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.

8. Episode 8: Burned Out

Episode 8: Burned Out

Prologue

"Invigorating speech there, Major Rothlinghe. But I am afraid that "Militia problem" you are having, is kind of our fault. But I will not need to apologize, as I have found the key to stopping you from interfering with us."

"OpErAtIoN sUnShInE wIlL bE tHeIr EnD!"

"Precisely. We will destroy Nova 7 in one fell swoop. How far along is our bug inside your limitless potential?"

"We HeAr ThE sArCaSm. Do NoT dIsReSpEcT wHaT cAn KiLl YoU iN aN iNsTaNt, YoU nAt!"

"And here I thought we were friends, ol' pal. Ah, no matter. We still work together for a common goal. Corneria's annihilation."

"PrEcIsElY!"

"E-excuse me, my Lord. A-are you alone in here?"

"What do you want!?"

"Eep! I-I… was just relaying that the Node is ready for transportation to the location you have specified. S-should we really waste Epsilon Team like this?"

"Excuse you!? How dare you doubt my plans!?"

"S-sorry my Lord! A thousand and one apologies! It's just… I-I-I have a friend in Epsilon…"

"If he is anything like you, then it is better that he is as far away from me as possible. You know what? If you are so attached to that particular buffoon, you can come along with him."

"But… I don't know how to fight…"

"Then look good for the camera; I do not care. Bring the Node with you, make him stick to the script. And bring Nova 7 to you. That is your last order. Now get out."

"Y-y-yes… My Lord. It w-was a pleasure serving you… g-goodbye…"

"Is He…?"

"Yeah, he is gone."

"GoOd IdEa To GeT rId OfF tHaT wEaKlInG. bUt hIs UsElEsSnEsS mAdE uS tHiNk; WhAt If He MeSsEs ThIs Up?"

"We still have Husky Team. And the moment your bug has the machine's entire backbone under control, that is when we will strike. Aiming right for the troublemakers."

"ThE mIlItIa! OuR kNoWn EnEmY wIlL bE cRuShEd!"

"Definitely. If I had to lose two people so close to me…"

"EmOtIoNs ArE eAsY tO MaNiPuLaTe. BuT pOwErFul! ThAt Is ThE lAsT tHiNg OuR BrOtHeR tRaNsMiTtEd BeFoRe ThAt FiEnD kIlLeD hIm! ThIs WiLl BrEak HiM!"

"Of course, if he is dead before that…"

"... ArE yOu SeRiOuS?"

"Okay, okay, I will let you cook. But do it quietly then; I need to keep an ear open for anything else juicy."

1 - Rising

- Operation Sunshine

"Given the nature, urgency and secrecy of this operation… as well as the tense situation at base, I have decided to cut you guys some slack and have the briefing on your ship. I can already hear Phantom cheer for that one. Please do remember that it's not a luxury cruise; stay professional. I'll contact you soon enough in the conference room. Pleasant flight, Nova 7."

With those words in the back of their heads, Nova 7 takes off in what can now be called their transport ship. It is a welcome palette cleanser from the grayness of the base. And all of the tension and trauma that was experienced within its concrete walls in the last day or so. Their trip will likely take a few hours just like before so the team settles in nicely.

Kip and Phantom are having some late breakfast while they talk about that small interaction they had after the meeting where they heard what the fugly toad's idea was to cope with the increasing social pressure following the debacle on Fortuna. Kip is appreciative but does not understand why he of all people stepped forward like that. Phantom in turn explains that he himself hates being singled out and does not like it when others around him are as well. So, as a two birds with one stone approach, he makes sure that he himself and the other person are not singled out. Because if they are together in some way, there is no one single.

"Very admirable. I'm glad I was wrong about you." Kip admits.

"Thank you, Kip. I'm doing my best." Phantom states humbly.

"I got a long way to go, but I'm not giving up now."

"Positive reinforcement goes a long way, I think." she winks at him before both start chuckling.

At that moment, Patches walks by and asks them if they have seen Calamity. Kip points her to the bathroom as she is taking her prescribed medicine. And given how those things make her act intoxicated for a few minutes, she essentially locked herself in there.

Which is exactly what the bunny wants to prevent because what if she has a reaction to the medicine or hurts herself in there? Like a concerned mother, she then rushes to the bathroom. Leaving Kip and Phantom a little flabbergasted.

"Quite noble of her." the fox comments.

"Trevor taught her well, I suppose."

"Oh? She wasn't always like this?"

"No, she wasn't at all. From what I heard, she was pretty much in constant survival mode. Like a feral creature forced into the corner, always lashing out. Trevor went in anyway, but instead of acting like everyone else did around her, he offered her something else."

"Friendship?"

"Pretty much. He did what you did; making sure neither of them is singled out and alone."

The warmness in which she says this to him, makes his heart beat faster with childish happiness. A little positive reinforcement does go a long way.

"So did our Sarge do the same to you?"

Kip already had a mouthful so she nearly chokes on the food from laughing, it is that ridiculous.

"Oh… ow! D-don't make me laugh like that… it'll kill me." she chuckles while wiping her mouth.

"No, Trevor didn't extend his hand towards me. He literally landed on my vehicle. I told him no free rides but he was deaf at that moment I guess. I extended my hand to him. And I don't think he ever denied it."

"I wouldn't either if I got a partner like you." Phantom off-handedly mentions before quickly taking a drink like he never actually said anything.

"Shut it." she giggles while giving him a light jab in the shoulder.

"What? It's true."

While the two chat away, Patches is already sitting on the toilet with the lid down as it was the best place to get some elevation. Holding Calamity's head on her lap while she is talking nonsense from the strong medication while the rest of her body is slumped to the ground. The bunny is agreeing with anything the dog mumbles and tries her best to keep her calm. It almost reminds her of patients waking up after strong anesthesia. It is then a good thing that the dog did not actually lock the door, otherwise she might have slammed her jaw on the toilet. Then again, she would just kick that door open to make sure that her slurry friend would be unharmed.

Soon enough however, lucidity returns to Calamity. And like waking up after an intense dream, she has no idea where she is at first. She lifts her head, rubs her eyes and turns to the person upon whose lap she had been resting. Then her brain starts operating normally again.

"Patch…?"

"Looky here, we have our Boogeywoman back. Had a good nap?"

"T-thanks… I heard all you said."

"And I meant every word of it. Shall we? I think Trevor is ready for action."

"Yeah, sounds good."

Patches stands up, takes her by the hand and the two walk out. She is tempted to avoid Phantom considering how Calamity might react to him but that is of secondary importance. After all, as a XO, it is also her responsibility to get those lazy privates in line. She walks past the two as they are just finishing up and shouts that they gotta move their butts to the conference room yesterday.

It receives a quick salute from Phantom but an overly exaggerated sigh from Kip. Which Patches instantly "punishes" by threatening to actually do what their Sergeant threatened before; eat her leftovers. Shocked and appalled, Kip apologizes and says that she will do better. She gives a quick salute, which Patches handily returns. Then very cordially, she and Phantom join in the convoy.

While they are on their way there, Patches brings up the fact that despite them being on his ship several times, they never actually gave it a name. And not like the designated military name but like a nickname. To personalize it, make it more their own. Even if it is effectively on loan from the Admiral, it would make it even more homely.
"Tell you what; bring it up with Trevor then. I'm sure he'd like a say in it too." Kip mentions.

"I suggest that we have several contributions and then have, like a lottery. Like grabbing little notes from a hat." Phantom advises.

"Hm. Decent idea, Private. I'll keep that in mind." Patches responds.

Soon the group enters the conference room where Trevor is going through some data with PAL. Pleasantly surprised by his team being already here, five minutes too early, he tells them they could grab something from the bar if they feel like it, and that they could take their seats. They will start early then.

"Right then Gents, thank you for being here so early. We have three points. First of: given the aftermath of our last mission, we weren't able to do a rundown. So I instructed our Nelly to give us a general refill, with exceptions made for Patches and Phantom. Also, he has managed to give us the final teaser for our upgrades before the real deal."

That gets the team talking with tempered excitement before Trevor takes control over the room again.

"But first and foremost, our new operation. PAL, hook 'em up."

"Yes Sir!"

The machine floats towards the table and hooks himself up. The Major, Lieutenant Warden and Nelson all appear.

"Major, Lieutenant, Nelson. Nova 7 is ready."

"That is early, kudos everyone." the Lieutenant mentions.

"Good indeed. Right, listen up everyone. This is it; your final mission. Operation Sunshine. The cause of this whole Aparoid debacle has been identified. It was not, as we thought before, Martin Baker. Or anyone carrying that name. No, the actual cause of this Lylat-wide problem, as well as that rebel uprising on Fortuna was someone called the "Node". But I'm pretty sure anyone could identify this guy. Nelson, play it."

"Yes Sir! And thanks for not calling me Nelly…" he states under his breath before they all turn to face the holographic screen that appears.

On the screen a video starts playing. Judging by the quality, it is very amateur. But the resolution, bad audio quality and shoddy setting matters little, as the "Node" is clearly visible. And no amount of bad lighting and setup could hide that it is Andrew Oikonny. He has himself tied to a chair by something that looks like a straightjacket and is very menacingly looking at the camera.

"Right, Cornerian scum. Look upon me and see your doom! You may have wiped away my work on your home planet, Katina and on Fortuna, but I have learned of my mistakes! And right now, my greatest scheme is awaiting completion on Macbeth. I shall use it to annihilate that annoying, blue ball you call home! Do you think you are fast enough to stop it? To stop the ascension of my glorious rise!? Well, do you? Nova… 7?"

The shock is instantaneous with everyone as the screen fades away into nothingness. How could that ape possibly know of their existence? Trevor and Kip are critical about it however, because they noticed how relatively subdued he looked. And he was also looking at something or someone past the camera. In particular when he told them their team name. Almost as if he was reading from a cue card.

Patches and Phantom remain relatively quiet about it but are having a little bit of panic going on under the hood. Calamity on the other hand is suppressing a fair bit of bloodlust, because how dare this puke mention their name?

"That was… apparently Andrew Oikonny. Nephew of Andross and an all around fantastic person to be around." sighs Nelson.

"This is a threat that we take very seriously. Hence why Command is sending us out right away. And also why we couldn't do this in Room 99F or the War Room. As the latter one is not done just yet." the Major states.

"How can we be sure this was sent from Macbeth?" Trevor inquires.

"We managed to track the video signals origin to a location on Macbeth. It was trying to mask itself by sending it through different points through the Meteo belt but we didn't fall for that. The location on Macbeth is rather… eccentric." Nelson claims before a slowly spinning 3D structure appears.
It looks like a black marble tower, very smooth and with very tiny windows. It is built within a mountain with at least 75% visible and seems to run down several floors down into the ground as well judging by what is known.

"This is a relic leftover from the Lylat Wars. Made just after kicking Andross out. It was Corneria's one and only attempt to start a government-owned weapons research facility on that planet that would not fall victim to the scheming and corruption of the already established companies. This went well for a while… too well. There were no restrictions on the research or testing. What happened behind those walls, was nothing short of shocking. In the end, it still fell victim to a corporate power grab. But even they did not want anything to do with something this vile. So it was left to gather dust after everything of value was stripped away and millions of files were burned." the Lieutenant explains, getting rather uncomfortable during the portion where he had to mention what went on inside that building.

Trevor and Phantom in the meantime, almost in unison, had stepped forward to take a better look. Because they could swear they knew this place. They lock eyes and know it almost for sure.

"Is that…?"

"Yes, it is Phantom. The Badlands. We have seen that environment too many times during our stay there. No one went there because they said there was nothing to find there. It is a dry zone; no minerals at all. Therefore, no profit. But that building was the reason then." Trevor reasons.

"I always thought that thing was some kind of old prison tower." Phantom says.

"Regardless of its purpose, we now face a different issue. We must get Andrew Oikonny." the Major interrupts.

"1/2 is in effect, or otherwise known as a kill/capture order. I would prefer you'd put him out of our misery but he could reveal everything about his operation. I'll leave it up to your discretion."

"We will exercise… discretion, Major." Calamity chuckles morbidly as she simulates cracking her knuckles.

"Good. Now, some bad news. Despite our high clearance and unlimited access to all the documents we need, we cannot find anything on the inside of this building. All we know is that the signal came from the 34th floor of the building. We'll keep trying to dig it up, but until then you'll be blind inside. Stay together, expect the unexpected and find that damn dirty ape!"

"Nova 7 is ready for action, Sir!" Trevor proudly states.

"Excellent. You will touch down in less than two hours. I expect you to hear from you ASAP."

"Understood, Major. Anything else we should be aware of?"

"Nelson?"

"Yes, Major. We expect a sandstorm to hit you within just two hours after touchdown. So please do move fast or else extraction will be very difficult. Furthermore, the 64th of Corporal Munt will try to be there in case of needed assistance but negotiations with the Admiral about loaning out another ship is going very difficult right now. So don't rely on them. As for the rest, business as usual." Nelson reports.

"Hm. Rather impressive. You made quite the impression on that Corporal. Enough so that he is ready to cross half of Lylat to be your backup." the Lieutenant remarks positively.

"It's the mustache, Sir." Trevor jokingly states as he strokes it with his index finger.

Expecting her to jab him in the shoulder at any moment, the Lieutenant looks at Patches. But she only nods her head at him and states it definitely must be the mustache.

"Thank you, Patch."

"Just being a good XO, Sir." the bunny chirps with her hands behind her back, all cheery-like.

"Glad to see the team chemistry is still there. Any questions? None? Good. Now, get familiar with the toys we managed to accumulate over the past days. We did our best to get as much as possible. And in case anyone was worried about that toad and the "conversation" we had; drop it. Focus on the mission; we'll fix things so you can come back home. All of you."

The emphasis at the end of the sentence was mainly meant for the two Militia in the room.

"Good luck. Nova 7, forever!"

"Forever!" the rest chants back.

The Major walks off-screen afterwards. The Lieutenant blows a quick kiss to his bunny girl before saluting everyone. And Nelson joins in with the saluting. Although he does give a cheeky wink to Phantom, possibly as revenge for what he did during breakfast that day. The arctic fox is not sure how to take it, making him uncomfortably blush. But he hides it well.

PAL disconnects from the table and all the images disappear. Then he hovers back to Phantom and Trevor takes over again.

"Well, we heard it. The Andross family is apparently as hard to wipe out as the Aparoids turn out to be. But I feel like we are ready to get that monkey and beat the answers right out of him. Now I know some of you would rather blow his head off, but he is worth more alive than dead. So despite the Major's words, I don't want this to be a headhunting mission. We are above that… just a little bit." he states with some cheekiness at the end.

"I wouldn't mind hanging that bastard's head on my wall, to be honest." Phantom grumbles.

"Oh, quit your grumbling!" Calamity snarls.

"We all want to have that guy's head on our walls. Don't be so selfish."

She sounded a lot more teasing and less vicious with her last sentence. Especially with the "selfish" part. What that means is not entirely known but he will take it.

"If we are done with arguing over non-existent loot, I would like to get to my third point. Which turned out to be more fitting than before. I realize that in a short time after our activation, we've been through hell. Our first mission thrusted us into the fray, the second mission was textbook and the third mission was a success but messed with our minds. And yet, we are still together. I'm proud of that and also of all of you. No matter what will come during this mission and after that, know that I will never change my opinion about that."

He smiles before he points to PAL.

"Glad you're on our side. I'll be sure to get you the 7-6 designation, for real."

PAL's light turns bright green. Then Trevor's finger moves over to Phantom.

"My friend, keep working on yourself and no one will dare to kick you off the team. Not even her."

Phantom nods in acknowledgement, while in actuality he is holding back some emotions that tempt him to make his eyes well up. Trevor's finger slides over to the right side of the table and stops at Calamity.

"My beautiful fianceé, together with you I feel nothing but strong. May you stick by my side forever."

"Awwh, Trevor! You have such a way with words sometimes…" Calamity responds, lightly swooning.

"Sometimes? Always you mean." he says, to which she rolls her eyes but cannot help but smirk.

Then the finger slides over to Kip.

"What would I be without my steadfast partner? Probably lying dead in a muddy trench or flattened by a roller Aparoid. So keep being my knight in mercenary armor."

"As long as you keep biting the dust… no, I shouldn't say that. Always, partner." she responds with a two-finger salute, like he did before.

"And finally, my trusty XO. My 1. I couldn't ask for a better one. From cop to Specialist, you are something remarkable. Keep being my eyes for what I'm blind to."

"Until I become a -1, I'm not going anywhere." she swears, very tempted to raise a glass she does not have.

"Right with uhm… that tear-jerker out of the way…" he says while wiping away at least one.

"...are there any more questions before I let you loose to play with your new toys?"

Patches' hand goes up.

"Yes, Patch?"

"I was informed by everyone else that we haven't named our ship yet. And despite it not really being our ship, it would be nice to have one. You know?"

"Hm, that would be nice indeed. Assuming we get to keep it. Tell you what; everyone thinks of a name. And after we have managed to catch ourselves an ape, we will hold a ceremony for christening this ship. But no one dares to waste a perfectly good bottle or you're mine. Alright? Alright. Then you are dismissed. Try out your new toys and get yourselves mentally ready."

TECH: Personal CID-PALs V1.2; Excerpts

---

Welcome to Version 1.2 of the The CID-PALs system. Or CID for short. The previous version was unable to receive a proper new manual, which we have rectified with this release. Co-developed by Space Dynamics, [REDACTED] and various other unaffiliated civilian experts, funded by the Cornerian Army for the express and only usage with [REDACTED]. This manual will explain its additional upgrades and how to use/wear it correctly.

[...]

The first new addition is a broadcasting mode. Which includes various forms of communication, like for example:

· Radio
· Redtooth
· Net
· U-GPS
· A CID-PALs exclusive wireless connection

The CID-PALs wireless connection is a special feature of the CID V1.2. It allows for instant and internal communication between the wearers of the CID in question. With this feature, it allows for both direct and encrypted audio communication and text messaging between a squad of a maximum of 8. To enable this feature, one of the CID wearers must have the PAL module installed. Once the connection between all relevant members has been made, the connection will stay regardless of distance. Even if the PAL module detaches afterwards.

NOTICE:

Before using the wireless connection, please be aware that the encryption has been updated to the latest version.

[...]

The second new addition is personal customization. With this we do not mean color changes, as any operator can do this already of their own accord. This customization is for third-party or otherwise created gadgets to work with the CID system. With this, the operator will be able to suit their CID for combat in a way they see fit. This also includes scavenged weaponry in the heat of battle. Make sure you follow the proper procedures when installing third-party units or otherwise, or else there could be interference with the CID unit. Which could decrease one's battle performance or result in injuries to the wearer and those around them. Consult Page 131 of the handbook and make sure you follow all of the instructions.

[...]

The third and final addition is an improved battery performance, alongside better protection for the battery and other miscellaneous installed products. To add to this, we have added a reserve battery in case of the main battery failure or general CID failure. If a failure occurs due to trauma to the operator or excessive damage to the CID, a manual reset is placed near the operator's neck section of the CID. Be aware that this reset must only be used in an emergency! As the system will assume the worst. Therefore auxiliary and secondary functions are disabled and will require a full restart and recalibration afterwards to re-enable them. Any third-party units or gadgets previously attached, or even first-party gear that is considered of secondary importance, will be ejected from the CID unit to lighten it as much as possible. The Ejection Protocol has been added as well, but this should be used only as a last resort.

---

- Blazing Sands

Dressed in battlegear and in total silence, the Nova 7 team is waiting for the cue. The only sounds are the rumbling of the ship's structure as it descends into Macbeth's atmosphere. There is no visible suspense, just professional silence. Some are internally talking courage into themselves, whereas with some they prefer to just hold hands and even others simply stare past everything and have their brain set to 0.

The battle plan is clear: the moment they have landed, they will charge into the building. Before dropping off, they give PAL something to do as well. Just in case there are emplacements or turrets of any kind around, he will use the onboard cannons to blow those up.

Every time a red light comes on, it means it is not safe to go out. Not necessarily because they are still up in the air but also because PAL is opening fire. So once the rumbling stops, the gunfire which replaces it is a welcome change of pace. And considering how much PAL is firing, there must be a lot of emplacements. That, or the A.I. has finally lost it. Would not be much of a difference.

After circling and strafing the compound several times, the ship leads in for landing. The green light comes on and that is the signal for them to disembark. The exit opens up and the sands of Macbeth are coming into view. Trevor gives a quick kiss to Calamity, tells her he loves him just in case and gives a final good luck to everyone else. Then, as swift as an arrow, they run out of the loading bay together. The moment they touch the ground, they start running like hell.

Behind them, the ship takes off again on autopilot and makes one last strafing run before flying away. Meanwhile they keep on running, despite some sporadic gun and mortar fire coming their way. No matter the dirt, noise, exhaustion or pain. As any resistance is swiftly subdued or outright destroyed by the ship.

It has not managed to destroy everything however. A particularly nasty looking bunker was hit but the shot somehow glanced off. Leaving only a black scorch mark. The crew or mechanism inside was thoroughly rocked by it so they could not respond fast enough for Nova 7's approach. And now they are below the gun emplacement with their backs against its wall.

Trevor looks at Phantom and nods. Whereupon Phantom reaches around his back, grabs PAL by his pop-out handle and throws him inside. There are sounds of confusion inside before a series of loud beeps. Which is instantly followed by panic, which in turn is cutdown by a hail of gunfire as the machine gun that was pointed outwards turns inwards. After all the biological entities have been eradicated, PAL sabotages all other systems inside before hovering back out.

"Fire in the hole." he states maliciously without a need to scream.

Seconds later, the power cores start to overheat which sends power surges through the cannon and its other systems. The heat becomes too much to handle and before the metal has a chance to melt, it blows up. PAL however, hovers out of the slit, not worse for wear and clicks back onto Phantom's back. With that obstacle taken care of, Nova 7 moves along again. And unopposed, they enter the building.

The door requires some persuasion, but Calamity knows just how to use her words. If her words were her feet kicking the doors down until the hinges are launched like a cork from a champagne bottle. With a fantastic bang, the door falls flat onto the floor and the hinges clatter and bounce further down. Everything inside is dark and deserted so their lights are turned on right away. And with the new iteration of their CID system, the amount of lumen has been increased so even in pitch black darkness, they can see far ahead of them.

Spotting what looks like a service desk on their right, Trevor tells Phantom and PAL to find out what is behind there. Perhaps to sap some still functioning computer systems for a blueprint or floor print. Then he looks up and sees a vent entrance. But first he directs Kip and Calamity to the front, near an artwork piece that at some point must have been used as a replacement for a fountain, to set up some defensive lines should anyone be stupid enough.

When they are on their way, Trevor directs Patches to the vent. He silently pops the grate off with his silenced sniper and catches it as it comes down, putting it aside. Then he kneels down, holding out his hands. She gets the hint, uses his hands as a step to get up onto his shoulders. Then Trevor stands up and Patches jumps up to the vent. She catches on to the bottom and swings herself in. They are ready for action.

"7-1 to base. 7-1 to base. We are in."

The radio crackles to life.

"Excellent job! We are still trying to find something to give you some eyes and reprieve. We'll keep you updated." Nelson relays.

"If only we knew where to start looking, that is…" he then mutters agitated.

While behind him, the Major is in a somewhat similar mood, holding back a twitch as he watches with on Nelson's many screens. He has felt old before but this is going too fast for his doing. It might also have something to do with the fact that simultaneously they are looking into the problem they were having. Because how is it possible not to have those files on hand?

"Easy there, Clef. I can see that the vein on your forehead is about to pop and I am standing behind you. Relax, it will be alright." Damian promises to his friend.

The Major would love to take him up on his offer but there is something about this, which is not sitting well with him. It is circulating in his head faster and faster until it somewhat resembles a tornado. But relief is soon to arrive as Nelson states that he has found something.

"This should be it, Sir. But it's very strange. It says the folder has been altered yesterday, but it doesn't say by whom or at what time it was last altered. It's puzzling…"

He tries to open the file but it requires a password. He tries his own, the one he always uses for these kinds of files. But he pressed to confirm, a red message pops up stating it is incorrect. He turns to the Major, who sighs because he has the feeling he has to everything around here sometimes. He types in his code but he also receives a red message.

"What the…?"

"Allow me." the big bird then intervenes as he types in his code.

"Damian, with all due respect… but if mine aren't working… then how is…?"

The Major is interrupted by a positive note played and a green message popping up. Eager, Nelson instantly dives into it. He does not exactly find what he was looking for.

"Dammit! This isn't good. It looks like someone took all of the files and applied a virtual lawnmower to it. I'm pretty sure everything is here… I just need some time and virtual glue."

He taps his headset.

"Nova 7-1, come in."

"Go ahead, Nelly."

"Oh, for crying out… urgh… We have found the files. The problem being that it will take some time to get it all right as rain. I'll keep you in the loop for more."

"Sorry, I couldn't resist." Trevor chuckles before he presses the button near the elevator, which is not working.

"But take your time for now; Phantom and PAL managed to find some floorplans on a barely functioning computer. However, he also found traces of Aparoid presence in the files. He has managed to eradicate them. It only means we are on the right track."

"Copy that. Stay on your toes, guys. The last thing I need is to send a clean-up team after you."

"No worries; we aren't planning to mess up here. 7-1 out."

Then he looks up at the ventilation shaft he "launched" Patches into just before.

"Patch! Everything alright in there?"

"Will you relax, Sarge? I'm almost there." she fusses as she is trying to essentially hotwire the elevator controls.

"Nuh uh; none of the sass."

"Yes daaaad. … There, done."

The light around the button turns a faint orange and the lights just above the door frame turns on as well.

"Well done. I get why even Phantom calls you "Specialist". You are a pro. And don't even dare to think that I cannot perceive you rolling your eyes. I know you well enough." he chuckles while unseen to him, in response Patches sticks her tongue out while simultaneously making a funny face and silently imitating Trevor's teasing behavior.

"Anyhow, we all know the plan still?"

The general answer is a definite yes.

"Then weapons at the ready. Phantom, you and me on the left. Kip and Cal focus on the right. All targets are valid."

Silence mostly returns as the sound of the elevators rising and descending drowns out the breathing of the Nova 7 members. Their orders are clear, anyone that comes out of either elevator is a target. They are not here to take prisoners, expect maybe one. Each knows the gravity of that order because what if someone unarmed comes out? Can they pull the trigger? Several hope to never have to make that choice.

A shrill shriek emerges from the right elevator shaft, as metal grinds against metal in a way it is not supposed to. Then, with an audible snap, as if a giant pair of scissors were used, the cables holding up the elevator fail. The metal box, weighing over several tons, freefalls down and crashes into the ground floor with a hellish racket. The impact cants the elevator doors before it almost tragically dings. The sound slowly dying out like a toy does on a depleted battery.

Then, the one on the left opens without any problems. And without any occupants, which makes those who were doubting sigh in relief.

"Well, I think we know which one we'll be taking. Load up. Patch, I'll see you up top." Trevor states, as Patches states that she is sure she will be there before he is.

And he accepts that challenge. He tells Phantom to press the button to go down so that he and Kip can be dropped off to search the bottom floors for anything useful. After which the remainder will go up to the 34th floor. The arctic fox does not hesitate and pushes the button. Only for nothing to happen. The button does not light up and the doors do not close.

"Alright, that makes things easier then. Phantom, 34th floor please; we'll go as a team then." Trevor adapts.

"Eh, I was never a fan of splitting up anyway." Phantom quips while pressing the button with 34 on it.

"Cal, Patch ain't here. Corrective slap, will ya?"

And his fiancée obliges, making the arctic fox stumble on his feet.

"Thank you."

"I didn't consent to the task transfer."

"It wasn't your choice to begin with." Calamity snickers.

"Please, refrain from bullying." PAL interjects.

"Yeah yeah…"

"Alright, alright. Settle down. 34 is coming up. I want everyone sharp and ready. We're gonna bag us an ape."

- Entrance Of The Conflagration

He blinks several times when his eyes start to stick. Even in low-light mode, his eyes eventually dry out. And he has been staring at the screens for what feels like ages. A way to fit all the pieces together was easy but what if those pieces fit but are incorrect? If only he had done more puzzles as a child, then maybe this would be easier.

"No, I shouldn't think like that. They are counting on me after all." Nelson says to himself and with new resolve continues to figure out the puzzle.

He has already grounded the Major and the Lieutenant to the background. As annoying as backseat drivers are, so are backseat computer "geniuses" trying to help you. They might mean well but it is very distracting. And without the background interference, he can actually get some work done, with multiple files already compiled and made whole again.

Back at the compound, the elevator has brought Nova 7 to their designated floor. The doors open and multiple barrels are instantly pointing out. Seeing no enemies, they remain silent. The flashlights turn back on as this floor too is dark. Although some wires are sparking with live electricity, that is not going to solve their lighting issue.

However, Trevor is missing something with this image as they emerge out of the elevator and spread out. He would have expected a certain bunny girl to have beaten them to the punch.

"Patch? Come in, where are you?" he whispers over the comms, not sure if anyone else is present on this floor.

He gets no response. She must still be underway or in some kind of deadzone. So he gestures to his other teammates to split up for a while. The area they have ended up in has a large pillar extending all the way up to the top of the compound and it is wide enough to facilitate a roundabout style path. Trevor and Phantom will take the left while Kip and Calamity will take the right.

Slow and methodical, they move through until they hear a noise. The lights are killed instantly and the night vision equipment is turned on. They are on high alert but continue to walk ahead. Until they hear another noise coming from above them.

"It's on our side." Trevor whispers.

"Phantom, stay with me. The rest, continue on. Find that ape."

"Copy." Kip replies as she and Calamity move out.

Then another noise comes from above the men, this one is particularly loud. Like someone falling against sheet metal. And they can faintly hear… someone groaning?

"Don't shoot… it's me." Patches grumbles over the comms.

"I fucking slipped… and don't give me that language talk please…"

The grate above them is removed and without any grace she hops out, landing before the men.

"My poor behind caught most of that."

"I'll restrain myself; next time don't keep us in the blind. You good to go?" Trevor checks.

"Yeah, I'm fine."

"I can crack your back for you."

"Heh heh. Oh, you cheeky man you. Maybe another time. I can move it along."

"Alright then. Take point. Nelson, come in. Nova 7 is complete and on the designated floor."

"Copy that! Glad to hear. I'm making good progress here but I'm not there yet for your floor. Continue for now. I will…"

A loud pounding on the shrew's door interrupts his sentence so puts that on hold for now. Without him given permission to enter, the door is forcibly opened and in steps Peter and Rook. Although Peter is more forcefully pushed inside. And then like a pissy housewife, Rook tries to slam the door shut. Forgetting that it closes on its own tempo.

In response, the Major and the Lieutenant rise from their chairs. Not necessarily out of respect as the Major has to restrain himself from reaching over to this sidearm.

"What is this man doing here?!" the toad croaks, very insulted.

"Peter is our guest. Just like you are." the Major replies stone-faced, yet boiling on the inside.

Behind him, the Lieutenant stealthily gestures to Peter to come over to them. The more distance between anyone and that ugly thing in a suit, the better.

"I checked and no one else from MilCiv was registered as a guest here. So, again; what is this man doing here!?"

The arrogance and self-righteousness this man exudes is thick enough to cut with a knife. Some entitled prick who cannot take no for an answer. The vein the Lieutenant mentioned starts to appear again.

"Our guests do not have to registered before coming or staying here. If I let a guest into my own house, I don't register them either. And Peter is our guest here. Therefore, he can stay here for as long as we want him to." the Major replies in a very business-like manner.

But the angry toad is not content with this.

"Why was I not informed of his presence here then?"

"I didn't think it was relevant. Now, if you could please shut your damn flytrap?" he insults through clenched teeth.

"We are witnessing the team on their final mission. So you can either leave or sit your dumb ass down and keep your lips closed, is that clear?"

The message is received loud and clear. The toad, now silenced, looks back at the door and then back at Peter who is already out of his reach and sitting down. He could just storm out but that would make him look weak.

"No… I shall stay." he replies grumbling.

"Good. Then you sit between me and the Lieutenant. And not a word."

As the now four take their seats, Nelson brings the connection with Nova 7 back.

"Sorry guys, but we had two guests come by. One of them uninvited but now muzzled." Nelson reports scathingly.

"Glad to have you in our corner again, Nelson. Is it who I think it was?"

"Heh heh! 10 points for you, Trevor."

"I'm catching up it seems." the fox relays to his bunny XO.

"Maybe, but I'm still in the lead." she replies tongue-in-cheek.

"Any further progress on the blueprints, Nelson?" Kip asks, more mission-oriented at the moment.

"Almost there. I'll get back to you when I do. Keep up the good work."

With that, Nelson cuts the communication. Leaving Nova 7 with each other as they enter a corridor that seems to stretch out of eternity. That is at least until one of them turns their high-powered flashlight on for a quick second. Their night vision will have to do as they quietly stalk through the hallway. They are extra careful as there are multiple doors and some adjacent corridors. So far they have not encountered any enemy so it makes them more wary of surprises.

Trevor orders Phantom scout ahead. He could use the so-called "3/2 system" they had developed for this type of environment, but with PAL connected to Phantom, that is unnecessary. Because why use five visible individuals where you can use one who is invisible.

Phantom complies and turns on his active camouflage. It feels nice, like slipping into an old, comfortable sweater. Almost instinctively he reaches for his knife but this is not the moment to use that. Mainly because the blade itself will be visible; something to look into once they get back and he has some free time to dabble into upgrading it.

As he carefully proceeds, checking the hallways before letting his team know they can proceed using a simple audio cue over the wireless connection. Invisible hand signals are hard to read after all.

The team follows in a "2/2 system" instead. A simpler, if less efficient version. Instead of three people in the front and positioned like an arrowhead and two to the rear left and right, it is more in the shape of the four eyes on a dice. Guns pointing front and back, with a 90 degree angle of vision to the left each to compensate for that the others next to them cannot see.

Phantom spots movement in the upcoming hallway to the left. A carelessly placed foot visible. He halts the team therefore. But Trevor whispers for him to continue on and scout ahead further; they will stay here and hold until Phantom gets back.

The arctic fox complies and continues on until he reaches the very far end of the hallway. He has spotted several others laying in potential ambush positions. He returns to Trevor, who commends him for having done a good job. They then assume the 3/2 system and Trevor signals to Patch to blow this unwelcome individual to pieces. She does this with glee, pulls the pin as quietly as possible, lets the grenade cook for a few moments before throwing it. It hits the wall of the hallway on the opposite side of where the enemy is. And the last thing this person hears is the thudding noise the grenade makes after it bounces against the wall and flies towards them.

The explosion rocks the silence and blows the enemy guard away. A scream of terror for a lost comrade follows as multiple doors start opening around them.

"Ambush!" Trevor shouts as Nova 7 instantly crouches and takes aim at the enemies coming at them.

The comrade, enraged at his friend's death, makes the mistake of coming around the corner while Patches has her pistols aimed right at that position. She makes short work of him. To her right, Trevor has already pulled the trigger on his revolver twice as he ruptured the stomach and right lung of a guard coming out of a door to his front left. Kip next to him in turn mowed down two guards that appeared at the end of the hallway.

Behind them, Calamity has taken to being very up close and personal with one of the guards by practically ramming the barrel into their stomach and then pulling the trigger, turning the wall behind them into a scene from a horror movie. She then disrespectfully kicks the guard away as the life drains from their eyes as she makes another dead to her right, firing her shotgun one-handedly.

Below said shotgun, Phantom has taken to the floor, silently popping the heads of the guards that came from where they came from originally. They come into view almost like a shooting gallery. It almost feels too easy; he even disabled his active camouflage and he is still disappointed at their incompetence.

Once the attack is over, he mentions this. But Trevor waves it off, stating that they are just professionals who know what they are doing. Which makes everything seem easy. But to be sure, he calls for Patches and Calamity to bust open the doors that were not opened before to avoid any more surprises that even professionality cannot save them from.

They follow the order given, each pick one door and kick it down. There are two calls for "clear" before they try another.

"Target!" shouts Patches as four gunshots rip through next.

"Two down. Clear now."

Calamity confirms it is clear on her side too.

"Excellent. Now, I'm pretty sure everyone on Macbeth heard what happened here so no need to be stealthy. I want to see what is behind that door so we're running for it. Got it?"

"Race?" Kip suggests, slightly child-like.

"A nickel for the first person there. Ready? Go!"

The team runs for the door. And while they do so, they do not forget they are still on a mission. Prioritizing double-checking any hallway they come across. Only when it is smooth sailing ahead, do they actually try to win. Patches is the first to reach, followed by Kip, then Calamity before Trevor and Phantom have a photo finish.

"Phew… that was close. The nickel is yours, when we get back to base. Now, stack up on the door."

The team gets into position. Once all are present, he nods to Calamity so she can shotgun the door open. Two shots later and two hinges are sent to the netherrealm. Then she kicks the door down and the team pours into a largely empty room. The only thing they see is a screen set up, which is partially see-through. And they can see a silhouette behind it, which is seemingly spouting anti-Cornerian rhetoric with the same voice as Andrew Oikonny.

Calamity takes aim with the intent to kill but Trevor makes her lower the shotgun. Instead, just like they did after exiting the elevator, they split up and go around. They do so, but just to be sure no surprises are waiting, Trevor wants everything there to be at the very least scrambled or in agonizing pain.

He receives a flashbang grenade from Patches while she takes out an EMP grenade. Mouthing "3, 2, 1…" together, they throw the two grenades at the same time. They go off and within the span of a second Nova 7 has the silhouette surrounded.

It is indeed Andrew Oikonny as expected but he is tied to a chair and is knocked out cold. Judging by the bruises on his face, that was not easy to achieve. The anti-Cornerian stuff they heard was pre-recorded and the speaker broadcasting it is no longer functional. As is the camera that was likely used for the broadcast. The uncomfortably bright light shining right on top of him also took quite a hit from the EMP blast.

"Nelson, come in. We got Andrew but he has been knocked out and tied up to a chair. We'll try to wake him up but…"

Someone unknown then tries to scamper away but Trevor can see it in the corner of his eyes as he is reporting in. Without saying anything, acting like he did not see anything, he continues while at the same time drawing attention to his teammates to apprehend this unknown individual. And the sheet this person is wearing as a cover is not going to protect them. The unknown person, dressed in clothing identifying him as a little more than a regular civilian thanks to a badge bearing the old insignia of the Venomian army, lets out a fearful squeak as he is nabbed by Patches and thrown into the limelight.

"And it seems we have a live specimen here. Who will tell us everything we want, don't you?" Trevor states intimidatingly, striking even more fear into the marsupial.

While Trevor grabs him by the shirt and pulls him towards him, Nelson has a breakthrough at base. After floor 34 was finally put together, everything else after that compiled within a second. Like those were not important at all. Regardless, he has them now. And he calls over the Major to have a look.

The mutt gives a silent warning to Rook before he stands up and leaves. He joins Nelson and asks him to explain it all to him plainly.

"Got it, Sir. Everything is now complete. And I'm now looking at who last tempered with these files. But that's the odd thing; it says they were changed yesterday. Just hours before we received Andrew's message." Nelson reports.

"You think someone hacked us?"

Nelson shakes his head.

"Very unlikely this came from the outside. But I will… huh?"

The shrew is then interrupted by a warning popping-up on his screen, stating that the architecture displayed does not match with known Cornerian building designs. He follows the clues and instructions given by the message, coming up to a curious omission from the blueprint that clearly other Cornerian buildings do have. After a quick second, Nelson finds out that the omission is where normally the drainage is. Instead, this drainage system has been replaced by something much thinner. And it is present on every floor, from top to bottom. By double-clicking on whatever portion of the blueprint, he can see the materials used and other information. Therefore, he naturally also clicks on this curious thin square.

A gasp escapes his lips as his wide-open eyes read the extensive list of ingredients. None of which belong together unless one wants to absolutely annihilate everything and everyone inside the building. Along with the entire structure itself.

"B-bomb… It's a bomb… A-a Sky Claw bomb!" Nelson stutters before blurts it out very clearly for everyone to hear.

The Lieutenant's heart skips a beat and the Major gets a shiver running over his spine. But he shakes it off and demands to get Nelson's headset. Which the shrew, staring in disbelief and silent panic, hands over shivering.

"Nova 7, this is the Major! Evacuate the building immediately! This was a trap! I repeat, this was a trap! There is a bomb in the damn building, get out!" the Major broadcasts loud and clear over all Nova 7 channels.

"A bomb?" Trevor mutters to himself before realization sets in.

He glances over quickly to Andrew and back to the marsupial. In his terrified gaze, he pretty much confirms this. They were the bait and Nova 7 was the catch. He wants to do nothing more than to blow this little cowards' brain out but that would take too much time.

"Get out! Everyone out!" he shouts instead, waving with his arm to get back into the direction they came from.

He can see Kip and Calamity go for Andrew but he corrects his decisively; freeing or killing him would take too long. They have to move now! That marsupial can fend for itself; its legs still work but they are not taking it along.

As fast as their own legs can propel them, they run through the hallway back to the elevator. Now a lack of stairs might be a bit of a problem because in emergencies the use of an elevator is not recommended. But if Patches proved anything by her actions in Corneria City, that advice can be thrown out the window when appropriate.

Nelson has regained control over his own headphones again and has his fingers on the keys again. He states that he can make the elevator go down a lot faster using PAL's help but they would have to hold on to something. That is agreeable as this gets them away from the bomb faster.

They huddle into the elevator, Trevor not forgetting to count everyone. PAL's eye starts glowing as he interacts remotely with the controls. Then the doors close but the marsupial seems to have caught up with them and at the last moment leaps into the elevator as well just as the doors close. The closure barely missing its long, slender tail. And just like Nelson stated, the elevator descends faster than before. It is very uncomfortable but it is better than being vaporized.

Only after passing the second floor, does the elevator slow down to its usual tempo. It does so with a loud, metallic groan but at least it brings them safely to the ground floor. With an almost sarcastic "Ding!" the doors open and the team starts running again. With Trevor reporting that they are nearing the exit and how he is glad that Calamity just destroyed that door before.

"G-good to hear. Please get out of there quickly everyone!" Nelson adds on the verge of almost losing his cool.

His hands grip the armrests of his chair convulsively as sweat runs down from his forehead up to the tip of his nose. Using PAL as a directional anchor, he can tell pretty well where in the building they are. And once they are out, the U-GPS image takes over. Six dots, five known and one unknown, are seen exiting the building. Each dot can be hovered over to see the details of each person.

Behind him, there is nothing but tension. Rook is rather uncomfortable, expecting the worst. Peter has his hands covering his mouth and muttering "Come on" over and over within his cupped hands. Damian is pacing around, hands on the back of his head as he is trying not to panic. And when he sees that they are out, he breathes a sigh of relief.

"PAL!" they hear Trevor cry out as they clear the distance from the building more and more.

"Get the ship over here! We are out of here!"

"Connecting… ship not found." PAL reports rather unnaturally, which makes Trevor almost stop dead in his tracks.

"What!?"

"Ship not found. Unable to connect." PAL repeats, again sounding more like a computer program reading up text then his new but already recognizable voice.

A sudden white flash then blinds him and everyone else. Including Nelson and everyone looking at the screen. The bomb has gone off. Nelson screams to keep on running but all he can hear is a nasty case of feedback before his message gets repeated to himself. Like it was a laser reflecting off of a mirror. The U-GPS signal cuts out soon after.

Back on the ground, Trevor can only as everything is covered in a dense silence. He watches in shock and awe as windows burst and the structure cracks, failing to keep the explosive power of the bomb inside. From the cracks and the open windows, beams of bright white light shoot out. Whatever those beams touch, burns away instantly.

All he can shout is "Run!" before all everything about the structure gives way and the white flash happens again. This time it is combines with a hellishly loud cacophony as a mighty explosion evaporates everything within its direct blast radius. Everything still outside of that expanding zone of death is swept up and away by the massive shockwave. Nova 7 is sent flying all across the barren Badlands and the light goes out. Radio contact and everything else is cut off completely.

Transmission Lost

---

Error code: t/1SjZG2acRJzg7EpzEmY1ahOrNP5Lq-2EdS2w68Hv2bu8
Failure code: 6zvpp07go
Decoding… Error! R? R/
Decoding… … … Error! R? R/
Decoding… … … … Complete!
Re-establish connection? Y? Y/
Establishing… … … Complete!
U-GPS System 32, Serial H84.410… Operational!
Manual Assisted Control… Re-established!
Find targets? Y? Y/
Re-aligning… …
Cleaning Up The Picture… …
Disengaging Safety Protocols… … …
Preparations Complete!
Tracking targets… … … … … … Potential Hits Found. Show? Y? Y/
Seven targets found
Identification… … … Complete!
Confirmed: Nova 7-1, KIA
Nova 7-2, KIA
Nova 7-3, KIA
Nova 7-4, KIA
Nova 7-5, KIA
PAL, Disabled
Unconfirmed Individual:
Unknown, KIA
Confirm? Y? N/
Show Logic? Y? Y/
Nova 7-1, KIA possibility… 97%
Nova 7-2, KIA possibility… 93%
Nova 7-3, KIA possibility… 94%
Nova 7-4, KIA possibility… 91%
Nova 7-5, KIA possibility… 98%
PAL, Disabled… 100%
Unknown, KIA possibility… 100%
Arrange Decommission? Y? N/
Attempt Reconnection with Nova 7? Y? Y/
Establishing… … Error! R? R/
Establishing… … … Error! R? R/
Establishing… … … … … … Error! R? R/
Establishing… … … … … … … … … … … Error! R? R/
Establishing… … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … Error! R? N/
Arrange Decommission? Y? Y…

---

"Don't you fucking dare press that button!"

2 - Scorched

- Embers

"Damian, back off!" the Major shouts in response as he stops the big bird from coming any closer to Nelson.

It is difficult given the anger, rage and grief that is ready to burst from within him, but he manages to halt his friend's advance. Damian's eyes shoot fire at him and he raises his hands as if to grab the Major by the throat. But the determination and serious compassion the Major shows, have a calming effect.

"Bah!" the bird exclaims as he gives up and turns around.

After setting a few steps, he loses control over his legs as the emotion hits him like a freight train. They start to wobble and finally he falls to his knees. His hands catch him in a reflex from smashing his face into the metal floor but his arms are starting to wobble as well. He struggles to breathe, he feels so sick. Everything is spinning around him. Up from his stomach, he feels a ton of that sickness come up through his esophagus. He manages to swallow it with difficulty but he can no longer hold back the rest. He bursts into tears right there.

Seeing this happening in the span of mere seconds, the Major tells Nelson to find out who made those last-minute changes before he sprints towards his stricken friend. Peter lunges at the opportunity as well. Together, they help Damian back up and sit him down properly back on the chair. Peter goes to get some tissues while Clef stays with his friend.

There are no words of comfort he can give right now. All he can think about is how his friend must be feeling, with a side dish of devastation at the loss of his own team. Their faces, flashing through his head. And then their eyes lock. A shared sadness overcomes the both of them before they embrace.

"I-It… hurts…"

"I know. I'm so sorry for you, Damian."

"S-she was… so special… t-to me…"

"She could very well still be alive…"

"Don't! D-don't give me false hope, Clef. I-I know, wh-what you are trying to do…"

Then the toad behind them clears his throat to get some attention and also get in between them.

"I know it's unlikely you wish to hear this from me, considering. But we have lost Cornerian soldiers there. And I know how close you two, no you three, were with them. So my condolences for your loss." Rook wishes everyone still present in the room.

"However, I must say that, if you had followed my recommendation… the Militia's would still be alive. And this encounter would have, likely, ended differently. I mean, it's likely one of those gawky Militia caused a premature detonation? Yes, I could put it like that. That will likely save some shame…"

Whatever humbleness he was exuding before, has gone away. The ugly darkness that was inside of him all this time has finally come out. Gawky Militia? What type of person talks about the people he is supposed to represent? The disrespect shown is enough to turn the Major's sadness over into boiling hatred. The urge to draw his sidearm is getting stronger and stronger.

"Why you little, pathetic, disgusting freak of nature…!?"

He stands up from his chair and approaches menacingly.

"How dare you talk about my people like that!? After they have just given their lives!? I ought to break your jaw in two so you…"
"Major!" Nelson interrupts.

"I found out who changed the files. Well, almost but it's known very soon."

The Major looks at Nelson and then back at Rook. The mutt tells the toad to stay put and if he moves, he is a goner. Then he comes closer to Nelson and takes a look at the screen. He can see a lot of code getting either solved or scrambled. He would not know the difference but according to Nelson it is good. Then the relief comes; the name of the person who last changed the files appears.

"... you are sure?" the Major asks.

"I wish I wasn't." Nelson replies.

The Major nods, pats the shrew on the shoulder for a job well done before letting all of the anger he had bottled up before out. His fists clench hard enough for coal to turn into diamonds and he shivers with spiteful, seething hate. From the depths of his hurt soul, one word, one name shoots up to his vocal chords. And after a big inhale, he screams that name into the atmosphere.

"RRROOOOOOOOOOOOOOK!"

On the other side of the system, as if he heard someone shouting something from very far away, Trevor awakes. He gasps for air as pangs instantly plague him the moment he comes to. He feels like everything is on fire inside of him while his skin is being stabbed a thousand times each second. His head thumps like someone is using it to play bongo's. His muscles feel like he sprained each and every single one. Even trying to keep his eyelids separated feels like an unneeded workout.

He looks around him, at least as far as his neck is willing to turn him. Which is not much. All that he can see is a nasty looking sandstorm with some black, jagged rocks somewhere in the distance. Along with rubble from the building that scooped him up in the air and tossed him down here. Which reminds him; where is everyone else?!

Strained, he reaches out his right hand and grabs a hold of the ground before him. Using it to pull himself forward.
"One at a time. Right, left, right…" he thinks to himself as he follows his own instructions.
In his need to get forward, he can soon enough no longer ignore the pain that is calling for him to give up. Just for a moment. Unable to take it anymore, he relents and stops.

It feels nice but wrong as well. Almost peaceful but in a gruesome way. Just laying there, not moving a single muscle. Is this what it is like? To die? He has not felt like this before. It feels right but at the same time, it does not at all. There must be more he can do. So he swallows his need for comfort and continues.

He has not looked around him and with pain now pretty much constant, why not add some more? He looks to his right by turning his body along. There is nothing but more sand, dust, jagged rocks and a vast wilderness hidden behind the thick packet of whirling sand. Then he turns to his left and he can see something. Or rather, someone.

His mind responds startled but the flesh is weak. He can see Phantom laying on the ground, motionless, without PAL on his back and with a large head wound. And nothing shows he is breathing. He wishes he could call out to him but even the thought of speaking already makes his vocal chords tire instantly. Overcome with grief now as well, Trevor turns his gaze away. But this does not help much, as the sandstorm dies down. As it reveals more nightmarish visages. He can see his three most favorite ladies ahead of him. Also on the ground and motionless.

Trevor tries to claw his way towards them but his body finally fully fails him. All he can do is left up his hand, so he reaches out his hand to them as tears stream out of his eyes. He could swear he could reach them but they are too far away.

"No… take me… instead…"

With his last energy expanded, his hand falls limpless to the ground. And his head follows suit. His eyelids feel heavy and he is so tired. So sad… so… peaceful… it might not be so… wrong after all?

With a loud thud, the Major has forced Rook against the wall of Nelson's room. With his left hand firmly wrapped around the toad's throat, or at least what he was able to grab. He does not care that this meant jutting his claws into his skin; his pain means nothing. While the toad tries to fight back by slapping at the Major's wrist, he is instead hoisted into the air. Driven by nothing but hatred for this despicable frog, he squeezes even tighter. Until nothing but only gurgling comes from his throat. Finally a noise produced from that sewer he can agree with.

"Why did you do it!?" he screams at the top of his lungs.

"I… rrrk… didn't…"

"Don't lie to me!"

With his free hand, the Major draws his sidearm and pistol-whips him across the jaw. It produces a nauseating, yet satisfying noise while blood spurts from the toad's mouth.

"One last time; why did you do it!?"

"D-did… w-wh-at?"

The Major sees this as an insult as he grabs the gun by the grip and pushes the barrel just underneath the toad's lower jaw. He repeats himself before he lets a silence fall. All there is to hear is the struggling and whimpering from the Lieutenant-Colonel. No one around is saying anything or even moving an inch. It is a mixture of awe but also tacit acceptance. If he were to pull the trigger now, no tears would be shed. And no one would testify against him.

The Major is absolutely livid; his glare is like daggers. His mouth agape, snorting and panting like a monstrous, starved animal with its canines bared. An untempered, all-consuming flame burns within him. Every fiber screams for this man's death. One trigger pull and all problems would have been resolved.

"It does not bring them back, does it?"

No one in the room said this. He only heard it in his own head. Who said it? Himself? Someone is in his past? He does not know. But it snaps him out of his hate. Just for a moment, he realizes what he has done. In what kind of situation he is. The momentary interruption is enough for him to see some blood on the fist he is holding the pistol with.

Rather nasty in this context and environment. It is his blood as well. He returns it to the sender, wiping it off on the toad's cheek. With one final squeeze, on the cusp of the toad fainting from a lack of oxygen, he lets go. Rook falls onto the ground and gasps for the air he was denied. He tries to crawl away like a skittering rat but he cannot get a grip on the floor.

"Store him into the guest room for the time being. If he isn't gonna tell us, we'll extract it from him until we get the MP's to take care of this piece of shit." the Major orders to no one in particular as he holsters his sidearm.

The Lieutenant and Peter feel themselves called and pick the toad off the ground. Each taking one arm and dragging him away like a corpse. All while he pleads and maintains he has not tempered with those files. He does not even know how he would. The further away he gets from the Major, the more intense his pleading becomes. Which reinforces to the mutt that he is guilty and is trying to cover up for himself. He has been caught and that is the reason why he is whimpering now. That, or he has at least some idea of what is waiting in that room. Or rather, what the designated operator of that room will do to him after the loss of his girlfriend which he will likely blame in part on the toad.

As the door closes and his yammering fades away with distance, the Major sighs. He can feel his heart racing and his hands shiver. Much like the Lieutenant had but his stronger legs keep him upright. If that is a good thing is to be debated. But for now, he cannot fall and crumble. Not yet.

He wipes his eyes and returns to Nelson. He advises him kindly not to press the button just yet. Sweep this under the rug as much as possible until he has made arrangements. That, and if Nelson could find out if the Lieutenant-Colonel worked on his own or if he had someone to report to, that would be very nice.

"Yes Sir… w-what are you going to do?" the shrew sniffles.

"Delay the MP's I suppose. And find something to replace PAL with."

"Oh yeah…"

The way Nelson vocalized that realization… you do not have to have a degree in psychology to understand that the young man's heart received another crack in his heart. The machine, the person he had pretty designed this whole digital infrastructure with and was supposed to cooperate with until the very end, has now been prematurely cut out of their working relationship.

"Understood Sir. Please do-do… be careful then."

That warms the Major's heart.

"I will, Nelson. I'll be back soon."

The mutt leaves the room and leaves Nelson all alone to do his work. Nothing but silence surrounds him. The screens are mostly empty, displaying static, that looming confirmation notification that he cannot click away by design or are simply turned off. He has so much to do and yet wants to do nothing but to crawl up into himself and disappear. With the push of a button, sound- and bulletproof glass slides out of the framework and closes in around the entire ball structure. Before shutting himself off from the rest of the outside world, the silence in the room is, for a moment, interrupted by soft whimpering. Before the glass closes around and silence returns.

…

…

…

"There he is!"

"Are you sure that's him? Not the other one?"

"What are you? Colorblind?"

"I just don't see colors, that's all."

"Who are you trying to please?"

"Oi! Can you dumbasses hurry up?"

"Yes Sir, sorry Sir. Applying the packs."

"No heartbeat detected. Deploying the AED."

"Ready? Clear!"

…

"Nothing. Increase the voltage. Ready? Clear!"

…

…

"Still nothing."

"Come on, you can't die like this! Not here at least…"

"Increasing the voltage to the max. Ready? Clear!"

…

…

…

"... there he is! Phew, for a second I really thought you had gone to the other side. Glad to be wrong, Sergeant. Now, get him some bloody oxygen and out of this forsaken sandstorm with the rest. I think he'll be very delighted when he wakes up. Considering…"

- A Faint Glow

A gentle singing voice cuts through the thickness of the soundless black he has found himself in. He can clearly hear it coming from his left but either he cannot turn his head or the source is invisible. Would not be so hard considering the darkness around him. He feels so weightless and so powerless. The last thing he remembers is closing his eyes after… dying? But clearly he is still thinking. So he must still be alive in some capacity.

And now that he is thinking, why does this darkness feel so recognizable? Like he knows it from somewhere. Is some revolver going to pop up out of nowhere and show him all of his sins? So he can feel that stomach churning guilt again? However, he cannot remember promising anyone anything he could not make good on. Perhaps coming home alive? Bit of a loose thing to say as a soldier.

No empty chamber starts appearing before him. Instead, all he hears is that singing voice. It is soft and gentle, yet very far reaching and highly professional. It reminds him of a folk singer. The only thing missing would be an acoustic guitar and for the singer to have a bushy, gray mustache. Like a kind version of Silva almost.

With no other prospects or things to do, he starts to gravitate towards that voice. If this is the afterlife, perhaps it is nice to, at the very least, find out who is making it entertaining. But the closer he seems to get, the more orange everything starts to become. Then there is a bright flash of white, followed by several blinding, seizure-inducing flashes of red.

With the equivalent of a mighty gutpunch, his progress is stopped, a beam of yellow flashes and his eyelids part. Breathe escapes his lips and like that he is back in the world of the living. He can feel a strong, somewhat rough wind blow by softly. And he can see a large rock sticking out over him and towards the sky. He is covered by a natural rock formation from what he can only assume is some shockingly bad weather.

Then his ears start working again and he can once more hear that lovely voice singing. And it is coming from somewhere to his left. He can hear a light tapping, likely the singer themselves going along to compensate for having no instrument.

"Come, cheer up, my lads, 'tis to glory we march.
Mother never left you, Father always stood by your side.
So no matter where we bleed, toil or parch.
Stand as free, as free you can be before you've died."

Both comforting and macabre at the same time. Talk of duty, the homefront, the struggle and eventually the death that every soldier eventually gets all in one package. A package of cruel reality wrapped in a soothing voice. One could hardly think of a better metaphor for… something. His mind is frankly still too scrambled to think philosophically, let alone straight.

So instead he tries to get up. An action that causes an instant response from those around him. Most happy, some cautionary. He does not recognize any of the voices until he hears one very close to his right. Then he feels a hand on his back and another on his upper chest as someone helps him sit upright carefully.

"Welcome back, Sergeant Trevor." says a masculine voice that belongs to the hands he currently has on his chest.

Trevor turns towards the voice and although his vision and mind is still fuzzy, he can instantly recognize him.

"M-Munt?"

"Jeez, your voice sounds drier than a mummy's asscrack. Get him some water!" Munt remarks before shouting an order to someone out of sight before turning back to the fox.

"Yes Sir, it's me indeed. You're not getting rid of me that easily. You good? How many fingers am I holding up?"

Munt holds up three fingers, but Trevor, even in his fuzzy state, has not lost his edge and replies with an unsubtle middle finger.

"Yeah, you're fine." he chuckles to himself before shouting for that water again.

Seconds later, it is given to him and he puts the opened bottle to Trevor's lips. Tipping it over just enough to wet his lips at first before letting him drink gently. Not too long after, Trevor himself is now strong enough, grabs a hold of the bottle and drinks of his own accord. Once he is done, about half is gone. It is then that he realizes a few things: his upper chest has been laid bare and the bottle he was drinking from was his very own Metro Society bottle he got all those months ago.

"Nice touch." Trevor compliments towards the bottle, moisturized.

"But uhm… why the half nude? Couldn't bother to finish it up completely?"

"Glad you can appreciate the thought behind it. As for your upper-body equipment if you are wondering, we kinda had to shock you back alive. Can't do that with armor or a radio on you. I gotta say Sir… that bronze block weighs almost as much as you."

"Heh heh, oh Corporal. The sooner you learn to carry such a weight on your shoulders, the tougher you become."

"I wouldn't know; I prefer lighter loads. Diverting some responsibility to my own team mates. Maybe you should follow that example too."

A rather casual remark that suddenly meant a lot. The fuzziness suddenly becomes very clear. He was not alone before he was knocked out. In an instant shock, he tries to get up to look for them but that same hand that helped him up holds him back now.

"They are okay, Sarge. They are all still alive. Some are still unconscious but they are all alive. Relax, take your time to recover. I'll take you to them soon enough."

"Yeah… yeah, sure. Good—-Good to hear. So uhm, who is the guy singing?" Trevor asks.

"Hey! Willingham?" Munt shouts to the singing soldier, who stops upon being called on.

"We got a fan here!"

Willingham says nothing, instead he just smiles as he casually has a lit cigarette barely hanging from his lip. How he can sing with that thing in his mouth is anyone's guess. He tips his hat and cheerfully continues.

"Willingham has a golden voice, don't you think? I think he has quite the career path ahead of him after this military life. Oh, and he is Rhawnda's blood brother. So he's also here for some good old revenge."

"I don't blame him…"

Trevor is interrupted by himself as he can see the ravaging remains of the building. It is somehow still combusting and collapsing. With all the dust, thick black smoke and the flashes of light, it almost looks like a thunderstorm.

"What is going on there?"

"A Sky Claw bomb. Something from the old Andross days. Of course, a weapon that is against every civil right and treaty ever signed and yet here it is. It's a potent piece of tech; unless the target has been completely reduced to rubble, the bomb will keep exploding. Crazy stuff." Munt explains with a somewhat muted sense of worry and fascination.

"If only they put that much money into giving people a good life…"

"I know right?"

The pair stares at the continuing firestorm for a few more moments. Mesmerized by what nearly caused him to die and how lucky he is to be sitting here. Away from that fiery tornado of death. He can almost hear it calling to him; it wishes to devour him whole. But it will have to wait for another chance. And if it is up to him, he will never fall into that conflagration.

"So, wanna see your teammates again? At least, the ones already up and awake?" Munt then proposes, snapping Trevor out of his entranced stare.

"Wha? Oh, yeah of course."

He intends to stand up but trying to do so out of his own violation, sends such a pang through his body that his vision becomes blurry right away. So Munt gestures to him again to stay right there; he will get them. The Corporal runs off to Trevor's left and the fox relaxes a little bit. He feels slightly useless now but at least he is alive. And soon enough, he will be reunited with some of his teammates. He wonders who they are, as Munt said not everyone was awake just yet.

Trevor does not have to wait long as soon enough he can hear footsteps coming closer, drowning out the singing voice of Willingham. And then the footsteps get louder and faster. And even faster. Something akin to a wild, charging bull is coming his way. Before he can even look up properly, a certain kangaroo has already jumped at him and wrapped her arms around him.

- Reignition

"Ow… I-I am… happy to see you too, Kip… could you… please let me breathe?" Trevor struggles to even say as a very happy roo has just crushed his entire rib cage and spine with her jump-hug attack.

Metaphorically speaking of course but that is how that feels. Having chest pains along with any kind of weight placed on top is a recipe for a lot of suffering.

"Only if you stop trying to die so much." she refuses pouting.

"Yeah, sure, sure. Just… ow…"

A white furred hand puts itself on Kip's shoulder and taps on it.

"Come on, let the Sarge be."

"Fine…" she grumbles before getting off of him.

Now able to breathe properly again, Phantom reaches out his hand to him and helps him sit upright again. He is somewhat hesitant to give him more than just a hand. Trevor sees this and lets him know that if he wants, he can get a hug too. On the sole condition that he will not crush whatever is left inside of him. Phantom finds this agreeable and goes in for it.

Munt watches this from a respectable distance. It is somewhat unusual to see this. Although he is no stranger to physical appreciation within his own team, it does not go to this degree. Perhaps their friendship is just that strong? Or maybe those Special Forces are just plain weirdos. Regardless, he is glad to see them so up and about. And above all, enjoying each other's company.

"How's your head doing?" Trevor asks after the hug breaks up.

"Oh, it's bandaged now. It hurts but I'm alright for the rest." Phantom answers.

"Good. Because you startled me back there. I saw you laying there with a big gash in your forehead. I would be lying if I said I wasn't worried."

"I appreciate that, Sir. But I'm good. Eager for some revenge though."

"Which brings me to the following point…" Munt chimes in.

"I've already discussed this with them but in the end, they are not part of my squad. I have a plan to get us out of here ASAP. And I was planning to utilize you and a few of your comrades. But now, considering your state, I think it's better to leave you here while I take those who are up along."

"Wait… getting out of here ASAP should be easy, right? We'll take the ship you guys came in. Or heck; our own."

Munt shakes his head.

"If only it were that easy. We couldn't locate your ship as we came here by drop pod. Comfortable is different."

"Drop pods!? Geez…"

The idea of drop pods is fairly simple. A soldier is stuffed into a cramped, protected cocoon and then shot out of the ship or a specialized cannon towards a target or a planet from orbit. A one-way ticket and an excellent weapon of terror. Whether or not the soldier comes out with all senses or all teeth still intact is a different story. But once the pod crashes, it can no longer return home. The soldier will be left there unless a transport ship comes to pick them up. And in Munt's case, there was no ride home planned.

Munt goes on to explain that the problems with arranging themselves as backup with the Admiral went nowhere. They had given up but were then informed by an anonymous source that Nova 7 was in severe danger. Unable to pass up the opportunity, they hitched a ride themselves. They will likely only be chewed out if it turns out they have helped out Nova 7, given the Admiral's liking for them.

"Clever." Trevor admits.

"And how about a ride home then?"

"Well, we've been observing. And to make sure you all are clearly dead, there's been several ships flying over. We have the material to knock on out of the sky, salvage a radio system from it that can broadcast through this sandstorm and get your Major on the line."

"Solid plan. Aside from the risk of the radio getting wrecked in the wreckage, have you tried PAL? Or my radio?" Trevor replies a little sarcastically, getting the sense he was not the only one who got a smack on the head.

Munt chuckles, but then sighs.

"Your radio is not working. The outer shell had been cracked and all the internals had spilled out. And the sand was not too kind to the exposed parts. So thank the blast for that. As for PAL…"

A little ashamed he scratches behind his ear before turning to Phantom.

"Yeah, PAL is in a nearby pod that is currently serving as a cargo hold for all our stuff. The Corporal thought PAL was just a backpack."

"I already apologized. I didn't know it was alive. It didn't look alive."

Phantom does not take that explanation well but he does admit that PAL is not working at the moment. The blast must have disabled him. The equivalent of unconsciousness. Getting him working again requires him to be connected directly to the Nova 7 systems. So Munt's plan is really the only other way they can get out of here.

"Aha. Well, PAL was already being a bit of an ass anyway before. I doubt he'd be any more useful in this state." Trevor fusses, which does not sit well with Phantom.

"What do you mean, Sarge?"

"When we were fleeing from that building, I told PAL to the ship. And in some kind of off-putting, artificial computer voice he said that he couldn't connect to the ship. Which I took some offense to."

"He replied?"

"Yes, he did."

"I didn't hear a thing."

"I swear I heard him. It was so unnatural. Kind of creepy to be honest."

"Hm… I believe you. I'll have a talk with PAL after he's back together."

"Good. Now, Munt. You wanted to have some of my people for your mission? Well, I don't mind. But, they have to agree as well. So; Kip?"

"I'm going along with what Phantom said before. I'm itching for some revenge. And if Corporal Munt can provide this, I'm coming along. For this one time of course."

"Phantom?"

"Same here, Sarge. They burned us so it only feels natural to burn them right back." he states with a clenched fist.

"Then it's decided. Go with Munt; follow his orders like you would mine. But stay on your toes regardless. And be sure to show these regular soldier folk some Nova 7 tricks if you can."

"Will do, Trevor. You recover in the meantime. I checked on Patch and Cal before you woke up. They are doing alright as well. Only Phantom has been wounded pretty badly but if he can stand up, I'm sure those two will rise soon enough as well." Kip states a little tongue-in-cheek.

"I heard that!"

"Glad you did! Now, shall we? Corporal?"

"Sergeant, I'll be sure to return them to you in one piece." Munt assures before he rallies a few more of his soldiers and then he runs with them into the sandstorm.

Trevor shouts after them that Phantom should keep tabs on his oxygen supply as he can see them disappear. And with a double feeling of satisfaction and worry, he sits and waits for their return.

Now part of Munt's team for this one mission, the team huddles together near another rock. They have been marching for several minutes now and have reached their destination; the place where most of their drop pods landed before. The drop pod close to where they found Nova 7 was blown off course due to the storm and was therefore lucky to find them at all.

The pods are also the reason why they are here in particular. Their presence has attracted the attention of those likely responsible for not only toppling the building, but are also in service to the mastermind behind it. Which was not Andrew in the end. Various ships have been flying over this area to find out where everyone is. And perhaps more importantly; if Nova 7 is indeed dead.

After landing and seeing those ships swarm around like mosquitoes, he overheard a particularly low-flying one communicate to someone who was clearly not on the same planet. Meanwhile his own radio could barely get a clear message across to someone practically next to him with this storm. Hence why he wanted to specifically get one of those ships.

Explaining his plan, he splits up his forces and positions them around the anticipated crash site. Which includes Kip and Phantom, who will close in from the left of the ship. Once everyone is in place, Munt gives the green light to a soldier with a portable anti-air missile system to take aim and fire the moment on those ships comes into view. The soldier does not have to wait long.

The noise produced by the engines of the ship betrays it is coming closer. And eventually, through the thickness of the storm, the silhouette of the ship appears. This is what the soldier has been waiting for. He takes aim and rests the reticle right on the ship. He hears three beeps and then the image around the reticle turns green. The trigger unlocks and the missile is launched.

The missile enters the sandstorm and only the white smoke trail can be seen. Then a faint explosion in the distance, followed by the loud groaning of the failing metal structure of the ship. It loses control completely and goes down. Munt and the soldier take cover behind the natural protection of stone, which gets decapitated by one of the ship's wings. Missing them both by a hair.

The ship roars down and crashes into the sand below, only a few meters behind the anticipated location. This was the signal the rest needed and they close in from all sides right away. Any one that picks up a weapon is told to stand down and surrender or be shot. It is something Kip and Phantom have to get used to but pick up easily. Once two are shot and the rest are in zip ties, they enter the ship itself.

Inside they find that it is an almost empty, small transport vessel. With enough room for maybe a dozen soldiers, a ton of supplies or one all-terrain vehicle. The only thing they do find is the doorway to the cockpit with a clearly dead pilot still in his seat, a massive radio covered in a green metal casing that is bolted to the bottom of the ship itself. But not everyone of the crew has died, been shot or has surrendered. Some were just knocked out and are just coming to.

Case and point, two ape soldiers who are just coming to the moment Munt and the Nova 7 members enter. One seems to have to contend with a massive headache while the other spots them. He shrieks in fear and instantly starts rummaging around for a weapon. Munt, pointing his rifle at him, tells him very sternly to surrender. But the ape soldier does not listen. And then he finds a weapon. He propels himself towards it and he can barely get a good grip on it. Munt raises his voice one final time and demands him to put the weapon down before he shoots. The ape soldier gets his finger around the finger finally and… BAM!

On Munt's right, a pistol barrel is smoking. Coming from the black barrel of Kip's pistol. The one the Major gifted to her. There was no need to talk him into surrender; he was never going to anyway. The lesson they learned when it comes to how the normal Army handles things has been quickly forgotten. Now they are doing it the Special Forces way.

That and much more he reads in Kip's eyes. Even for the brief moment he is looking directly into them, he can see that she would have disregarded his order to spare that man if it had been given. And he understands it completely considering the situation. But the roo is not done yet. With the same gun drawn, she approaches the disoriented one and makes him think straight almost right away but pointing the still hot barrel right into the ape's forehead.

"That radio; does it work?" she asks very sternly while pointing at the radio.

"Y-y-yees! I-t it does…" stutters the ape, whose skin has turned very white from fright.

"Good. All I needed to know. Munt? He's all yours. I'm gonna see if that radio works so we can get the Major on the line. And if it doesn't… well, get yourself a wet wipe ready because whatever is left of this asshole's brain will be on your face."

With zero remorse for the burn mark she left on the ape's forehead, she pulls the gun back and goes to the radio. Which gives Munt the opportunity to apply a more subtle but still firm approach with the ape. He grabs the shaken soldier by the lapels and screams at him to tell them everything.

"Or else, I will no longer be holding her back." he threatens while pointing at Kip, before noticing Phantom close in like a stalking predator behind him, brandishing his blade.

"Or him for that matter."

"W-who are they?"

"The ones you were supposed to check on if they were dead." Munt reveals, which makes the ape soldier even more shivery.

He looks like he is about to wet himself like a little child. But before he is even allowed to do that, Munt repeats his demand. And he will not give a third chance like he did with the ape's comrade.

"O-o-o-okay! I- I will…! D-don't kill me…"

At that moment, Kip comes back to them. Not to shoot the ape, which means that the radio is indeed working. So she hands the radio's transmitter module to Munt.

"It has already been set to the right frequency." she reports before walking away, leaving the ape with a massive stink eye.

She leans against the hull of the ship in the corner, still holding her pistol ready. She is not done with him yet.

"Right then. You are going to spill everything. And do not hold anything back. Or else."

- Burning On

The glass has been lifted from his computing ball. Or the "ball turret" as some have come to call it. But mainly Phantom has been calling it like that. Because of his connection with PAL, he was around a lot as well during the construction. So the sexually charged remark the arctic fox made towards him was not a one-off. He has done this before. And now, it might just be the thing he misses most in moments like these.

No PAL. No Trevor. No Patches, Kip or Calamity. No Nova 7. They are all dead. That is something he has come to terms with. This however does not mean that he does not feel an all-swallowing emptiness in his heart when he thinks about the last thing he said to them. He could have said so much more. Told them how important they were to him before they bit the dust.

That screen is still up as well. Asking him continuously if he wishes to decommission them. Pressing "Y" and "/' would mean the end of Nova 7. All members will be marked as killed in action in all records and letters informing any known relatives will be instantly sent out to inform them of their demise. Of course, their roles and activities would never be disclosed. Instead, some bogus story would be made up to make them look heroic. Perhaps even a mock funeral, in case they cannot find their corpses.

Those thoughts make the tears in his eyes well up again. How would they even dare dishonor them in such a way? But it is procedure. One he agreed to uphold. He slams his fist on the armrest; why could it not be any simpler? Or better yet; why could they not be alive instead?

A yellow light then turns on on his console, indicating that someone is trying to contact him on an unknown frequency. Which is strange, because his specific frequency is encoded and requires some serious verification. Only a select number of people know how to pass that verification. A flicker of hope suddenly returns but he instantly shushes it; false hope will only break his heart more.

He will give this stranger his time anyway. If they had gone through so much effort to contact him, it must be something good. But he will only listen, not reply in any way. He presses the button and the connection is established. He can hear two voices: one somewhat recognizable one, who is clearly interrogating another person. The other voice, stuttering and whimpering like a scared child, he does not know at all. He listens on and the more he listens, the wider his eyes become as the realization sets in.

Nelson instantly presses another button to contact the Major. Once he gets him on the line, the Major responds somewhat piqued as he is walking towards the room the Lieutenant stuffed Rook into. For a "friendly" visit. However, when he hears about the radio interaction the shrew has been following, he turns around on a dime. And calls the Lieutenant and Peter to come back to Nelson's room. And leave Rook to stew in his own misery and pain in the meantime.

The door to Nelson's room opens soon enough for the Major who enters panting after a quick sprint. He joins Nelson in listening to the broadcast as it is now played over the loudspeakers in the room. And when the Major clearly hears the interrogation going on, he can identify one of them as Corporal Munt. And it is not the whimpering one.

"Again! Repeat what you just said!" Munt yells at the frightened ape.

"B-but I already…"

"I don't care if you've said it a million times already! Until I get my confirmation, you will repeat it. Now, start over."

"F-Fine! Fine… I don't know who we work for. But we were ordered to look for five dead Cornerian Army operatives. We w-were given minimal descriptions of those we were looking for. One printed-out photo for each along with those descriptions. That's it, I swear!"

"Any particulars?"

"Y-yes… two females. I t-think it was h-her…"

"Don't you dare point at her or I will have your finger cut off!"

"No! No-n-n-no! S-sorry… I believe it was her… and another… but we never found them…"

"Those orders. Your handlers. Where are they?"

"I don't know… I really don't. All I heard was some place called… Eladard. I heard it while I was in Meteo some time ago. That's all I know!"

"Not enough! What else did you know about your targets? To what organization did they belong? What do your employers know about it!?"

"I don't know! I don't… please… I'm sorry… I don't… they don't let us in on that kind of info… so, I suppose it must be very special. There… that's all…"

Nelson and the Major can hear the thud of the unknown voice's body falling to the ground.

"I hope someone is listening now, considering I saw the green light on this little device I've been holding in my hand for a good while now." Munt then addresses right at the listeners.

The Major checks with Nelson if they can reply and he is handed his back-up headset. After adjusting it for his size, the Major has a connection now.

"Corporal Munt?"

"In the flesh."

"Mind explaining what that interaction was?"

"We managed to bring down a flyboy that was scouting the area for the non-existent corpses of your team, Major. They were meant to confirm their deaths but I got good news; I got two of them with me here and the other three are recovering at a safe… at least for now, location. We could use some transport off-world though."

He can hear the Major sigh heavily in relief. Nelson holds his breath in as he cannot believe it.

"Consider it arranged, Corporal. Thank the stars you were there when you were. How and why? We'll figure that out later. Right now, I'll send you the extraction needed. Till then, who are with you?"

"Kip and Phantom, Sir. Sergeant Trevor is awake as well but he could not come along. Massive trauma to the chest. Specialist Patches and Calamity are still out as far as I know. All are alive but could use some medical care."

"I'll have it arranged. Could you get one of them to talk to me?"

"Sure thing. Your orders regarding this ape down and mewling at my feet?"

The ape does not hear the reply but Munt seems pleased with the answer. Then he bids goodbye to the Major and hands the transmitter over to Kip. Simply because of proximity. And while Kip informs the Major about anything he may have missed so far, Munt can clearly see Phantom stalking towards the ape soldier from the corner of his eye. Rarely has he seen such unchained bloodlust and an urge for revenge. He could stop him but instead, he addresses Phantom.

"I see what you're doing."

"What am I doing then?" Phantom sniffs.

"The Lord's work. Take your anger out on him. I won't bother you."

"Then consider your sins forgiven."

He meant to be playful when he said that, but because of his rage, it sounded very serious. But Munt takes the meaning. There is no longer any need for stalking; his prey is right there. Unarmed and already trembling in fear. It might even be a mercy just to put him out of his misery here and now. But he is not in a merciful mood. The ape will bleed for every member of his team he has hurt. For himself as well. The blade is drawn and sharp; it hungers for the flowing ruby red.

He stomps towards the ape soldier, who sees death itself approaching and crawls away, screaming bloody murder. Which is apt, because that is what he is going to get. Phantom does not get surgical with his approach, instead going for a total brutalization. He dives on top of the ape, stabbing the torso area to his heart's content until the blood covers most of his white fur. The only merciful thing he does is to save his ears from the screaming by covering the ape's mouth while he stabs. Besides, muffled screams sound better anyway.

Once the ape is fading away, does he finish the job. He stabs the knife into the right side of his neck and slices all the way to the left. Cutting his throat with no hope of recovery at all. Mostly satisfied, he stands up to admire his work before adding the injuring insult to fatal injury by stomping his boot on the ape's face. Now satisfied, he cleans his knife on the sleeve of the, in the meantime, deceased soldier and holsters it.

Panting, he returns to Munt. Passing by Kip, who does not mind at all. If he had not done it, she would have. No one messes with Nova 7 and expects to walk away alive. When the Major inquires about the commotion that happened in the background, Kip states that Phantom finished the ape soldier off; he was reaching for a weapon. It was a struggle but he got the upper hand in the end.

"Ah, excellent. Well, I will leave you to your devices. Try and take the radio if you can. In case that sandstorm makes locating you hard, we can figure out where the radio is. And when you get back to your "camp", radio in. I want to speak to Trevor and a certain bird who has barged into the room would like to talk to you know who."

"Understood, Sir. And again, glad to hear your voice. And that you're happy we aren't dead."

"Why would I not be happy? I got a heart attack the moment I saw that building explode and your connection got severed. So I can ease that heart now. Along with plenty of others around me. Good work, Kip. You're a real asset to the team."

"Thank you, Sir. I appreciate that. Kip, out."

Kip puts the transmitter module down and goes to take a look at the green cover that keeps the radio in place. To see how she can remove it. Such effort is something Munt likes to see; no dawdling around, roll up your sleeves and get cracking. As he does so, he stops Phantom from walking past him.

"Got it out of your system?" he asks both genuinely interested and rhetorically.

"Yeah, somewhat. Still hungering for more. But I can temper that for now."

Munt knows he is not lying just from the seriousness in Phantom's voice. Which worries him somewhat, making him hope that Trevor knows what he is doing in keeping this guy around.

"Look, if this is about your PAL friend…"

"Huh?"

It takes a little bit for Phantom to get what he meant.

"Oh that! No, not all." he laughs if off, making a complete emotional 180.

"Like I said, forgiven and forgotten. But unlike you, until each of those bastards that tried to kill us have tasted my blade…"

He holds said blade in front of his face for dramatic yet sincere effect.

"I will not forgive and not forget." he swears with bared teeth, that appear just as quickly as they disappear.

It makes Munt realize he is glad that these crazy people are on his side. They are very close together for sure. And if Phantom is any indication of how far they will go to avenge their stricken teammates, the Corporal has a fairly good idea of what is going to happen to this enemy. Either that enemy will die soon, or it will emerge alive but wishing it was no longer.

"Hey Corporal!"

He is shaken out of his train of thought by one of his own soldiers calling him out, stating another ship was spotted nearby. Likely there in response to the downed vessel he is currently standing in. He jumps right into action, calls Kip and Phantom to him and prepares to follow the exact same plan as before. Anticipate, surround, bring down and then close in for the kill. Until extraction arrives.

3 - Out From The Ashes

- Going Up Fighting

"This is Helldiver 2-4 to Bunker, come in Bunker!"

"Bunker here. Go ahead, Helldiver 2-4."

"Permission to engage unidentified lower-atmospheric vessels opening fire on Cornerian troops on the Macbeth surface, over!"

"Copy that, one moment. … Helldiver 2-4, any vessels opening fire on our troops on the ground are to be engaged until they either wave off or have been destroyed. Your call, over and out."

"My call. Solid copy, Bunker. Guns, guns, guns!"

The pilot of the Cornerian transport ship, callsign Helldiver 2-4, is not wasting any time and presses down both fire triggers on his flight stick. The first thing he saw after breaking through the planet's atmosphere was both shocking and admirable. Cornerian soldiers, who clearly had no business being there to begin with, were from at least two different units as well, fighting to keep their designated safe zone clear of those flying pests. Some of those soldiers looked wounded as well. And in their desperation, likely saw Helldiver for one of those flying enemies as the ship's hull caught several penetrating hits. But this pilot understands the stress and has already forgiven them.

His gunfire is precise and effective. The first vessel has its roof peppered with lasers and falls down like a brick, crashing down to the ground. The second and third vessel caught some stray shots so they got the message. However as they start fleeing, the pilot tells his door gunner to deploy.

"Curtis! Get that door open and blow those bastards out of the sky!"

The door gunner does not hesitate as the side door slides open with the smack of the button. On a swivel mount is a double-barreled, belt-fed autocannon and it is locked and loaded. With both hands on each trigger, the buttons are pressed the moment the holographic crosshairs are over the fleeing ships. A hail of blaster bolt fire pelts them and they never make it far. The second ship's engine suffers a catastrophic blowout and its backside is soon enveloped in flame as a fuel leak makes the flame only bigger. The third ship's structure fails as its pilot tries an evasive maneuver just as a burst of Cornerian gunfire rips through the middle. The sudden movement and the sustained damage cause the vessel to literally tear itself in half. Like opening a bag of rice the wrong way, its contents are flung far and wide. And soon enough, the skies are cleared of enemies.

"Good shooting, Curtis. Putting her down for a landing."

"It seems they are very happy to see us, Wright." the door gunner remarks as he can see those down below waving at them.

"Wouldn't you be? Look at this hellhole. Glad that the sandstorm cleared somewhat."

Helldiver finds a nice place to land but keeps its engine running so they can get out as soon as possible. Curtis puts the swivel mount back in its resting place so he can help everyone else on board without any hassle. The soldiers who enter are indeed from two different units; the 64th Marines and one that has an "N7" written on their unusual and not-uniform uniforms. Along with some interesting equipment, like a big block of bronze and a metal triangle with a glass, red-tinted orb in the center. This obviously raises some questions. And maybe even some suspicion.

"We're Special Forces. And we got into some special trouble…"

20 minutes earlier…

"That was number four now! How many ships do they have swarming around here?" Munt pants as he checks out the cut on his lower calf.

He was lucky that the piece of shrapnel from one of the radiator fans had just grazed him. That ship was very tenacious. The first two went down without any issue. And the plan was executed brilliantly. But the third time's the charm they say and that ship was an absolute bastard. It came in very fast and was strafing blindly. Everyone had to dive for cover. Because it was so fast, they could not get a lock on it. To make things even worse, they only had one more missile for the launcher.

Since they could not get a lock, they would follow the idea of the ship; volume of fire instead of precision. The moment that ship came back around, it was met with a hail of gunfire. The glass that the pilot sees out of is protected against small arms fire so their bullets and blasters do not penetrate. However, it does clutter up the pilot's vision to such a degree that all he can see is cracks. Unable to see anything, he continues the fire blindly before making a fatal pull up maneuver straight into a jagged stone pillar.

And then there was the fourth ship. Which came in unaware of what had happened before. It was slow and therefore the soldier got a lock on it. The missile hit true but both the ship and its pilot went into panic mode. The stabilization system of the ship was gone and it began to twirl like a spinning top. Faster and faster and faster until it spun out of the control. All the while the pilot had her fingers jamming down the firing buttons.

It would have been a spectacular sight if viewed from a distance or from behind tempered glass but in this case it was a straight up nightmare. All of them ducked for cover to protect themselves from the guns but the ship spiraled towards the rocks to the sides. Slamming into it caused fragments and shrapnel to shower everywhere. Still utterly out of control, it flew straight to the other side and slammed more rocks. Resulting in more shrapnel and debris raining down on anyone unfortunate enough. The ship kept bouncing back and forth, forcing everyone on the ground to scramble continuously.

There is temporary relief when the ship finally digs itself into the ground and finally stops firing. At that moment, there was one final discharge but it was from the malfunctioning engine. It spat out the radiator fan like it was a throwing star and it cut Munt's leg. However, his injury was small compared to the damage done to some of his own soldiers. Hearing more engines coming their way, he chooses to pull back to their original position.

It is a risky maneuver, as he does not know if all of Nova 7 is awake. If they are not, they are literally sitting ducks for these predatory ships. And he would have brought it on them. But staying here is worse. He calls for everyone to retreat while he helps up one of his fallen comrades. Kip grabs the other and Phantom quickly binds a bandage around his leg.

Now a little better to go, they get out of the area which had become a deadzone. With an ominous engine noise following them. And catching up…

Back at the "camp", before Munt had even engaged the very first ship, Trevor had managed to crawl his way to the ladies of Nova 7 who were still knocked out. Feeling quite exhausted after that, he decided to lay down in between them. There was just enough room to squeeze in between. Feeling like a very tired king in between two of his favorite ladies, he quickly falls asleep. A nap never hurt anyone after all.

He starts to dream. In this dream, he is transported back to the Nova 7 graduation party he had over at their apartment. That apartment in Corneria City, in his and Calamity's living room. All rebuilt with some generous donations from the military fund meant for Nova 7's creation. There was some leftover budget so… why not?

The party was small and focused, just on the four of them. As Phantom was not in the team at that moment. It was more like a pajama party, not like a regular party with booze and music. Just the four of them, watching bad TV while wearing the minimum for good taste. Although good taste is a misnomer, considering what they were wearing.

Patches and Calamity were the exceptions. As Patches was dressed in actual pajamas with a baby blue top with a white heart on the upper chest area, dark blue shorts and her old boots. Calamity was in her usual get up.

But Kip and Trevor were standing out more than anything. Kip wore nothing but a long faint green, oversized, short-sleeved shirt that looked more like a dress than a shirt and white underwear. However Trevor was an outright murderer of fashion. And he wore that title with pride. Wearing his ugly, light blue Aloha pattern shirt, white briefs with a black stripe down the middle as well as socks and flip flops, he looked not presentable at all.

The ladies around him however, could not care less. They were not there to burn each other down for their choice of nightwear. They were there to roast idiots on TV and have a good time. With Trevor in the middle somewhat "man-spreading", Calamity on his left and laying down on his lap with her hand placed upon the crown jewels of her man, Kip to his right and leaning into his shoulder with her legs outstretched and Patches at his feet laying on the floor and looking up at the TV. Her head cupped into her hands, elbows on the floor and her feet up in the air kicking around gently. It was heavenly and in this dream he gets to relive that.

But one must inevitably wake up and he is awoken in possibly the best way. He fell asleep between two ladies and now he is woken up by them. He went from one dream into another. At least, at first. Because in a dream you typically do not feel pain. Especially not one that feels like a knife getting pushed further and further into his side. That spot hurt before already but this is so much worse. He cannot even sit up anymore.

With startling realization, that dream comes to an end as the pain is almost enough to knock him out again. However, with Calamity holding his hand and Patches injecting him with some pain medicine, he is kept awake. The pain ebbs away soon enough and he is able to sit upright again. Where he is very glad to see his fiancé and his XO alive and well.

"Cal… Patch… I-I was worried about you…" he states, a little drowsy still.

"We're alright. Oh, my lazy-bones… when I woke up and saw you laying down there… I thought you were dead for a second. But then I realized you were just being lazy again." she teases.

"And you weren't thinking about me then?" Patches intercedes, pretending to be mad.

"Oh, of course I was darling. But right now, I'm comforting my man so quit being such a Jealous Jane, yeeeees?"

Trevor chuckles but not as much as Patches. The two help him get up to his feet, which feels a bit wobbly but he can stand in the end. Which he is quite glad to because he has become very unenthusiastic about not being able to stand on both feet from the building collapsing onto him.

Two soldiers who noticed this came running towards them to see if they could assist. When that is not necessary, they bring Patches and Calamity up to speed. It is almost fitting that the moment they are done explaining Munt's plan, gunfire is heard in the distance. Which peaks everyone's attention and makes them grab their weapons.

As the ranking officer, Trevor calls everyone back and tells them to get down but to hold their fire. Normally he would send out Phantom as a scout but he is likely caught in the gunfire that he is hearing coming closer. So he will use his sniper which, aside from a few scuff marks, has never seen better days. He wipes his eyes and looks through the scope.

He cannot see that much thanks to the sandstorm. The storm is dying down but it is still rather thick and obtrusive. However, as he continues to observe he can see flashes appear. Likely the flashes of gunfire in the distance. Or maybe even explosions. But what would be causing that?

Then he can hear the roaring of engines in the distance and his heart sinks for a moment. He lets out an expletive and tells everyone to spread out, to find some cover. But more importantly, to be ready to swat some annoying flyers out of the sky.

Then he can see Munt coming out of the storm and into the clearing. Followed by Kip and Phantom along with the rest. They look battered but otherwise alright still, which is a relief. And they also have a big radio with them. But not far behind them is an enemy vessel that overshot their position and came straight into contact with Trevor's quickly organized force. And they do not hesitate to open fire. The vessel, now overwhelmed, decides its best course of action is to make like a tree and split.

It allows for reprieve as Kip and Phantom reunite with their team members. All quite happy that the other is alive. Even the interaction between Calamity and Phantom feels less icy. As they reconcile, Trevor calls out to Munt, thanking him for taking good care of them.

"Did they behave themselves well?" he adds rhetorically after.

"Uh…"

Munt falls silent for a moment. His mind flashes to the gunshot he suddenly heard next to him, which came from Kip. Blew a hole straight through an ape soldier's stomach. Then it flashes to Phantom gutting the other soldier's neck. He is tempted to mention this to Trevor, but considering he would likely approve anyway, he decides to omit it entirely.

"Yeah, they behaved themselves properly."

"Ah excellent. Now…"

Trevor is interrupted by the sound of multiple engines coming this way. The vessel that took off before went and got some reinforcements. Nova 7 and the 64th make themselves ready for combat…

"... and now we are here." Trevor says, finishing up the story.

"So thanks for the ride. Are you bringing us straight home?"

"That is the idea." Wright replies.

"Strap in and hang on; we're taking off."

The vessel comes loose off the ground and soon enough is up in the air. The pilot gives the engines the boost they need before he points it up at the sky and as fast as a shooting star makes for the wide open universe. The moment the ship leaves Macbeth's atmosphere, the team can see the one ships of Cruiser Group Prefectra hang out. Munt says that they were not shot from there; he wishes they were though. Instead, they were shot from Corneria. A very risky procedure.

To which Trevor asks how in the name of everything holy and unholy they managed to find out they were in trouble. There was some kind of anonymous source? Munt clarifies that they got a tip from a somewhat posh sounding individual, using a voice modulator to hide their identity. This person could accurately describe Nova 7's positions. Like this person was watching them from a distance.

The team has some vague idea of who that could be but the only posh sounding people are currently disabled or at the base. Likely celebrating that everyone is safe and alive.

"Oh crap, almost forgot!" Kip then remembers as she turns on the radio.

She hands the transmitter module to Trevor and sets it to the right frequency. Then she gives Trevor a thumbs up. Even if he does not exactly know who is on the other end.

"Erhm! This is Sergeant Trevor DeLange, priority code: Bones. Nova 7-1. Alive and well. Come in."

"TREVOR!" is shouted at exceptionally high volume, enough to make the fox recoil a little bit.

"Oh my stars! You are alive! Oh my stars… my stars… is-is-is… the rest…?"

Nelson can be heard trying his best not to burst into happy tears.

"Everyone is here with me, Nelson. Glad to hear your voice as well." Trevor assures with a smile.

"Phew… you had me on the ropes. Please don't die on me again, yeah? I saw you get tossed by that big explosion and… uh, oh! Sorry, Sir. Trevor, here's the Major. Have a pleasant flight!"

"Sergeant. Trevor, glad that you're with us again. How close was it?"

"Let's just say Sir, that if Munt hadn't been there, we'd have been dead for sure."

"Excellent. Corporal Munt, you are to be commended for your actions. We'll discuss the details once you touch down at Tacker Field. Trevor, do you require a medic?"

"Send in several. We could really need the extra care." Trevor replies, feeling the painkiller Patch gave him fade.

"Copy that, I'll have them at the ready when you land. Last time I was informed of your status, I heard that three of you were up and two were still unconscious. Is that still the case?"

"No Sir. I'm glad to say that everyone is up and about. Tired and battered, but all in good spirits and alive."

He can hear commotion in the background and then someone running towards the radio.

"Good. Because I have here someone who would be really glad to hear a certain voice again. And I'm afraid I can no longer hold him back."

Trevor chuckles, knowing exactly who it is. He tells the Major he understands and that he will see them back at base. Then he hands the module over to Patches, who was not paying a lot of attention in the meantime. That is what a splitting headache and too much adrenaline in your system does. However, when she hears a certain Victorian voice over the radio, all of that negativity goes right out of the window as she practically hugs that thing.

"She's really crazy for the Lieutenant, huh?" Calamity remarks before she puts her head on Trevor's shoulder.

"Oh, she is. But you are hot for the Sergeant so what does that make you?"

"Engaged?"

"Hell yeah you are. I'm very glad we made it out of there alive. With everyone."

"Same. Would you mind if I just… napped for a bit? Right here?"

"Of course not. Go ahead. I could use some more shut eye too."

"Lazy-bones." Phantom then comments out of nowhere.

Only for him to catch a nasty glare from Calamity, which quickly turns into a chuckle before she closes her eyes. It startled him for a moment but he believes everything is alright again. So while the Sergeant and his Militia fiancée snooze off, Patches is busy vocally cuddling with her "lovey-dovey" and Kip is chatting with someone from Munt's team she got along with in particular, he decides to message someone who was on the line before but was kicked off by the Major. That little shrew must be feeling lonely, especially after something like this.

- Amends

The truck arriving at the base. It has always been a common occurrence. But perhaps this time, it might be more important than ever. With Nelson standing to his left. The shrew is bouncing for joy and because of nerves. He can barely keep a proper hold on his tablet computer, having to adjust his grip to make sure it does not clatter onto the ground.

His friend Damian is standing to his right, with his hands behind his back. His composed stature hides an internal nervous wreck. His hands look composed and put together, but he contracts them regularly.

The Major himself gives him a gentle bump with the elbow, telling him to calm down and stand at attention. The very least they could do. And while he looks ahead with his signature stone facial expression, the cracks in that are clearly showing.

Behind him is a gaggle of medics and support personnel. Prepared for pretty much any possibility. From the smallest boo-boo to those experiencing near-death.

Finally, the truck enters the ground of the compound, performs a three-point turn and reverses towards the entrance. And right where it is supposed to stop, it does. The engine shuts off and the loader tray flips open. From behind the fabric lining that keeps the cold air out, marines of the 64th disembark and the Major sends in the doctors. He pretty much has enough for each and everyone single one. However, priority lies with those with the worst injuries and with Nova 7 in general.

Corporal Munt gets out as the last member of the 64th. He gives a quick salute to the Major before turning his head to the truck. And out come the presumed dead Nova 7 members. First 7-5, then 7-4 and counting down. All having their issues and injuries but they try to look presentable. Even with 7-1 emerging, trying his best to stand up straight with the pain in his side getting worse.

"Grr… welcome home, everyone… Major. Lieutenant. Nelly… ow… Nova 7! At your service."

"Spare me the antics, Sergeant." the Major states warmly, as he points right at them to signal the medics.

They waste no time and rush in. The members of Nova 7 can now relax or collapse from exhaustion and pain at their own leisure. One of them does not, instead choosing the moment to fling herself at her big bird, who is all too happy to embrace her. Then Nelson rushes over to them, looking to help as much as he can. While they all take their time, the Major takes Munt aside. Away from the commotion.

"I don't know how you were able to get my team back to me in one piece… but thank you anyway." the Major states, hands in his side.

"No problem at all, Sir. I tried my best and got good results."

"We could use more men like you. Or just soldiers like you. Anyway, I can already hear the Admiral screaming his head off at your actions. I'll make sure he'll temper his tone by writing to him personally. As an extra thank you from us to you. So, I don't know what you felt you owed to Nova 7 and the team, but consider your debt paid."

"Debt, Sir? I mean, I appreciate your offers but rest assured; the last reason why we did what we did was because we felt we owed you guys anything. Just like the previous mission and the one before that, we came because we felt like it. And more importantly, because we were allowed to."

Munt can see the slight confusion on the Major's face, so he clarifies his point. They came along with Nova 7 because it was Nova 7 who gave them all that little thing that every rookie soldier needs; confidence. They had the training and the weapons. But those are useless if the rookie themselves is a shivering wreck in the face of enemy fire. When Trevor and his team arrived in those trenches on Fortuna, reinvigorated those around them to stand, fight and even push them back, that was inspiring to such a big degree.

"We never felt like we had to; we wanted to."

The Major smiles and reaches out of his hand.

"Then you are welcome to join us at any time."

Munt is a little taken aback by this at first, expecting him to salute. But in the end, the two shake hands.

"All I ask is that you and your guys keep this location a secret. Because in the end; you guys were never here. Understood?"

"Absolutely understandable. We were never here." Munt verbally winks.

In mutual understanding, they leave along the rest of their teams as the medics accompany them inside. The only one standing aside from them is Nelson and the Lieutenant. The rest is being guided, rolled or carried away on stretches. Aside from Patches, who is being rather effortlessly carried by her big bird.

Once they are inside, those not in need of too much medical care are put into the cantina and are allowed a free hot meal at the Major's expense. Which is much appreciated. He sits down in the mess hall but not on any other already occupied table. He needs a moment alone with his thoughts. A moment of nothing before he has to get a certain toad out of containment. His teammates are not dead, therefore it seems more and more likely that the ugly bastard was telling the truth back when he had his throat squeezed shut. He will wait for Damian to return from playing with the bunny he has clamped around him.

Then Phantom asks for his attention behind him. The arctic fox, clearly not wishing to disturb his train of thought but kind of having to anyway, was tempted to tap on his shoulder but the Major already noticed him.

"Sorry Sir, didn't mean to interrupt."

"Yeah you did. That's alright though. What can I do for you?"

"Well, PAL has been disabled ever since the incident. The only way I can get him going again, is to attach him into the console. Which is in…"

"... Nelson's room. I got it. Why ask me though?"

"I cannot find Nelson anywhere."

"He's likely holed up in his room. So if you are looking for some kind of permission to enter, I'm not the right person to ask."

"Yes, Sir! Then I will check if he is in there. Thank you, Sir."

The arctic fox takes off with the disabled PAL on his back. The eye in the middle of the metal frame is indeed not turned on. The way he spoke, with that slight shiver in his voice. Like he was trying his very best to not to show that there was clearly more intention behind going to Nelson's room. Was he trying to avoid Nelson? Or actively looking for him? It would make sense; they build up the computer hardware for this place together.

He lets them figure it out for themselves. As long as they produce results and do not claw each other's eyes out, he could care less what they do in their private time together.

In the meantime, Phantom has reached the door to Nelson's room. His mind switches every second from just entering to knocking first. He kind of does both in response, with a very light knock as the door opens for him. Not the usual response to a knock but this door has always been funky. He thinks of it as a convenience and enters the room.

It is dark inside, the only thing lighting up something are the screens emitting a faint green and white light. Which makes the room look like there was a recent leak of glowing radioactive waste. Amused, he approaches Nelson's ball turret and the main console just before that.

This big block of metal is essentially nothing more than a secondary control system. In case the ball turret fails. It also allows Phantom to cooperate with Nelson at the same time without them having to share the same screen. Which quickly became a nuisance as both had different ways of working. And even with two separate keyboards, them sitting next to each other or having to share anything was a recipe for disaster. If they were in "the zone", seeing each other even in the corner of the eye would work very distracting and aggravating. Hence why they separated the positions.

Thinking back to those initial teething problems in their cooperation makes him chuckle now as he approaches a triangular-shaped indent in the computer console. With several attachment points that correspond with the slots on PAL's casing. In this case, PAL can also add to the computing process or work with Nelson to implement the software side of things.

It is also the general reset for PAL. Although his docking station is in Phantom's room, this place can actually "heal" him. Designed with the cooperation of the three of them together, which he now is very thankful for. He slots PAL into the system and a small red light starts to burn within his glass eye. Which means that he is healing in a sense.

Phantom sighs relieved, not aware that behind him, hiding in the darkness all this time, two green eyes have been following him around. Staring at him intently, waiting for the right moment to strike. And just as Phantom walks to the door to leave, does he pop out.

"Going somewhere, uninvited guest?" Nelson asks as sinister and creepy as possible.

"What the…?!"

Phantom's first reaction was to reach for his knife but he saw it was Nelson just in time. His hand goes away from his scabbard and then he starts laughing.

"You prick! You got me all riled up. Were you just hiding there?"

"Yup! And I got you good, didn't I?" Nelson states smugly while holding and waving a remote in his hand.

"I'll get you back for that."

"Sure, sure. I figured at the very least you'd wonder why the door opened on its own."

"Because you knew it was me so you would've opened it regardless?"

A sudden flash of red envelopes Nelson's face.

"H-how did you…?"

"Huh? Oh, I just figured you'd have like a uh… camera? You know… pointed at the door on the outside." Phantom replies, getting a blush going himself.

"Y-yeah, that's it. Nothing else… So, I see PAL needs to be reset?"

"Yeah, he kind of got knocked out by the uhm… explosion you know?"

"Yeah…"

The atmosphere of awkwardness hangs over the two like a cumulus that is about to turn into a thunderstorm. Phantom scratches behind his ear; this was so much easier over the phone. Just sending messages back and forth. But with the shrew now standing in the same room as him, even at a considerable distance, it is very hard. And he cannot deny the lighting makes it even worse, as it white lighting reflects so beautifully off of his eyes.

Nelson in turn is averting his gaze from the arctic fox, whose fur shines with such a venomous yet attractive green haze. Like a toxic gas he is meant to avoid but he cannot help but be drawn to. His somewhat rough personality and less than clean ways of dispatching of his foes is offset by this genuinely funny dark humor and abrasive attitude when he is around Nelson. The amount of times he was laughing out loud from something that edgy prick said are too numerous to count. And making him feel safe and wanted.

"I uhm… gotta go. I need to… sharpen my blade still. Yeah, that's it. And also this nasty head wound."

Phantom fumbles over his words as he tries to think of an excuse on the spot. Hoping that the shrew will believe his pretty little lies.

"Oh… oh yeah. You should probably do that. It does look… okay-ish? But better be sure, I understand."

On the outside Nelson seems fine with it, but on the inside he is screaming at himself for not telling the truth. And it seems Phantom notices this as he turns around very slowly, perhaps hoping for more?

"So… I'll see you around? I mean, I gotta pick up that metal bastard anyway so… yeah."

"Yeah…"

Phantom then turns around completely and starts walking away. This action makes Nelson's heart skip a beat and feel like it falls all the way down into his foot. Before he can trample it on some more himself, he musters all the courage he has.

"Roger! Wait!" he shouts after the arctic fox, who is only a few steps away from the door.

He stops dead in his tracks, his hand reaches for the door retracting and he sighs. Can he not see that it is not going to turn into anything? Nothing serious anyway. He turns around to tell him this but just as he does that, he is positively startled by the shrew already standing right in front of him and just below him thanks to the height difference. This does not stop the shrew at all; he stands on his tippy-toes, grabs the arctic fox's face in both of his hands and plants his lips against his.

Thousands of thoughts shoot past each other in Phantom's head. But none of them is about stopping what is happening now. Although his body is still finishing up the natural recoiling reaction, his mind is already made up.

Then Nelson pulls back, leaving Phantom's lips unkissed for now.

"I… was so worried. About everyone. But mainly you… now you are here… with me. Stay."

That shine in his eye is now visible even without the white sheen of the screens. And the look those green eyes are giving him tells him that the shrew is not finished with him. He takes the arctic fox by the hand and leads him to the dark part of the room he was hiding in before. And he lets himself be pulled along.

All the while, without either of them knowing that faint red light of PAL did not only mean that he is healing, but also that he has some sense of what is going on. And it does not take a genius to realize what has just happened. He perceived it all. But his natural red color soon turns a nasty looking purple. And that is not from jealousy…

Epilogue

"YoU fAiLeD!"

"Oh shut up you, will ya? You assured me that the bomb would have enough explosive power to turn them all to dust! Now we don't even know if it killed that stupid ape."

"YoU dArE bLaMe Us!?"

"Grr… you are right. You are not to blame for bad fortune. Luckily, that is why we have a backup. And judging by the location of our unknowing infiltrant, we are back in their base. Which means…"

"ThE mErCeNaRiEs, tHe So-CaLlEd HuSkY tEaM, cAn FiNaLlY pRoVe ThEy ArE nOt JuSt WoRtHlEsS mEaTbAgS."

"Almost my thoughts entirely. We just need to wait for the moment where they are at their weakest. Judging by the information already gathering and the video footage, I can already see a few things we can exploit once they do pop up. Speaking of which, we can remove that Lieutenant-Colonel's name from the blueprint now. His clear innocence will spark what we need. Oh, and release the files to the Net."

"SeT iT iN mOtIoN! pRoVe YoUrSeLf WoRtHy To OuR cAuSe!"

"Death to Corneria. Now, where is that idiot that usually comes in here? Oh yeah, he is likely dead. No matter; we will compose the mercs a message ourselves. And our friend will be their guide soon enough."