistance. Arcing a slug or a rifle grenade is more difficult for him but sniping is practically his second nature. He does this one on instinct. The laser is in the chamber, his field of view is clear and he deafens himself to everything around him. He exhales fully until all of the air has been emptied from his lungs as his trigger finger curls around and deliberately presses the trigger back. The laser shot is activated and silent death spouts from his barrel with suppressed bombast.

- Shield

A few minutes before…

Putting all of one's eggs into one basket is quite a risky move. Relying on just one thing to get you ahead in life. And although she is not progressing at all, she is alive thanks to it. That shield she trusts with preserving her life has done an amazing job so far. It has tanked several hundred shots already and it is still going. It is sufficiently battle-scarred but still going. Reflecting the tenacity of its user perfectly.

As blaster bolt after blaster bolt ricochets off, she returns deadly shotgun fire using her new semi-automatic firepower. And because she now no longer has to pump after every shot, she can dispatch those standing against her much easier.

Her tactic was simple: she moves forward with her shield drawn and shotgun in one hand. The moment she spots any enemy coming her way, she plants herself down and guns them down while she stays behind the safety of her shield. Anyone brave or capable enough to come close enough? Then pick the shield back up and use it to bash them away. Once they are on their ass and with a searing headache, she administers the ultimate painkiller. When the coast is clear, she moves on.

Some of the enemies faced required the use of her assault rifle, especially when they were not in the range of her shotgun and were quite well dug-in. Thanks to her CID, she could still aim decently well whilst keeping her shield up while moving. Staying crouched to protect her feet. And then when she got close enough, she would toss a grenade into their midst's and enjoy the shower of fire and shrapnel. After which the guns firing at her would be mysteriously silenced.

While this tactic had proved very effective thus far, now she has run into some particularly hardy enemies. Not only because they keep their distance, but also because the volume of fire and the firepower itself is enough to beat her back if she attempts to walk forward. Several of them have machine guns with large magazines and they have some bigger, almost turret-like structures set up. Forcing her to make a stand on her shield until Phantom comes to back her up. She does not care who is coming really, as long as somebody is; she has expended her grenades already and she did not bring enough ammo for her assault rifle.

As she thinks about that eggs comparison, she finds that some cheeky goon had thrown a live grenade her way as it rolls up next to her. Or maybe he had lost it. Like kids playing football in the street and someone accidentally kicked it out of bounds. Better return it then, otherwise they would be very sad to have lost their ball. She finds some momentary joy in this as she now has another throwable explosive.

Calamity picks it up and tosses it right back. By this point, the timed fuse on the grenade had already reached the critical mass. And before the original thrower could even comprehend what just happened, the grenade hits the ground, bounced back up and then detonates in the air. And it takes out most of the unarmored opponents. But the turrets are still a problem.

Another grenade is being readied, but this one is being cooked to make sure that when it hits the ground next to her, it will detonate right away. She sees this happening and has to move away. But at that moment, the mechanism that pulls back the spikes that plant her to the ground starts to fail. Or it hiccups as Nelson described it. Which is a terrible description in her current predicament.

"Shit!" she shouts in pure frustration as she ponders the thought of leaving her shield behind to leg it, risking getting shot in the back.

However, another pair of eyes sees this and is determined not to let that happen at all. Out of nothing, Phantom's scout sniper appears held by his invisible hands and as his unseen eye aims the red dot of his sight over the cooking target. One quick shot later and suddenly the target finds themselves without any feeling left in the hand they were holding the grenade with. Courtesy of it no longer being attached to the limb itself. Before the goon has any other reaction than the initial shock and pain of having lost his hand, the grenade blows away everything that was left intact of him.

Two silent shots later and the operators of the turrets are done as well. And as the smoke itself clears away, the coast is clear. So Phantom decloaks and greets Calamity.

"I hope I wasn't that late. Good to see you're still intact."

"Same to you. Thanks for the hand." she jokes but Phantom does not seem to get it.

"You know? Like lending a hand? And you shot that guy's hand off?"

Now Phantom gets it but the joke is no longer funny now that she had to explain it.

"I can be funny with you too. Not everything has to be dead serious."

"True true. I just didn't expect it from you to… ah nevermind. You're right. And who knows? Maybe your next joke will actually be funny and not blow chunks."

Calamity is positively surprised by Phantom's maturity by holding back some deprecating comment. At first however, but then he turns the pun around on her. And she does not need an explanation to know what made his one funny.

"Clever." she chuckles.

"Oh my stars… for a real second, I thought you had matured a little more. Turns out, you looked at my Trevor for inspiration."

"What can I say? The Sergeant has always been an example to look up to. Unless of course you are standing in front of him, then the both of us have to look down at him."

Calamity feels a little ashamed that she laughs at that but it is the perfect tension breaker as she stands up from her crouched position. And now the mechanism works properly and she is able to get the shield off the ground. Phantom states in turn that he can understand Calamity's frustration with things not working out very well as they were intended to work.

Two shots then ring out coming from his right and he crouches right away. But he was not the target; instead he sees Calamity fall down onto the ground in pain. She was standing sideways from the perspective of the shooter and the bastards managed to hit her right in the head. However, the CID head-section took most of the punishment as the left side of the strap was shattered. The other shot was more damaging as it took a good portion of flesh on her left shoulder away. She has an intense headache now and a bleeding arm.

Seeing this before his very eyes, one of which starts twitching, Phantom's face snaps to the direction where the bastard was firing from. It is a downed soldier, wounded by the blast but still capable of holding up his pistol, which is now empty. Although he keeps pulling the trigger in vain.

The twitching eye however is only the start. How dare this bastard even point that gun in both his and her direction? How dare this dirtbag hurt his friend's fiancée? It seems someone needs to be taught a lesson. Just like all the others that hurt the people he is with. A lesson that they will take to their graves.

He takes a hit of oxygen and pulls out his knife as he approaches the culprit. Who soon enough spots him and his eyes widen as he sees a manically smiling fox come closer to him openly brandishing a knife. He tries to crawl away on his back but that only triggers Phantom's murderous, predatory instinct even more as he starts sprinting right at him.

The poor man tries to get up but can only sit upright before Phantom is already on top of him. With one swift slash, he cuts from shoulder to shoulder. Then diagonally down to about his kidneys where he proceeds to stab the blade right through the skin before cutting it all the way to the other side again. Then he grabs him by the hair so the neck is revealed and he goes for the final stab at the back of the neck.

He can hardly enjoy his work before he can one of the other wounded reach for her own sidearm. The distance between them is somewhat big for him to lunge at her without getting shot, so he removes the blade from the in the meantime deceased goon's body and throws it right into the left shoulder of the other.

The woman cries out and falls back down from the force and the pain. It takes her a while to get her bearings again but by that point Phantom has already gotten close enough. He pounces on top of her and punches her right in the face to make sure she cannot react properly at all. Then he pulls the knife out of her shoulder and grabs her by the hair to pull her up. But not to reveal the neck. Instead, he goes for something more personal. She wanted to kill him. Eye for an eye is therefore the only suitable response.

Without a second thought, he stabs the knife straight into her left eye. The maniacal, toothy grin is the last thing this eye sees. The woman shrieks in panic and pain as her arms fling wildly and try to get him to remove the knife. But instead, Phantom twists it like he is twirling spaghetti before finally pulling it out. With eye and all. The shrieking stops and death rattle follows before she falls down on the ground lifelessly.

As he holds up the blade, he can see that reinforcements have arrived in the meantime. However, those reinforcements just saw the whole thing happening and are rather petrified. A sign of weakness again. Phantom takes another sniff of his oxygen tank as his bloodlust returns.

"I spy, I spy…" he speaks, sounding as deranged as possible while at the same time he turns his active camouflage on.

"... with my little eye." then sounds not only from his mouth but also the sound systems around them.

The blade with the eyeball skewered on it is the last thing they see before Phantom honors his own name.

- Mask Off

At important moments or events, time seems to slow down a lot. The nerves, the tension. Wanting things to go right. That always present, annoying feeling that gnaws at one's sense of security that something might go wrong. In the end, one has to go with the flow. Whatever happens, happens.

In this case, the event is Trevor's shot right at Miles. And the amount of time is barely a second. But the eye is capable of perceiving that moment in a very detailed fashion as it looks through the scope. It sees the trail of the projectile and the slight drop-off after some distance. And then it brings relief when it strikes the target exactly as intended. It enters through the lower portion of the right shoulder blade, through several of the back ribs and then straight through the heart before it exits the body just below the left armpit.

One second Miles is standing upright and running. The next a grunt of pain is uttered before he collapses. The pin on his suit striking the ground first and shattering before the rest of the body crushes it beneath its weight.

And there he lies, motionless. Discovered mere moments later by those he was being escorted with. They cry out his name but there is no response. Trevor therefore confirms the kill with 7-0 and after that with everybody else.

"Rendezvous at Point Alpha; we are done here."

However, as he and Kip arise from their prone positions, PAL comes over the radio and states that Miles is not dead. In fact, he is very much alive according to his heat signatures. He is positively boiling in fact. Almost as if a ton of small, little bugs are swarming within, going very, very fast. And as Alvarez and the rest of the gang leaders come closer in one final attempt to wake Miles up, he wakes up as something else entirely.

The sounds of bones breaking and muscles snapping is audible as Miles' arms contort at the wrist as he places his hands on the ground facing inwards. The skin rips open and the nasty fracture of both the radius and the ulna is visible to all with eyes on this scene. Along with the blood splatter that comes with it.

The horror does not stop there however, as by using its hands as support, it lifts up its back forming a bridge. The feet soon follow that dour action the hands took before and its back begins to violently shake and rotate. Like something is being centrifuged inside. Then the neck twists and makes a full rotation around the non-existent axle. Snapping veins, nerves and spinal connections alike. All of the off-putting actions that Miles' body takes seemingly on its own are now so common, that it almost starts to sound like popping bubble wrap. However, this does not tone down the horror of seeing it in any way. Especially not with the horrifically corrupted noises that come from what remains of his vocal chords. A lower than low, hollow screeching moan escapes before Miles' body stands right up.

"Disregard my last; Miles is dead, but the Aparoid lives." Trevor then reports as gets back to this prone position and tries going for the head this time.

As he puts the crosshairs over the Aparoid's skinsuit, it is clear to everything that this is not Miles and has never been him. The pin has been destroyed and it can no longer hide the disfigurement in the face. If the disfigurement everywhere else was not already an indicator that this thing is no longer a person.

"M-Miles…?" Alvarez stutters as he is the only one to step forward to reach out a somewhat helping hand while the rest either try to stop him or flee in terror.

His guards try to do the same as well but whatever Miles is now does seem to respond. The leftover neck bones crackling like a campfire when the face is turned towards Alvarez. And a forced, wholly unnatural smile appears.

"Are you okay? S-someone! Get a medic here!"

"Alvarez! Are you mad!? Get away from that thing!" Tigo shouts as he desperately tries to pull him away from that thing.

With a neck that gets more crooked as time goes on, the Miles Aparoid mentions Alvarez' name before his skin starts peeling off, revealing crystalized, purple scales underneath. And where the skin does not peel off in time, it is ripped through to reveal them anyway.

"Come… closer." it beckons, using a voice so devoid of any personality or authenticity.

"Let us be… closer…"

Looking through his scope, Trevor witnesses this nasty display of body horror. He has already removed the silencer and put the duck beak on to maximize his firepower. Given that pretty much everyone, friend or foe, has turned their attention to the commotion going on up high, he has directed Kip to point her SAW at those on that catwalk ahead. Waiting for his command.

The moment that thing raises its arms in some kind of attempt to give a hug, a shiver runs down his back. Despite him being far away, he can pretty much feel how wrong that gesture is. An Aparoid monstrosity beckoning you to give it a hug? Not even for his worst enemy. And to ensure this other guy does not fall victim to it either, gives the command to open fire.

The noise that the duck beak makes is a pleasant surprise and it has a lot of effect as this time he goes straight for the head and a nice big hole is made. But the Aparoid is not dead. Then Kip follows up by peppering its body with a ton of lasers. It resists admirably but the firepower is overwhelming and soon enough it is standing on the edge on the catwalk. And a final shot to the upper chest by Trevor is enough to cast him over the edge.

Motionless, it drops down. Only for its twisted feet to rip open like a blooming flower and multiple tentacles shoot up into the air. They wrap themselves around the railing of the catwalk and stop its fall. And just as fast as it fell, just as quickly does it stand back on the catwalk. And there, it simply ignores Kip's resuming fire and focuses completely on Alvarez and whoever is still standing there. By introducing them to more tentacles that are shooting from its hands.

These tentacles however are not all for grabbing or wrapping; some have harpoons or blunt basher heads. And they rip, bash, strangle and tear through Alvarez and his armed guards. Tigo and a few more that survive, scream and run for their lives. Those more level-headed, are broadcasting far and wide that they got an Aparoid infestation. And PAL lets them, because now finally everyone will heed his previous warning.

With great effect, as more and more start to surrender. However, they are allowed to keep their weapons as they are now pointing them at the Miles Aparoid. And despite being able to ignore some gunfire, even this is too much for the Aparoid to handle. So it bolts for the executive elevator at an insane speed. Causing Trevor to miss a shot that might have been important.

The Miles Aparoid reaches the executive elevator and it descends downwards. Despite all of the gunfire, it stays perfectly functional. As it is mostly transparent, aside from the many cracks it has sustained, the Aparoid is able to taunt those wishing to kill it. And then it disappears the moment the elevator has gone down past the ground floor.

The taunting however has led to some particularly insulted individuals, a mixture of Munt's men and some ape soldiers, to grab whatever explosives were left undetonated, wrap it all together in a neat little package, activate one of the grenades and then drop it down the elevator shaft. And the Aparoid inside hears it fall down on top of his transport downwards. Along with its final beep before it explodes.

- Falling Downwards

With a mighty roar, the executive elevator falls down the shaft. The shrieking noise of metal grinding against metal deafens the Aparoid as it functions as a futile brake as sparks fly all over the place. And finally, with a massive slam, the elevator hits the bottom. Its structure is on the verge of breaking down completely. But at the very least the doors open up to a hallway.

Back at the "surface", Trevor has called in additional reinforcements to support Munt's team and to evacuate the civilians and the ape soldiers that surrendered. It might take a few minutes or so before a ship will be there to collect everyone, so they can clean up in the meantime. Especially now that the Aparoid is somewhere down there as flat as a pancake.

"Team 2 and 3, check in." Trevor calls.

"Patches here. Civilians are safe, security room is still secure."

However, the other member of Team 2 is remaining silent. Which is confusing, if a little bit worrying. Remembering that he sent Phantom in to assist Calamity, Trevor asks him. But there is no answer either.

"Patch, PAL. Where are Calamity and Phantom?"

"Looking!" Patches replies as she gestures to the civilians with her to check along.

PAL does the same in the background. And very quickly, they have them on live feed. Calamity is on the ground, alive but clearly wounded. Phantom is standing some distance away from her, covered in blood and panting like a madman. His knife held out in a trembling-from-excitement hand and its victims are on the floor below him. Patches relays this information back to Trevor and he sighs in relief that both are alright. Although Calamity being wounded is less than pleasant.

"Phantom!" Trevor shouts to his white-furred friend, which snaps him out of the trance he was in.

The fox looks at what he has achieved with his mind and takes a victorious hit of oxygen before realizing that someone has been waiting for a reply.

"Sorry, Sarge. Was… somewhere else. I'm here. Alive and well. Dirty, but alive. Oh! Calamity!" he then realizes after coming back to his senses and then legging it to the wounded dog.

He comes close to her and checks her out without touching. Already seeing the flesh wound and the damaged CID. But he is slightly hesitant to touch her for obvious reasons. Which she denounces immediately and tells him to get a move on. She is not going to bash his head in for helping her "injured ass".

"Self-deprecation doesn't suit you. Trust me, I know a thing or two about it." Phantom scoffs as he holds on to her shoulder and checks the wound.

The heat of the blaster bolt has pretty much cauterized the wound already but it still looks rather nasty. Good thing he or others do not have to look at it anymore as he has some gauss on his belt. Using his knife to cut it off at the correct length after he has tightly but comfortably bound it around the wound. Maneuvering around her shoulder and the armpit, which looks more complicated than it exactly is. Just some puzzling and making sure that the whole shoulder section is covered. And despite some blood already staining the white, nothing else happens.

"Right, that should do it for now. But that definitely looks like it needs stitches. I mean, I could do it but I don't think my knife will be much help." he chuckles before letting her go and sneakily admiring his handiwork.

And so does Calamity, because she did not expect him to do it so well.

"Wow. Some kind of hidden talent of yours?" she asks both impressed and wondering as she feels the covered wound.

"Oh, it's nothing much. I guess I was paying attention to your fiancée while I was keeping him safe."

His sarcasm gets a chuckle, which he considers the highlight of today. Then he helps her stand up and does some quick fixing on her CID so she can, at the very least, communicate.

"Is it…? 1, 2, 3, Check!"

"I hear you, Cal! Heh, it's good to hear your voice." Trevor says, even more relieved now that he can hear she is okay.

"Trevor… I want revenge! Those bastards shot me! This will not stand, dammit!"

She started her sentence filled with love and genuine happiness to hear him too, only to then go into full, blood lusting urge to get back at these bastards. Which Trevor can wholeheartedly appreciate. So he devises a plan. First, the teams will be reshuffled. Using his new C module, he makes sure that everyone sees the change in their CID's. Team 1 will remain intact, but Team 2 will be Calamity and Phantom now. Patches and her civilian personnel are now Team 3. And PAL will be the wildcard.

"Hey buddy, can you go wireless?"

"Absolutely, Sir. I have infiltrated all of their systems and I can indeed "go wireless" if you wish. Also, Calamity, while Phantom's utility of choices for stitching is rather large, I have extensive knowledge on simple medical procedures along with a needle and thread."

Trevor's first instinct is to permit this but he double-checks it with Calamity. Knowing that she finds it hard to trust those that have betrayed her before. Even though the situation was ruse to catch the big fish, feelings were still hurt.

"Ugh… sure. Why not. But you're staying with me until that machine of yours is done with me. And if it mutilates me…" she points at Phantom and gestures that she will crack his skull open like an egg.

He understands her issues and says that he will stay with her until PAL is done. Which gives her some comfort.

"Good, that's settled. Then here's the new plan. Team 2, the moment you are stitched up, I want you to clear the floor of all still hostile ape soldiers. Whatever is carrying a gun and doesn't surrender right away, you blast away. After you're done with your floor, descend all the way to the ground floor, cleaning up everything else." Trevor orders, as those orders appear briefly as an objective on their CID's, along with a map of a by PAL suggested route.

"Roger." Phantom acknowledges, already getting excited for more carving later on.

"Me and Kip will take care of the floors above you. Team 3, your mission is complete. All systems are under Nova 7 control. Evacuate the civilians and get them to the ground floor so that they can get out of this madhouse of a base."

"Yes Sir!" Patches replies as the same orders, along with another suggested route is displayed to her.

"Nova 7, let's show these pricks what they're dealing with."

3 - Janitor Duty

- One Of Those Days

Ahead is a barely lit hallway. A consequence of the elevator crashing into the bottom of the shaft. It caused a lot of systems to fail and likely a lot of cables to snap. Luckily it has a way to mend that and to also tap into the electrical grid. Which luckily is not under that traitorous potential's control. But it will heel eventually. It will see reason. It will be assimilated. And as the lighting situation mends itself from its influence, the Aparoid, shaken but still alive, smiles.

Back topside, the transport ship from the Cornerian Cruiser has arrived and along with Munt's team, its personnel are putting the surrendered ape soldiers in there. Along with that, they managed to capture the remaining head honcho's that managed to flee from the Miles Aparoid when it revealed itself. Their bodyguards were not so easily persuaded so they had to be dealt with. A few more guns that will no longer threaten Cornerian lives.

Trevor was overseeing it for a while, waiting for the go-ahead from the new Team 2. But while underway, PAL informs him about some unpleasant facts. First of all, the Aparoid is not dead. And it is on its way to the nuclear core. Furthermore, Miles had an order of explosives and other weapons standing with these shady gangs. As a backup for his mercenary teams he was using. With potential to use them as weapons for the new Aparoid army he was helping to create. However, these have been spread all across the access- and other vents throughout the entire base. The trigger to it, according to his analysis, is a wireless one. And it is connected to the Aparoid. Meaning that if it dies, it will effectively blow up the entire base. Along with everyone in it.

"That's… really annoying. It would rather kill everyone alongside it if he cannot get what it wants. Heh, like a screaming child embarrassing a parent in the busy supermarket for not getting their chips." Trevor scoffs.

"Anything you can do about it?"

"I could delay the detonation. However, this delay could range from between one to three minutes tops. I am not sure if that is enough to get out safely."

"Alright. Not great but I'll work with it. Keep an eye out for that Aparoid prick. If he starts doing weird stuff, put a stop to it. Hinder him as much as possible while we make our way downstairs."

"Understood, Sir. Approaching Team 2 now. Will keep you updated. PAL, out."

Having given his orders and knowing the situation, he sends all of this in a transcript to Nelson and the rest of 7-0. For administration' sake, because Tacker Field has been watching and listening in the whole time. And they have no issues with Trevor's orders that were given. Then he reloads his rifle, bemoaning that he should have brought more ammo along for this final mission.

"I told you." Kip coos, trying to lighten the mood as she joins him.

"Yeah, yeah. You did. Maybe I should follow your advice more often."

"Would be nice. Then again, you do so anyway. Seems that a lot of people follow my advice." she says, wondering how that is.

But Trevor knows the answer to that.

"You're experienced. That sort of thing is respected in this team. Heck, I'm pretty sure you and I have been doing what've been doing for about the same amount of years. The only other experienced person around here is Phantom. And you know exactly how he is."

She laughs, remembering that awkward meeting a couple of days ago. Trevor is broadly familiar with it but does not know the exact details. So Kip tells him about it and it is not long before he is already laughing at his friend's awkward idiocy.

"He does shut down when you catch him in an uncomfortable position, that is true. But I'm glad you two were able to bury the hatchet somewhat. He did apologize for being a massive dumbass, right?"

"Oh yes, he did. And I'm glad that he took my advice to heart. Despite me being just a merc." she says, with a hint of anger being detectable when she mentions that last word.

Trevor thinks he understands it now. Despite how well she fits into the team and how much others around her appreciate who she is and what she brings, there are quite a lot of fools around that still see her as something to be avoided or scorn at. Because of what she does. Yes, the military generally has had a problem with mercenaries in the past. But now? That issue should have been buried months ago. Old habits die hard it seems. And Trevor can already guess what bastard managed to get onto her nerves like that.

"Rook got under your skin, didn't he?"

"Yeah…"

"He got under mine too. Can't say I'm too sad that he's dead. Even though he did die for us in the end."

He can just about suppress a chuckle. But then he turns back to being serious.

"That aside though, I know you. I know what you stand for and what you're capable of. Those ignorant fools? They know nothing of integrity and friendship. They are so swallowed up in their own failure that they want to blame their ineptitude on someone else. An easy scapegoat. And that would be, unfortunately, you."

He was trying to be positive to cheer her up a little but his train of thought led him to a bit of a darker spot. Rubbing his hands together, he makes sure that what he says afterwards, steers the direction back to the positive.

"And I feel sorry I wasn't there to support you. But at the same time, I don't think I needed to be there. I saw how you held your own against him. What I think is the embodiment of all the entitled snobbery that holds the Cornerian Army back from its ultimate potential. And you smashed it! You made him reveal exactly what we were already thinking. Gifting us with a big bargaining chip with which we could soften the blow that he eventually dealt us."

As he praises her, he feels a smile grow bigger on his face. And from her point of view, hearing him praise her is exactly the boost she needed. A positive reminder of why she joined up with him in the first place. Because they fit and work together like peanut butter and jelly. Even though Trevor would say he is not a fan of that combination at all, he would understand the metaphor.

"In short, no matter what anyone says or does…"

He puts his hand on her shoulder.

"You're Nova 7. Or at the very least my steadfast partner."

The smile on her face could hardly become any bigger. And soon enough the two are sharing a nice hug. For just a moment, because soon enough PAL reports that Calamity's wound has been stitched. With someone vaguely laughing their ass off in the background.

"Copy that, PAL. Team 2 can handle themselves now for sure. Go on and assist Team 3 in getting the civvies out. And keep your eye out for that Aparoid bastard."

PAL confirms the order has been received, after which he cuts the communications.

"Ah, back to work it seems." Trevor bemoans.

"Our work is never really done after all. In fact, I believe that is what makes us so great."

"If you are quite done with grandstanding, how about we go clean up some hallways?"

"Oh, that sounds lovely! I'm in!" she replies before checking if the magazine she slid in was actually put in properly.

Trevor draws his revolver and takes the lead, stating that he will show her what he learned from his experience with close-quarter fighting. Whereupon Kip replies that she better see some results from him; those lessons she gave him were free but they cost her valuable me-time.

- Fix 'Er Up

It has been a day or two since he had to go this fast. Previously, it was for an emergency. A matter of life and death. And despite this time the one in need of assistance is not in mortal danger, a nasty flesh wound is still something that should be treated properly. And as he stated; he has the knowledge for it.

It is furthermore convenient that they are on the same floor so he does not have to sap so much of his own battery while going as fast as he does. However, he did have to stop one time because some ape soldiers, who clearly did not get his message, held him at gunpoint. Which PAL took exception to and therefore he introduced them to his new three-barreled weapon. The last thing they would see is the metal frame in PAL's face retreating to reveal the already spinning disk. Along with the black light shines from above his very eye.

Once the enemies have been dispatched, the weapon retreats and the light changes back to white as he continues on his merry way. Not giving as much as a second thought about those that were just cut down or even cut in half thanks to his new firepower. Unknowing servants of evil that willingly serve said evil even after it is revealed that it is evil, deserve no mercy.

Soon enough, he reaches the stricken Calamity and Phantom. The latter complains about the response times and says that he will certainly lodge a complaint at the manager. PAL simply answers that he works as an independent and that he, as his own manager, will definitely process that complaint. Then he turns his attention to Calamity, seeing the blood stain on the gauss already.

"Phantom, could you please remove it?"

"But I did such a good job at it." he wanted to bemoan but he keeps it to himself considering the circumstances. Humor is good but when forcing it, it becomes a slog. And it is very pleasant for the patient. Very carefully, he cuts the gauss with his knife and reveals the wound.

"I see the wound has already been cauterized. Good. That will help the recovery process significantly. Calamity, I have the tools and the correct treatment program ready. I cannot guarantee it will not hurt. But I require your permission."

Calamity looks over at Phantom, who nods. As long as he is there and since he knows what she will do to him if PAL does something stupid, she sighingly relents.

"Bring it. Just don't mess me up."

"I will not mess you up. Phantom, please assist me. Hold her arm steady."

Phantom does as instructed and from PAL's port hole, emerges his appendage. Its tip now holds an arm-like construction that holds a needle with some thread already running through the eye. Now it is just a matter of getting it done.

After making sure everything is spotless and clean, does PAL very precisely stick the needle in. Calamity winches, obviously but she keeps it together. Mainly due to her annoyance with Phantom's comments. For example, telling her that she is a big girl for enduring this pain. And then afterwards, she will get a lollipop for her troubles.

The irritation he causes, is enough for her to keep away the pain. And even make her grin as she visualizes how hard she will squash his head between her fists. But she knows why he is doing this; because his words are keeping her sane throughout the process. Because she might be the team's Bruiser, this does not mean she cannot still feel. And be hurt. And cry when there is pain. And a nasty wound like this being stitched, hurts a plenty.

"If you tell this to anyone…"

"It'll be our secret." he winks in response.

This soothes her quite a bit, surprisingly so. Maybe there is a reason Trevor sees something in this friend of his. His distraction efforts have paid off as PAL is done sooner than expected. And he did a good job at it as well. She can feel it sting but everything is nice and clean. She can move her arm just fine as well.

"Wow. Good job. For a traitorous, floating hunk of metal and bolts." she snarls as she reloads her shotgun and picks her shield back up from the floor.

However, when she is done and pumps the first shell into the chamber, a smile emerges from her scowl.

"Glad that you're still on our side. Finish this job on the same exact side and I might start trusting you more again."

"I-... must certainly will, Calamity." he states with certainty and with his green light shining brightly.

Then, however, it goes to blue and he reacts very alerted. The metal retreats and his chaingun appears again. He swiftly turns into various directions, trying to determine what he heard before he snaps onto the direction he originally came from. Just at the moment, a few headstrong fools armed to the teeth appear around the corner to kill them. However, all they find are five barrels pointing at them. Three of them spinning, one firing lasers and the other laser-buckshot. And before they can regret their decision or even to have life flash before their eyes, they are mercilessly killed.

PAL's gun winds down and retreats back into his shell before, very cheerfully like nothing happened, turns back to Team 2. Seemingly ignorant or not at all caring about the expulsion of the excess gasses his gun has created, which does not cease to be a childish source of humor for Phantom.

"Did he just…?"

"Yup…!" Phantom replies, trying his best not to roar.

PAL meanwhile, is oblivious to this, assumes that the source of humor is because it was so easy for him to dispatch their enemies. So he responds humble, saying that it was no big deal. After all, the threats these enemies pose, is nothing short of "hot air". Phantom loses it after that and Calamity herself has her lips betray that she finds it hilarious too. Because they are both too busy laughing at their enemy, PAL takes the initiative to inform Trevor. In which he gets his orders to assist Team 3.

"So, what did our Sergeant have to say?" Calamity wonders.

"I have been redirected to assist Team 3 for the time being. I suspect that this is temporary however, if I am correct in my assessment of undertones. Should you need my assistance, do not hesitate. I will be there as fast as possible." he assures.

Phantom, now recovered, is a little worried about this. Because the last time PAL went that fast, he was almost out of juice when he reached him. But PAL assures him that this situation is quite different from the one in the caves. For one, there is power everywhere around him. And secondly, he is pretty much in total control of this vessel.

"If I were to run out of power, I could only blame myself. Now, I suggest you go. You have about 20 floors to go before you reach the ground floor. Luckily, most do not span the entire length of this base. Estimated time of completion… fifteen minutes."

"Make that twelve and we got a deal." Phantom replies, feeling cocky as he puts his machine gun against his right shoulder.

"Twelve? Are you mad? Ten, at most." Calamity corrects him as she eagerly pumps her shotgun.

PAL cannot help but shine green when he sees this enthusiasm and confidence.

"I think you two will not be needing my assistance anytime soon. Both of you, good luck."

Faster than expected, Phantom receives a courteous headbutt into his sternum the moment PAL goes in for a hug.

"Please, be safe. Partner."

"I will…" he replies, out of breath and recovering.

"You too."

After they have said their goodbyes, PAL goes into the opposite reaction that Team 2 goes. And while mostly out of earshot, he can still pretty clearly hear Calamity playfully mock Phantom for being a bit of softy to his floating robot friend. Phantom retorts by stating that no one bats an eye when she and Sergeant Trevor devolve into sexual innuendos. Whereupon she retorts by giving him a bop on the upper arm.

"Ow! Only Ashley is allowed to do that."

"Fair, fair. Now, let's go. And show me why they call you phantom."

- Slippery When Wet

Back in the security room, Patches has been instructing the civilians inside to destroy and delete everything in the systems. To sabotage everything and make sure that even after Nova 7 leaves, that this base will be very hard to operate from again. Anything important, is already backed up to the server rooms of the Cornerian Cruiser group via PAL's connection. And anything needed for PAL to keep in control of the station, he will make sure those will be kept intact until he no longer needs them. And the civilians have been instructed to delete the files once. If that process is stopped, then they should ignore it and go to the next. PAL will delete it himself later.

With that in mind, they are hard at work. While some are letting their fingers go wild on the keyboard, others are shredding page by page of stored manuals, logs and transactions. But not before checking with PAL, via a simple green or red light on the surveillance camera inside the room itself, if they can shred them. Green and it can be shredded up. Red for not yet. Given the large storage of both digital and physical documents, this takes up quite some time.

But her crew is motivated. Not because they know exactly why they are doing this, but because of the promise that they get to leave this place. Not all of them are exactly innocent in the way the army Specialist had portrayed them. But neither did they themselves do anything horrible. Never killed or harmed any innocents. They were security for a massive base of gangs; the irony speaks for itself. All they did was keep the registry and keep the weapons storage locker clean. Which is now sealed very tightly so they can only be seized by those with more proper intentions with it.

Then Raymond approaches Patches as she is assisting the digital side of the removal process, still very nervous about her presence here.

"Uh… Ms. Patches?" he starts off sheepishly.

"Sorry, I'm not single. Joking, what can I do for you?" she chuckles but not looking in his direction.

"Oh uhm… w-when can we like… leave?"

"The moment I know for sure that everything has been sabotaged and has become unusable to your former employers. Then I'll get you all out."

She turns her face towards him.

"I promise."

Raymond swallows hard, not sure if he believes her. Despite her being in the army and having spared his life, he remains skeptical. Something about weapons rubs him the wrong way. Especially when a weapon had been pointed at you before.

"A-alright. I won't bother you then. And uhm… I'll continue my work as well then."

"That sounds good. I'll let you know the moment you guys can get out."

Raymond is not exactly satisfied with the answer but what is he going to do? Hope that the answer suddenly changes? Force her to admit her true intentions? With what? His continuous shaking hands? No, it is best to keep on the sidelines for now and assist in ruining this place he was working in before. At the very least, this army woman has been a lot nicer to him and his colleagues. Even despite her putting a gun up his nose.

His patience is soon rewarded as the army Specialist gets a positive message. He does not know the exact details, but from where he is standing, he can see her smile. And that has to be a good sign.

What he does not hear, is that PAL has just managed to stitch Calamity's wound and is now on his way to her position to assist her. However, he has noticed a significant force coming her way. Which means that if she has to safely escort the unarmed civilians, especially considering their response to gunfire or loud shouting for that matter, she will have to clean them from the hallways.

She understands that message loud and clear. So she turns to Raymond and the rest to explain her plan. She will go out there, take care of those goons and then give them the go ahead to join her. Until then, they are to lock themselves into the security room and cover up the windows. If that is not possible, hide as best as possible. Most importantly; stay quiet! It is very likely any of those ape soldiers know about their compliance and they will not think twice about killing them.

"You're almost out of here. I'll be back."

With that said, she opens the door and leaves the security room. She looks back one last time at the civilians before the door closes again. Hearing the locks latch themselves in place, she sighs and clears her mind. She must think about them anymore or how they might feel. It is time to focus on making sure she too can get out of here alive. Her pistols are drawn but she removes the suppressors. Not necessary in this situation. Then she loads her war crime rounds and the CIW is turned back on, imprisoning her hands around the grips and triggers of the weapons. Exactly how she wants it.

"PAL. From what direction are they coming from?"

"At the very end of the hallway to your left. Five to six foot-mobiles. Small-arms guaranteed."

"Then let's give them a proper Nova 7 welcome." she grins, eager to pop some heads.

Then she looks down at her feet and with a simple jerking motion, she turns on that ice-skating mode. The internal mechanisms rev up as it comes to life. Although she has tried it out before, it is still a little jarring that she is now floating just above the ground. But still has stable footing so she can stay upright. She takes her position at the "start line" and then zooms off like she heard the starting pistol go off.

At the speed she is going, she would have half expected to be exhausted very soon. But the skating motions she is making, are making her about as tired as casually walking through the forest. It is almost like riding an electric bicycle; there is a feeling of assistance. And very comfortably, she goes at least double her normal running speed.

The T-junction at the end of the hallway is coming closer and she quickly devises a plan. A swift look at her transparent screen and she can see the soldiers PAL mentioned all bunched up together. One in front, four in the middle and the last one at the back. All of them facing forwards. Not an optimal strategy but what else did she expect from goons with guns? But she knows how to teach them.

Patches then speeds up until she reaches the line where the hallway goes over into the junction. She uses her momentum to propel herself slightly to the left and towards the wall ahead. Looking like something straight out of a kung-fu movie, she has her right leg pointed straight forward. And once it makes contact with the wall, the Spider-mode sets in. Planting her boot firmly against the wall. This makes it possible for her run on the wall and by using her new found footing, she goes on at a 90 degree angle. Pistols first.

All of this happens in the span of mere seconds. The ape soldiers can only watch in wonderous horror as they see a bunny soldier high jump kicking a wall before she suddenly sprints along that same wall and starts unloading her weapons into the group. Two of them at the front of the column are instantly cut down before they can even raise their weapons.

That means the four others can still respond with deadly return fire. Good thing she had figured for that. Because why settle for just 90 degrees, when there are 270 more to explore? It would mean taking the non-circular structure of the hallway into consideration but when has any assignment not had its difficulties? So she does. Making sure to sidestep to the right to avoid accurate fire from her enemies by throwing off their aim at least two axis of direction. Meanwhile, her CID and CIW keep her aim dead center on whatever target has incurred her wrath.

At 130 degrees, three in total are dead. By 180, four are done. By 220, one of her pistols is empty but by 225 it had already been replenished. By 240, five are dead and her other pistol is empty. By 270, she has had enough of the sixth and final guy still being alive. Despite having incurred three shots to the body.

Patches then pushes herself off that wall and lands right boot-first into the stomach of the wounded soldier. It forces the air right out of his lungs and as he lays there with shock and awe visible in his eyes, all that those can see is the smoking barrel of the pistol that has already terminated his comrades. And for a split-second, he can see the discharge of the nasty-looking bullet that is coming for him.

One gunshot later and those eyes can no longer see. As the skull that held them before, has been reduced to a cavity. Before a nice, hard stomp from her boot crushes what remains into a red smear on the floor before her. She pants from the adrenaline rushing through her as she is super-focused on the dead man before her. The sounds that crushing made… were not displeasing.

She can remember the first time she had to hear someone else's bone or cartilage break. It made her slightly sick to her stomach. That was Trevor punching Felix right in the nose. But now, she feels alright with it. Sure, it made a mess that she will have to clean up once the mission is over, but this feels right. So ruthlessly dispatching her enemies like this. And on top of that; they deserve it. These gangbangers are still on the side of that Aparoid freak and were willing to come over and kill those in the security room.

Although all of those thoughts can all be attributed to the mild dizziness she feels from imitating a corkscrew straight out of a rollercoaster. And as she is recovering, she notices that the elevator door, where the previous group came from, is open. A fresh batch has arrived and they have seen what Patches did to their comrade. It has stunned them.

Patches looks up at them, looks back down at the mess she has made of that man's head and back up at them. She shifts her thoughts quickly; almost as fast as she charges straight into them using her Movement module. And Nelson was not lying when he said that she would be a living cruise missile. Because before she knows it, she has shoulder-checked the feminine ape soldier standing in the middle of the elevator. Knocking her out the moment her head slams against the back of the elevator. Out of pure instinct, she puts the barrels of her pistols in the face of two, stunned apes standing on either side of her and pulls the triggers. The elevator door closes as the sound of struggle, panic and further gunfire is muffled more and more. Before it dies out completely. Followed by the cheerful chime of the elevator arriving at its destination.

A few moments later, the door opens up. A freshly made body, with a big exit wound in the back of the head, falls down on the floor. And daintily stepping over that, is Specialist Patches. Splashed by the blood of her victims, with some minor gunpowder burns on her cheeks as well as a scratch mark on her forehead from a lucky bastard that got close enough with a knife to draw blood. She made sure that their lungs were evaporated by jamming her pistol barrels right in between two ribs on each side and pulling the trigger multiple times. In short, they are not getting up.

She exhales as her CIW reloads her pistols and she herself replenishes the autoloader. Ready for more, she asks PAL if there are more coming her way. And he has good news, they have already arrived. However, they have heard the commotion and they are no longer out in the open.

"Go straight, past the hallway leading back to the security room and then on your first right. Be careful, they have set up some defenses. Makeshift barricades, like toppled over cabinets and clumped together office furniture. To top it off, it seems they have gotten their hands on the janitor's supply closet and they have brought out the soap." he warns.

But Patches chuckles. She knows that trying to make her slip will not have any effect when she can walk on walls. Or even hover over the soap itself.

"Next you're going to tell me that they also installed pitfalls and mouse traps? That would be really funny yet pathetic. Anywho, when are you going to show up?"

"ETA three minutes. I have encountered… opposition."

"Need help?"

"I correct myself; I had encountered opposition. They are no longer capable of doing that."

"That's what I like to hear. Get here ASAP; maybe I'll share some kills with you."

"Already on the way!"

- Sliding Without Slipping

Her legs are shaking like mad. Her calf muscles and the soles of her feet feel like they are on fire. So much so that she can barely stand up. Her hands are still gripping both of her pistols, whose barrels are smoking and have a faint red glow around the edges of each barrel.

She can see a vague reflection of herself in the residue of the soap that those miscreants poured all over the floor in an attempt to thwart her. Foolishly so as she traversed across the ceiling and the walls. And even if she had to land on the floor, her boots could make her hover just high enough to evade that soapy mess. Not just that, but the burst of energy that keeps her up, also works like a leaf blower. Or a soap-blower in this case, now that she thinks about it.

But in that reflection, she can also see her own expression. And it is not one she recognizes right away. The massive grin on her face reminds her of something she once saw in a horror movie. Along with all other types of residue that coat the fur on her face. Tears, sweat, more soap, spit and blood. It gives her the appearance of a psychotic killer.

To be fair, she did put down about two dozen or so ape soldiers without a second thought. But they are the enemy; even with their leader revealed as an Aparoid, they still raise their weapons towards those who have come to kill it. Whether it is out of desperation, a severe lack of common sense or because it is simply what they know how to do best, she does not know. Neither should she care; this is not the job to think about that sort of thing. Pull the trigger before they pull it on you.

And what a rush! Every time she would do it and see another enemy slain, she cannot help but be proud of herself and what she is doing. Seeing their blood splatter, robbing them of their worthless lives before they can oppress or kill those whose lives actually mean something.

But is that really it? Shoot first and ask questions later? Is this what this job is going to turn her into? She is reminded of what Trevor said to her; about her being able to feel sympathy for even those she does not like. And this moment of introspection, makes her realize that she did not lose that. And that she must never lose it at all.

With that in mind, she wipes the reflection away and manages to rise to her feet. Still a little bit shaky but standing nonetheless. She disengages the CIW system to free her hands and fingers. She finds herself at the end of that hallway, with the elevator before her where she will lead those unfortunate souls into.

The elevator then dings and the doors open to reveal two more ape soldiers. Her instant response is to pull out the pistols again with the rush of adrenaline kicking back in. But the soldiers fall flat on their face instantly. With their back riddled with bullets. They are not alone, as the three walls of the elevator are coated in blood and bodies. Their killer hovers earnestly above them all.

"PAL…" Patch realizes.

"Shit… all clear here."

"Are you okay?" PAL notices.

"Doing fine… just needing to catch my breath. Whew! That was intense. And fast too! I felt like a race car. With guns!" she states while regaining her lung capacity.

"Shall we put a spoiler on you next time?" PAL verbally jabs at her, almost without a hint of sarcasm.

"Oh, very clever. From what children's joke book did you get that one?"

"Sergeant Trevor's."

"... fair."

She needed a moment to think about that one but it actually makes a lot of sense. Clearly this A.I. is an observant learner. Hopefully he will not learn too much from Trevor's example. One of them is good enough. Then PAL looks past her and sees the civilians she was talking about. However, a quick scan of their personnel files later and PAL is a little hesitant about that description. So in text, he asks for a word.

"Either you were misled, or you are purposefully harboring those who have assisted both the Star Wolf team and the recently disposed gang covenant."

"Answer number 2. Look, I know these people were not doing strictly legal work. But in the end? They helped us locate that Miles thing and assisted us in sabotaging their own work environment. When it counted, they chose to comply."

"Because they were scared for their life and livelihood."

"Weren't you?"

This question confuses PAL for a moment but then he understands the parallel that Patches is drawing here.

"... Fair … You may tell the civilians to follow me. I will escort them to the life pods."

With that, the text exchange has ended and Patches tells Raymond and the rest to follow PAL's every order to the letter.

"No worries; he is very good at detailing exactly what he wants. He's going to get you out of here. You have done really well. I relieve you of your duties. Keep on improving your lives; it'd be a shame if I have to come back."

Normally that would be perceived as a threat, but with the playful way she brought it, none of them are disturbed by it. Raymond even thanks her for keeping her word and apologizes for being a nuisance. She replies by stating that he should not sweat it, before telling him to get his ass into that elevator before she kicks him in. All with a smile.

She waves goodbye to them as the door slowly closes. It feels a little bittersweet because she actually got along well with them. Maybe she will come across one of them later on, when this is all over. Who knows? But it is mostly gratifying to know she did well and saved a few more lives who might have been nothing but a tally in an after-action report.

Just before the door closes, she can see PAL's red eye looking straight at her. And the light above it blinks a bright green. Almost like he is giving her a thumbs up. It surprises her but when she realizes, she gets this warm feeling on the inside.

"7-2 here. Mission complete. Civilians are currently under PAL's supervision and will arrive at the life pods soon. What's my next objective?" she transmits to Trevor.

In response, she can hear scattered gunfire and a cry of fear in the distance before it is cut short by what sounds like something hard and metal impacting this person. Then she hears a lot of ruffling, which means someone is touching the microphone. Vaguely, she can hear Trevor curse like a sailor as he puts his head-section back on.

"Man… annoying thing to put back on. Sorry, Patch. Things are hectic here. Just received a massive blow to the head from a cheeky bastard. And I think… yeah, Kip just took care of him. She's going hog-wild, love it! As for your next orders, make your way to and regroup at Point Alpha. Your previous order still stands: terminate all unknowns." Trevor reiterates.

"Got it. Going 1. Be careful there, can't have me losing my 1."

"I'll be sure to keep myself together. See you soon. 7-1 out."

- The Old Breed

"You done smooth-talking your side chick? Then get up foxy boy; we got more swine ahead of us to kill." Kip says encouragingly as she reaches her hand out towards him.

And after making sure that his head-section is fitting properly again, Trevor takes that hand and is helped back up. After a small moment of recovery, he looks upon the soldier that tried to give him a concussion. The bastard was hiding in a doorway that was sticking out more than others. For esthetic purposes perhaps but this one was used as a hiding place. A nice sucker punch to the side of the head. If the metal of his head-section was not there, there would have been a good chance that he would have been down for the count. Instead, he was rattled and the guy now had potentially broken a few fingers. Not that it mattered much because moments later, Kip gave him to a knuckle-sandwich of her own. And she made sure to introduce him to an even higher degree of pain before crushing the contents of his throat. The man has since expired.

"Looks like we cleared this hallway. On to the next one?"

"I thought you'd never ask. I'm on fire!"

"Easy there, Kip. We don't want any innocents getting killed."

"Oh, I'll be careful." she replies, grinning like a maniac before the facade of trying to be mass murderer fades.

"Then let's go. Take point; I'll be right behind you."

With that said, the two proceed through the hallway. Making sure not to trip over any of their victims. And know making sure that they double-check those cheeky hallways in case another one of them tries to jump out at them. It will take them a few seconds longer to proceed but better safe than sorry.

As they continue on, Trevor gets constant updates from his C module on the positions of his teammates. As well as confirmation that all those that have surrendered, have been loaded up and transported away. The report has been signed by Munt, who was tasked with overseeing it. This also means that he is no longer on the base. Then a new order from the Major comes in, but not on his transparent screen.

"Nova 7, this is Major Rothlinghe speaking. All prisoners have been moved from the base. Those that still remain, are to be classified as enemies of Lylat themselves. Do not take any further prisoners; they have had their chance. As for the Aparoid, I want constant updates on its location and state. Keep up the good work. I am proud of you. We are proud of you. Major, out."

That last part of the message was both very sweet and a little out of place for the Major to say. Perhaps the Lieutenant encouraged him to say something kind? Or perhaps because they felt that they could use a bit of an encouraging boost? After all, it is always nice to hear from those you care about, that they are proud of you. Because they might know already, but hearing it affirms it like no other.

Either way, Trevor and Kip have now reached an open area. The hallway goes over into a suspended walkway. Ahead, a bridge section that leads down to the several floors below. They look like they are free floating over an abyss, perhaps because of the damage already done to the station? But why would there still be enemies on them along with deployable bridges between them? It has to be an intentional design. Luckily, neither of them have a fear of heights or this would have been traumatizing. The bridge however has been disabled and the controls have been smashed. In an effort to keep them at bay. But as they are prone and peeking over the edge, they are already formulating a plan.

"Simple overwatch situation. I stay here, pop anyone looking at you funny and you go in and wreck the rest." he suggests while already mapping out a possible route for her to take and priority targets that might be troubling for her if they are kept alive.

"So you're sending me out like a rabid animal?"

"Yeah? I thought you were on fire. So I'm giving you an opportunity to cool yourself off."

"Was just checking." she says, after which she playfully snarls like said rabid animal.

"That's more like it. PAL? Do you have control over this bridge ahead of us?"

"Bridge 324-B… yes. As well as the other bridges within this sector."

"Then turn this one back on on my signal. Kip, if you mind giving me an elevated position?"

She does not mind at all. Because Trevor has managed to spot the guy in charge. And something that has not changed in the hundreds, if not thousands of years of an army's existence: kill the officers first, then the Sergeants and then you can kill any poor bugger you want. Because after that, what holds them together is dead. A panicked, demoralized soldier is easier to put down after all.

She kneels down, right foot forward and making sure her right shoulder is as broad and horizontal as possible as Trevor puts the bipod on her shoulder. Making sure to warn Kip of the loudness of his rifle that up close. Lest Kip receives permanent hearing damage if she does not have her hearing protection enabled manually. And once he has a clear target, he exhales deeply, settles into a sense of calm as his trigger finger slowly pushes the trigger back. And at the moment his body is completely relaxed, does he pull the trigger. Right into the forehead of the highest-ranking/toughest looking miscreant on the floor below him.

His shot carves itself straight through bone and brain matter. Within the blink of an eye, a big exit wound has been made into the back of the man's head. And before the shot is even audible, the man is already dead on the floor.

The starting shot is given. Trevor removes the bipod from Kip's shoulder and she propels herself forward like an Olympic sprinter on the most illegal of steroids. The light bridge is activated beneath her feet to make sure she does not fall straight down. Instead, now she runs down straight at a puzzled enemy below. Because of the incline the bridge has, she estimates that she is going about as fast as Patches was going during that training session back at the armory.

The thoughts of speed have to be kept on the backburner as she is now almost on the floor. And she can already see that she is persona non grata here as several of the bastards are lining up on her. Something it is discouraged by Trevor as he pops the head of another tough looking brute.

This distraction is enough for her to safely get off the bridge and is ready to take out her pistol and shotgun while hiding behind some nearby rubble. There is no way that having that comparatively hulking SAW rifle will do her any favors here. Exactly the reason why Trevor chose his revolver for the previous fights. But unlike her Sergeant, she has a much larger arsenal for close-quarter problems.

"Time to test these babies out!" she says as she activates her armored fists.

Once they have fully enveloped her hands, she bumps them together to test their strength and to give the enemy at the very least a little bit of warning of what is going to happen. Because if only they knew what she already achieved without these deployed, they would know better and run for their lives.

But they have not heeded her warning. So the moment Trevor pops another one and diverts all attention to himself, Kip vaults over the cover and instantly manages to catch one of them off-guard. The female ape soldier's expression turns from confused to utterly horrified in a matter of seconds before she receives two bullets to the brain. Her colleague, standing next to her, is similarly caught by surprise. There is no time for her to respond; one moment she notices Kip, the other moment she notices the ceiling and feels nothing short of a massive headache. She was just swept off her feet by Kip's tail swooping over the floor. That same tail is now hanging over her and the blackjack belt is clearly visible. So she decides to give that colleague a proper close-up. By slamming her tail down like a sledgehammer, shattering teeth, nose and the jaw bones utterly.

This draws attention for the others as her victims did not meet death silently. So she has to take cover. Where she prepares her shotgun for usage and flips the bayonet out. Then Trevor gets their attention again by making sure they keep their heads down. Or lose them. However, once he has fired his shot, one of the madlads decides to vocally reach out to Kip. He is in luck, as Trevor has to reload.

"Hey girlie!" he shouts.

"You're a merc, right? I don't know how much they are paying you, but we'll double… no, triple it! All you gotta do, is kill your sniper friend up there. What do ya say, eh?"

Kip's instant reaction is annoyance and disgust. What type of person do they think her to be? Even if she was that kind of person, what kind of self-respecting mercenary that values their reputation would turn on their employer like that?

"Sounds tempting." Trevor says, literally dripping with sarcasm.

"How do we actually pay you?"

"Not enough to deal with this kind of shit. Please just shoot that idiot."

She sounds exacerbated, feeling that having to kill this moron is not worth the scuff marks his face will leave on her fists. So Trevor obliges and makes sure that her potential future employer can find a new recruit in hell. This shot brings the full attention of the enemies back to Trevor so he has to lay low for a bit.

One of them however, perhaps out of a need for vengeance, is rushing towards Kip's position.

"Kip, one coming your way." Trevor warns.

"Got it." she whispers back, making sure to keep herself as small as possible so that this charging enemy does not suspect that she knows he is coming.

The enemy reaches the cover she is hiding behind. He tries vaulting it but the moment his head and neck stick out, Kip is already ready for him, having squatted down in anticipation. And she forces the bayonet right into his throat as the two barrels are placed against his lower jaw. One trigger pull later and this same jaw no longer exists as both barrels have enough firepower to make everything below the upper jaw turn into a shower of giblets. Effectively decapitating him. As the rest of his lifeless body is still in motion, she lies back and lifts up her leg to catch the remains of the body. And then she tosses it behind her while rolling backwards to stand on both feet again.

While impressive, this engagement has caused someone who was presumably close to the recently dead guy to take offense to her actions. While crying out the man's name, this goon opens fire on her. This is where her protective second skin comes in as it does as advertised. It hits the invisible layer that covers her skin and fur, bends it slightly because of the impact but as it does, the projectile fizzles away and dissolves like it was bathed in acid.

Once the goon realizes that his gunfire has not worked and Kip is still alive and looking unharmed if very angry now, he starts panicking. Thinking that something is wrong with his weapon. But before he could blame his tool any further and let out his rage, Kip has already holstered her pistol and shotgun and has rushed up to him. To introduce him to a fistful of death. The impact is almost enough to knock the eyes out their sockets while everything else shatters.

The man goes down like a sack of potatoes while the nastiest gurgling noise is coming out of his by-his-own-tongue clogged esophagus. In a sheer panic, he grabs his own throat before eventually succumbing. But by then, Kip has already moved on to the next target. She makes a debatably unnecessary 180 degree turn to make sure that she backhands the approaching armored foe. This causes the previously running man in a mech suit to fall back first onto the floor before she pounces on him and uses her fist like a hammer to shatter his facial cover and then his forehead completely. There is one involuntary, full-body tic and then it is lights out.

And she is not done as now she has seen how much damage those fists can do to both man and machine. As her protective skin has about a total of 26 seconds of power left and considering the general aim of these guys is subpar, she reckons she can punch her way through without going any lower than 20.

While Kip is increasing the win rate on her boxing record, Trevor is busy adding more of his victims to the counter. Although he has to be conservative with targeting, because of the lack of ammunition he is currently facing. His sniping antics have caught the attention of several others that have now appeared on his floor. They are coming from behind him, forcing him to rely on his revolver. Which still has plenty of ammo.

"Oh, you clever bastards. Kip! I got company. You good there?"

As a reply, he gets a snarl before hearing a blood-curdling scream from her latest victim as the distinct noise of flesh tearing is heard in the background. And once it has been ripped up and he can hear her spit it out, does she reply normally.

"I'm doing fine. Just pulled an ear off. And I'm not talking corn here."

Trevor's reply is strange as well, given that she hears a faint thumping noise, followed by a puffing and sizzling noise. Before multiple background screams grace her ears. That gives her the idea that those people are currently being melted alive.

"Sounds personal. Just took care of a small group with just one of my launched slugs. It blew up like a flare and spread its corrosive streams everywhere."

"And you suggest that wasn't personal? One moment." she excuses herself to put the recently de-eared ape soldier out of her misery by stomping on their face until they stop screaming.

"Sorry, needed to tone down the volume."

"Perfectly reasonable and… oh come on, there's more. Kip, I'm coming down. Catch me!" she hears over the radio.

She looks up at the start of the bridge where she has stopped seeing Trevor. She can hear his gun going off a few times. Which is answered by a hailing of galloping gunfire. And there is no reply on his side. She would be lying if this did not concern her a lot. But then she can see Trevor going for style points as he has tossed himself down the bridge with his back facing her. He lands radio-first onto the bridge and resumes firing his revolver.

Kip, seeing this, deploys her SAW rifle and cuts down those that have appeared near the controls. Soon enough, Trevor's slip-and-slide adventure is over after he makes contact with the floor below. But the enemies keep on coming and eventually some have managed to make it onto the bridge.

"Oomph! Damn… this padding works amazing. PAL! Turn that bridge off!" Trevor exhales at first, before seeing them come closer.

PAL does not hesitate and the bridge dissipates. And their enemies fall down into the abyss below. They do not even hear the sound of an impact. If there even is any kind of impact.

Now relatively safe, Trevor gets back up and rejoins with Kip. Commenting positively on her literal bloodlust. Unless of course she was trying to apply red lipstick during an earthquake.

"Well, you don't seem very satiated. Considering the lack of your "lipstick". Want to kill some more?" Kip suggests.

"It's almost like you know me." Trevor smiles as he checks whatever ammunition he still has left.

"First things first, though. Team 2, give me an update."

"Strangely quiet. We have sent everyone packing and back up to you. I think they learned from Patches' example." Calamity replies sarcastically, but also audibly annoyed by the lack of things to shoot at.

"How's things with you, sweety?"

"Oh, nothing special. Low on ammo but have an overabundance of corpses surrounding us."

"Well, count me as jealous. Not because of the low ammo thing of course."

"Nothing's changed, I hear." Trevor jabs at her, incurring a definitely-insulted gasp from Calamity.

"Trevor DeLange! How dare you?! May I remind you that I am your fiancé!?"

"Yup, that's why I can say what I just said."

Trevor is on the cusp of giggling but so is she as they banter back and forth before coming back to it.

"H-hold up… Phantom has found something. I think we reached the jackpot. I'll keep you two up to date. Oh, and Kip. Send pics of your kill. I wanna see how well I taught you."

"Consider it done." the 'roo replies, casting a gaze at her discarded chewing toy.

"And Trevor… be careful. I love you."

"I love you too, Cal. Be safe."

The call has ended and Trevor sighs content. Then he turns to Kip and suggests that they should get going. They are not going to kill themselves after all.

"That would be awfully convenient." she sighs before a nasty smile creeps onto her face.

"But what's the fun in that?"

Trevor joins her in it as they can see reinforcements appear ahead of them. Although he has little ammunition left, he figures it should just be enough. And if needed, he might just use the buttstock to smash some noses in. It has worked before after all. He instantly gets down on one knee and takes a shot at the group. It is not very well aimed but it was meant to; just so another one drops and the rest will scatter into cover.

"Go!" he shouts to Kip, so she can have a head start.

One she takes with grace and enthusiasm. She hops from one piece of cover to another while trying to avoid any return fire. As she does this, each time she reaches cover, she allows Trevor to have a clear shot down the way. Whatever poor bastard decided to try and push the advantage, is brought straight down. Not even dead, just crippled and screaming in pain. Leaving them like breadcrumbs for Kip to follow and eventually finish off.

But despite him doing his best, it is clear that more and more are coming. And their return fire is too much to suppress, meaning that Kip can see her counter go down faster than expected, reaching 18 by the halfway point.

Trevor makes the choice to use one of your few remaining slugs and with a quick thumping noise, arcs it into the air. As predicted by the CID, it lands exactly where he wanted it to land; right in the middle of a tense group of them. Their screams of agony are her starting whistle as she reaches the first crippled ape soldier. And more lipstick is quickly applied by a swift hammer arm while kneeled down.

As she looks up however, there is some shock on her face as she can see at least five barrels trained on her. And the closest piece of cover is too far away for her power not to be drained within moments. She could reach for her guns but she has not reloaded her sawn-off just yet. And her rifle will still take too long to get out.

Then, running up from behind her, Trevor lays his forearm on her right shoulder. With his finger already on the trigger of his revolver, he uses the support she offers to seemingly effortlessly barrel over those who would dare to point their barrels at her and at them.

"Up and at 'em, Kippy!" he then encourages, lifting her up and then giving her push ahead while he continues to fire his revolver.

His aim is not accurate but deadly to those catching strays. And it allows Kip to go completely berserk. She uppercuts one guy before grabbing him by the throat. Squeezing tight enough to almost make him spit up his Adam's apple. But moreover, it makes him a nice meat shield to hide behind while she tries to reload her shotgun.

She first puts the shells into her mouth as she opens the breech. And then, like bringing a lighter to an unlit cigarette, tries to put it in. It is rather awkward and the fact that her shield is constantly recoiling from the gunfire, it proves to be a hassle more than anything. In particular, when one of them thinks he has a chance and closes the distance.

Now especially piqued, she spits the shells into her hand and throws them right into the face of the approaching man like it was a clump of sand. But thrown by her armored fists, they do more than temporarily blind the man. As if he slipped on a wet floor, he lands back first as now the back of his head hurts as well. Completely knocked out, Kip pays him little mind before tossing her now riddled and therefore worthless meat shield to its former colleagues. And she is going for both the galactic record spear throwing as well as a strike when she bowls over a couple of them.

"Nice throw, Kip!"

The celebration is short lived; on a platform on their right, unconnected to their path, stands a soldier with a chip on his shoulder. And the name of that chip, is a rocket launcher aimed right at them.

Trevor can just about call it out and flee before the projectile strikes the position he was at before. The blast of it still propels him further than he wanted to and he smacks onto the ground just behind the 'roo. She does not think twice about turning around to help him up. While he groans in both pain and self-referenced antiquity, the both of them can hear metallic groaning as the platform beneath their feet starts to violently shake.

Both eyes turn towards the impact that the rocket had made and see that it has left a big gash. With cracks bleeding from it that have reached the edges of the platform. They know what this means. It is further reinforced when another rocket is fired at the exact same position.

"PAL! Work some lightbridge magic here!" Trevor calls out as the two do not bother to watch the trajectory of the incoming explosive.

"Attempting a bypass…"

"Couldn't be fast enough!" Kip snarls as the end of the platform nears.

Then, behind them, the rocket strikes the previous gash and turns it into a fissure. The integrity of the bridge fails and the groaning echoes through the place. Before a clear snap is heard as like twig snapped in twine, so does the bridge.

"PAL!" is called out more desperate as their side starts to tilt towards that abyss.

"... got it!" the A.I. replies as he manages to connect the falling portion of the bridge to the one still attached to an intact one.

It gets steeper by the second so both jump for it. Kip clings on first, really digging her armored fingers into the bridge. It cracks like glass but it allows her to stay on like it is glass. Trevor does not have such implement and the move the platform they left falls, the more grips he loses.

"I gotchu!" Kip says as she takes his hand once his slips off.

And not a moment too soon, as both now watch their side of the bridge snap off completely. Whatever kept it floating, malfunctions and like a brick it all falls down. Until it is so far down, that it disappears without a thud heard.

To make sure this does not happen again, Trevor points his revolver at the culprit who nearly killed him and his now literal lifeline. With vigor and venom, he aims true and once the sights line up with the visible portion of the rocket-wielding bastard, he fires. A split-second later, that part of the head is blown away, sending meaty chunks into the air.

It seems the person did have another rocket loaded in the meantime. With the trigger almost completely pulled already. With their head now cracked open, it sends a shock response through the body, tensing all muscles just this once. The trigger is fully pulled but as the corpse is already falling backwards, the rocket is fired up into the air. Where it disappears into the darkness.

Satisfied with this death, Trevor puts his gun back so that Kip can pull the both of them back up. She remarks on how handy these armored fists are as they really enhance her strength. He simply replies that she has to be careful enough not to crush his hand.

"Don't tempt me now. Hold on, you're gonna fly for a bit."

She did not lie as before he knows it, he is tossed upwards and has to clammer onto the side of a steady platform. He gets up and then reaches down to give his partner a hand. Although she does not need it, it is an offer she cannot refuse. It must be that mustache.

The two of them then spot an elevator ahead. And it looks like it is in use, likely with some people very uneager to meet them. At least, they will be soon. Both of them pant, as their bodies ache but their hearts are racing. Kip clenches her fists as she hungers for more as Trevor checks the available shots left in his revolver.

"Sixteen. Should be plenty."

"I got about 17 left. Shall we dance?"

"You lead this time."

The two share a determined glance and a big smile. One that translates to "if this is the last time we get to experience this, then it was more than worth it". Partners till the end. With that in the back of their heads, they rush to meet their elevating prey head-on.

- Descend

"Well, any day now, Kip. These doors won't stay open for long." Trevor teases as he very dramatically presses the bloodied "doors open" button inside the elevator.

Kip looks up, her pupils narrowing again and her ears standing up as normalcy returns to her mind. The adrenaline has subsided and now that her armored fists are stained in the blood of those that have wronged her, peace returns to her. The fists retreat back into the studs where they came from as now the coast is completely clear.

They have gone through so much already, it is almost mind-boggling to think about. A quick check on her transparent screen and she sees she might have gotten a bit too greedy when the elevator opened; 15 seconds of total power are left. A shame, but those things happen, she rationalizes.

And as reason returns to her, she does not think it is such a good idea to use the elevator in a situation like this. But Trevor discards this notion; if Patches could use it without issue in the middle of a city-wide warzone because she felt she needed a moment of reprieve, then by golly so should they. Besides, the enemies just used it too.

"Or is it that you're getting iffy about their being too much gore in here?" he teases.

She sighs as she stands up, not really able to provide a counter against that point. So she comes closer and is ready to make the ride down to Point Alpha and rejoin the others.

However, the ceiling and the surrounding structures are moaning in disapproval. It almost feels like this place is on the verge of collapse. Was it that rocket…?

The thought is interrupted as a screeching noise is heard coming from the elevator shaft above, followed by a loud crack and then nothing. Until the roof of the elevator is showered in shrapnel, nuts and bolts. A few of which fall down hard to break through the glass emergency escape hatch and hit the floor in front of Trevor. Both Kip and he look down at it before looking at each other with a sense of doom overwhelming the both of them.

- Broom & Mop

Out of pure happiness, Calamity starts cooing after hanging up the call with Trevor. Not exactly stealthy so she is instantly corrected by Phantom and told that she could have her moment the moment they have dispatched whatever is coming their way. She rolls her eyes as that white fox knows how to ruin a moment.

"Just because you can't get any tail, doesn't mean I can't enjoy mine." she fusses while peeking over her cover to see the shadows of the incoming soldiers appear on the wall.

"Not like you'd ever believe if I did." Phantom replies from somewhere ahead of her.

"What? You did?"

"Why do you think I left the brunch early?"

She can practically hear his self-indulgent smirking. And as the gears in her head start to turn, she puts two and two together.

"You didn't go to Nelson's room just for PAL, did you?"

"... maybe. I'll leave you to draw your own conclusions."

Calamity knows she is totally right and it cheers her up immensely.

"Oh… my stars! I definitely ship you two."

"If you're quite done, I can see what we are up against; 5 foot-mobiles, small-arms only. Same approach as before?"

She pats her own face to get rid off the smile and gets back into her battle mindset.

"Good idea. Whenever you're ready."

Patiently, they allow the group to continue unperturbed. To the point where they even pass Phantom's position. That is when Calamity springs the trap as she emerges from cover, plants the shield down and blocks the way forward completely. And in case this does stop them dead in their tracks, she makes sure that her shotgun will.

And as she incurs the wrath of the survivors' combined firepower, Phantom sneaks up behind him with his knife already drawn and begins carving up the prey. First, he stabs into the back of the toughest looking guy. As the air escapes out of his lungs in a glorious gasp, the knife is driven in even further before he pulls it back. The man then falls to his knees, allowing Phantom to easily reach over and cut his throat. Sputtering and in immense pain, the guy collapses before Calamity's shield.

The shock of his sudden death has caused disarray with the other three. Both Calamity and Phantom take advantage of this. He swings to his high left and then swings to the low right, disabling the two standing directly in front of him. The woman on his left has recovered rather quickly and fights back. But her wild punch towards an invisible enemy is fruitless as Phantom bypasses it and manages to slide the knife right into the side of her neck. Her once powerful punching arm now goes limp and so does her body later. After retrieving his knife from the neck, he turns around to dispatch of the other wounded man. Who now looks up from a hurt, kneeled position. This proved to be a bad move as within the blink of an eye, Phantom has taken advantage of the revealed underside of his head. By thrusting his blade up into it, skewering both tongue and palate onto this one blade. When peeking through the slightly opened mouth, he can see its by-blood-tainted shine.

Calamity meanwhile blows the left shin off the last man still standing. He loses balance right away and hits the floor lower jaw first. Biting down hard on his own tongue before receiving a swift kick to the face, loosening his jaw for good. In tremendous pain, he tries to roll and crawl away. But Calamity catches up very easily and makes sure that his kidney gets good kicking. Immobilized and already coughing up blood, she has to be quick before her weapon is robbed from a kill. Therefore she puts the breacher muzzle brake directly against the back of the man's head. And pulls the double-blast trigger. Coating the floor and at least one of Phantom's slain victims in a red pulp with boney bits.

"I like this tactic." Phantom comments as he becomes visible again.

"Especially the horror when they realize that they have encountered certain death. Although, I must say…"

He looks around the mess they have made.

"Maybe next time less showmanship and more straight-on killing?"

Calamity takes that proposal into consideration before dismissing it. If they have to cleanse the floor all the way down, it better not get monotonous. With that, Phantom can agree.

"Well, we've got about ten more floors to go. How about it?"

Calamity lets him go first and Phantom goes up in smoke to maintain stealth. Which seems kind of unnecessary, as the next two floors are completely empty. So he turns it back off.

Signs of a hasty retreat are everywhere. From toppled cabinets, broken screens, shattered keyboards and even several trash can fires. But they all went further down stairs judging by the footsteps all leading down.

A quick check with PAL, indicates that the floor below them has a small plaza with various vendors where some illicit and not very legal weapons would be sold. Now of course all abandoned. And therefore a perfect place to ambush them.

"There's no way around. We'll literally be walking into a trap." Phantom sighs before grinning.

"Unless…"

He turns his invisibility back on.

"... they can't kill what they cannot see."

Confident, they proceed to the lower floor. There is a simple doorway with a horizontally sliding door. Before reaching it however, Phantom tells Calamity to stay behind. Should anyone be having an eye on the door, they would spot her immediately. She understands and stands down.

He moves on his own. The door opens before him but he makes sure that he stays just behind the door frame as it does. A good move, because there was at least one set of eyes looking in their direction. Judging by the Trevor imitator trying to kill him by shooting straight into the doorway.

"Cheeky bastard. Almost got me there. Now, stay here until I give the signal. Depending on when I give it, you'd be very bored or in for one hell of a ride." Phantom says before going out there.

He descends the white, almost marble looking stairs and looks over the entire plaza. It is narrow but quite long. And it is cluttered in the same way as the previous floors were as well. But it feels more ominous. Like, somehow in some kind of weird way, he is being watched.

Once he descended the stairs, he carefully maneuvers through the plaza. Making sure to keep an eye open for anything on the ground before him. And it is a good thing that he does, because he has already found a tripwire that would have setoff something that is inside a metal container. It could be a sentry gun or a big bomb. He would rather not find out.

He passes the trap and goes for one of the first vendor stalls closest to him. Likely, it is manned with armed guards so he has to be careful. He reaches the door and stacks up on its left side. He is tempted to knock on the door and as it is opened to jam his knife straight into the guy, but he cannot tell if that guy would be alone in there. He cannot risk it.

So he has to try the door. From the looks of it, it opens inward. So he takes out of his silenced carbine, holding it close to his chest as he very carefully opens the door. It leads to a thin walkway where normally the cashier would stand. In all honesty, the whole thing makes him think of a shooting gallery one would find at a fare. Ahead, he can see a door leading to the back rooms so that is where he is going to go.

Back at the top of the stairs, Calamity has now been waiting for an uncomfortable amount of time. Granted; an extended period of time where she has not managed to kill a guy is considered to be uncomfortable. But Phantom has been silent for too long. And considering his otherwise brash attitude, this is rather uncommon.

Now both curious and concerned, she takes a few steps forward. Making sure not to get into the crosshairs of that sniper but close enough to see out to the plaza. She is tempted to contact him over the radio, but refrains from it. Such an action could distract him.

Then there is a loud bang coming from one of the stalls closest to the stairs. The blast comes from within and is big enough to blow the door Phantom went into wide open. Gray smoke comes pouring out. Now, she has to call out to him.

"Phantom? Are you okay?" she whispers, but does not receive an answer.

Then, out of the smoke, Phantom emerges. His white fur is visibly blackened by the soot and his coughing like a hag. But otherwise, he seems fine.

"F-ine… ack! Bloody boobytrapping assholes!"

As he recovers from his hacking, he sees Calamity at the top of the stairs. And instantly he remembers that sniper. So he screws off the silencer, comes sure to step into its potential range and then opens fire on the general area where he first saw the first shot come from.

Seeing him provide covering fire, she quickly deploys her shield and descends the stairs. Then she flashes the projection screen so that everyone that is looking in her general direction is properly flashed. Making sure she does not do it the moment Phantom is looking in her direction. And soon enough, she reaches him at the now smoking hut.

"So… care to tell me what happened?"

"Smoke bomb. A big one. Assholes booby-trapped this whole place. This whole place is wired up to several central command units. One of which was inside of this building. If we can get back in there, I can hack in and disable everything." Phantom explains.

"What do you mean "if"? What's inside of there you can't handle?"

"Aside from the choking smoke? Several gung-ho sentries with more ammo than aim. The slightest sound or semblance of movement. and they open fire. Invisibility is not going to work with their thermal sights. Your shield on the other hand…"

"I got it. Stay behind me and only pop out when I tell you to."

"Yes ma'am."

With her shield deployed, she enters first. With Phantom right behind her. Making sure to cover their mouths and noses with rags that they found nearby. And turning on their own thermal viewers so they can maneuver through the smoke. Once the two enter the back room, Calamity sees it leads to a set of stairs going down. And from there, she can hear the beeping, constant checking and even the sparse burst of gunfire from the sentry guns Phantom described. They just go off whenever they feel like it.

Calamity understands and whispers to him that she is going in first. Draw all of their fire. Meanwhile, Phantom would slip into the shadows and disable them. With the plan formulated, the two move downstairs. She makes sure to cover her feet as much as possible as the beeping is coming closer.

The moment even a shred of her shield and heat signature is visible to one of them, it goes off and starts firing right at her. The second one responds to the first one's fire and aims right at Calamity too. While number three also responds but cannot find any target so it fires all over the place. Straight into power supply of the second one before its wild, spastic moments causes it to topple over on its own. It beeps like a maniac and sprays bolts all over the place before shutting down on its own.

Now only needing to deal with only one single gun, Calamity charges right at it and uses her shield to bowl it over. The first one responds exactly like the third one and soon shuts down.

"You made that look so easy." Phantom sighs.

Calamity shrugs.

"A matter of luck, really. Now, get down here and get us out of this hellish carnival."

He does not lag behind long and runs down the stairs to rush to the console. Making sure not to step on the downed turrets. He gets his fingers working on it and he sees that this console is not controlled by PAL. It is a separate unit running off the base's power but its main computer is somewhere else. He also sees that other systems are like this, like the elevators.

"I wish I had one of those dongle's Patches has… but I'm in. Getting the ventilation here to turn back on for one."

He taps something into the console and then the vents start making vacuum cleaner noises. And very soon, they are able to discard the rags.

"As for the stuff above us… turning off the nasty traps… now!"

With the final press of the button, the traps and other hazards are disabled. At least, the connections are. And this creates an unfortunate situation; much like the crazed sentry guns now on the ground, everything above them is going nuts. So Phantom quickly shuts the door to this control room. Should anything come their way, it would be blocked by the door. It also works surprisingly soundproofing.

Now, waiting for everything to settle down, Phantom takes a moment to catch his breath. He sits down and leans against the wall next to the console. While Calamity leans against it. There is a calming silence between the two. A sort of respectful comfort. They do not have to talk. Words are not needed.

Then a speaker that is hanging in the upper far left corner of the room comes alive. And the voice sounds very gravely and pessimistic. Like a doomsday preacher that smoked three packs a day.

"Hello there, intruders. It was quite the spectacle to see you fall for my traps. The rest of us? Already pulled back. They left me here to make sure you die here. And I know who you both are, yes I do. Especially that lil' pup that is probably cowering in fear. Not the woman though. No, we know how tough as nails you are. Which is why, if you come out, we could even offer you a job amongst our ranks. Besides, why would you stay with a bitch like him? We know you don't like him. Heck, no one in his team likes him. According to my knowledge, your commander spits him out regularly, his second-in-command thinks of him as pathetic, your direct commander just added him to complete your sorry excuse for a team and the rest of you hate being around him. Think of him as incompetent or just useless. Those closest to him only go to him when they have nothing else to do. Nothing short of a little faggot."

As this unknown venomously rattles off about everything that is wrong with Phantom, the insulted one himself is seen nodding along it. Seemingly agreeing with what is being said. He tries to front a poker face and act like it is not hurting him. But the facade starts to crack the longer the audio torture goes along. And while Calamity could at first stomach it, even enjoy it as some kind of roast… once she sees how it is really hurting him, she takes the butt of her shotgun, climbs onto the console and slams the stock straight into the speaker. It fizzles out and falls silent.

"Hey." she calls out to him, catching his attention.

"Fuck that guy."

She comes down from the console and extends her hand to him.

"Come on; we got a battle to win. Together."

Her unexpected kindness causes the mask to crack fully. And while the tears stream free, he gets up with a smile and a grand amount of confidence. If someone like Calamity can make him feel like that, then what battle can they not overcome?

With the explosions and disarray already fizzled out above, he and Calamity come up with a plan. When it has been formulated, he opens up the door, turns on his active camouflage and is ready to show this badmouthing bastard what for.

Calamity is the first to come out in the open, with her shield already present. The instant she is visible, is when a shot rings it. But the projectile dents itself into the toughness of her shield. She now knows where the shot came from; from a bunch of bushes in a garden section at the very end of the plaza. And she has learned from a past mistake; she packed her assault rifle this time. From her covered position, she starts firing at the area where the shot came from. Not sure if she would hit the shooter, but at least he would be suppressed.

Phantom meanwhile, taking advantage of Calamity covering fire, is rushing towards the location of the sniper. However, as he gets closer, he can see the devastation left behind by what he has triggered. He can hear it too; as the very ground below him starts to rumble. The plaza is suspended above something it seems. And it is getting closer to collapsing.

He warns Calamity of the incoming danger and vows to deal with the sniper as soon as possible. So he starts sprinting, even with the potential risk of that sniper finding movement or hearing something out of the ordinary. He reaches the stairs leading up to the garden area, with the knife already drawn.

The sniper meanwhile is growing frustrated with the Calamity's shield. Even aiming for her hand or gun is working thanks to the forcefield that surrounds that portion. He is desperately searching for a weak point, but he also has to contend with her sporadic, if dangerously accurate return fire.

He tries to clear his mind as he adjusts his zoom to look for the imperfections in her defense. And Phantom, very thoughtfully, provides him with a very effective way of doing so. By applying the ancient tactic of knife to the brainstem.

"Who's the faggot now?" he whispers close to the dying sniper's head before he pulls the knife back out.

The sniper falls out of the man's hands and the blood stains a piece of paper that was to his left. With pre-written lines to taunt him with. But he does not care if they were not of the sniper's own creation. He is dead now. And the writer of the papers? They will be too. Priority kicks back in and he tells Calamity to leg it.

Which she does right away. And as she does, the groaning below her gets louder and louder. Pieces start to crumble away and parts of the plaza start to shift downwards. Making it so that she has to run up at an angle now.

"Crap!" he says to himself as he can see this going very wrong.

So he runs back towards those same stairs and urges her to hurry up. However, words do not help in this situation. But actions will. Cursing up his entire repertoire, he rushes to assist Calamity to get her out of there. As the ground slowly crumbles beneath their feet, revealing an abyss down below.

Not planning to fall forever, he makes sure to carry her along as the slope becomes harder and harder to traverse. To add to all of this madness, the supports at the back right end of the plaza give way, creating a domino effect of the entirety of the start of the plaza coming down. And dragging everything with it.

They have almost reached safety however and manage to get up the stairs. Now the crumbling is out of control as the middle section is already falling down. With all of the stalls and their control rooms. And cracks are already starting to show in the stairs they are ascending right now. The final step disintegrates just beneath Phantom's foot before Team 2 has officially reached safety.

The two now overlook the vacant area where the big plaza was. Everything is gone now. But they are safe. At the very least. Calamity pads on Phantom's shoulder, thanking him for the assist. He replies, out of breath and shaking with adrenaline, that it was nothing really.

"I mean, look at the view we have created. Look, I can even see an elevator shaft in the distance. And… an out of control elevator coming down?"

They watch it go down in a rush, with sparks spraying everywhere as it leaves a heated trail over the rail it is still attached to. Then they get a message from a rather panicked Kip; Trevor has stepped into an elevator and it has completely lost control!

"What…?" Phantom mutters in disbelief as his eyes follow the out of control cabin go down at a very high speed.

"Oh no… Trevor…" Calamity's voice shivers, as her mind races through multiple, horrifying scenario's.