"Home sweet home." Dealer stepped out of the jeep and stretched her legs, the intense raining had died down. "I feel so much better after we got out of that hellhole, urgh, don't want to look at a pillow for a while..."

While Reaper helped Sweeper out of the vehicle, Savage tapped the roof to signal to Mirabelle to get down. The large girl dropped down still holding on to the rocket launcher, Savage grabbed it out of her hands and inspected it.

"No damages... good. We just have to remember to load in the rockets for next time."

Sweeper noticed that one of Reaper's arm is still injured from the fight with the silver haired android. "Underground basketball sure is dangerous, are you okay Reaper?"

"I'm fine." The girl responded.

"Didn't expect the UCNA military to be that treacherous but at least we didn't go home empty handed." Savage said as she lugged the launcher over her shoulder.

"We didn't? I'm pretty sure we lost one rocket." Dealer replied.

"Shut up Private Dealer." Savage shot a look of contempt in Dealer's direction before continuing. "We came back with knowledge of the enemy forces." Savage gripped her free hand tightly. "Those bastards recruited the local militia and then disguised them as a religious group so that they can cry to the Council that we committed a war crime when we fight back!"

"Yeah and they gave em brown dresses. How tacky can you get?" Dealer did not like the way they were dressed one bit, the colour scheme could very well be used to torture enemies for intel.

"Captain, I don't want to get in the way of your rambling, but what locals?" Sweeper pointed out. "I don't think anyone has been living in Former North Dakota in years, decades even."

Savage thought about the ways they could've acquired a sizable force in a matter of days. "They could've shipped in citizens from the United Countries and armed them."

Whatever the UCNA were planning, they clearly outnumbered the US troops stationed here now.

"I better report this to Command." Savage headed for the entrance of the base.

"Another question, Captain." Sweeper stepped forward and waited for Savage's approval, which she gives. "Have we made a report on our soldiers killed in action yet?"

"Corporal Sweeper, you worry too much, Command doesn't need to know right now." The Captain answered before strutting into the base.

"I feel like we really should report about it." Reaper spoke up, but Savage was too far to hear it or she ignored it.

"I wonder if Guard got bored without us here." Dealer looked at the aged exterior of the base.

"I don't think Guard types can get bored... at least I think they can't." Sweeper claimed.

Dealer shrugged and entered the base. She was right, the UCNA base was much nicer and larger than their own, Dealer wondered how much money was actually put into theirs. As long as it had slightly stable internet connection she wouldn't complain as much but the difference between the two made her envious of the UCNA's living conditions. Walls, that was one thing both bases had in common, the lack of walls that cover the perimeter of their territories meant that it was very easy for someone to walk directly in. But as she went further in to their base she noticed something was off.

"Hey... does this place look cleaner to you guys?"

"Yeah, now that you mention it, I can see my reflection in the floor now." Reaper did a small wave to the ground.

"Did Guard do this?" Sweeper peeked into a room to see if was the same as the hallways. "She even cleaned up the rooms."

The androids remarked on how clean everything was as they made their way towards the lounge. Mirabelle stomped along beside them, with her same old emotionless expression, she would occasionally turn her head to scan the area for any threats. As they got closer to the lounge, her eyes lit up as she walked at a rapid pace towards something that caught her attention. The androids quickly got out of the juggernaut's way.

"Private Mirabelle, what's going on?" Questioned Savage as she jogged behind the droid. It wasn't long before Savage noticed what Mirabelle was looking at, something was splattered on the wall and the floor next to the lounge room door. "Hey Private Guard! Come out at once!"

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The rest of the group caught up and were shocked by what they saw. Blood, actual blood, was covering the wall and floor.

"What happened here... Guard, are you here!" Sweeper looked around and waited for any reply to come from the missing android.

"Did someone hurt Guard?" Dealer pondered.

"Androids don't have blood, Private Dealer, you idiot." Savage said as she continued to examine the floor.

"I was talking about that." Dealer pointed at the shotgun shell and bullet casings littered around the area.

"Oh, that."

On even closer inspection, there was some scuff marks on the floor and even some holes on the ceiling. It was clear that multiple people were involve in this and that there was a struggle of some sort.

"Guard isn't here, did they leave a message any where to tell us where they took her?" Dealer took a peek into the lounge to check for anything unusual.

"Why would they leave clues? If the UCNA was involved in this they could have taken her to get info out of her?" Savage thought about how their enemy could pull it off. "They could have more members of the militia that we aren't aware of."

"It could've been the strangers from the forest, we don't exactly know where their trails went." Reaper suggested while looking at Dealer.

"This is like a murder-mystery scenario. Hmmm, let me list all the clues that we've gathered." Sweeper pulled up a digital list and jolted down notes.

"Guard isn't dead... or at least I hope she isn't." Reaper said but Sweeper didn't listen as she was too focused on her list.

A shotgun shell, some bullet casings, the cleaned hallways and rooms. Sweeper was starting to pick up on what happened to Guard but she still needed more evidence on where they could have taken her. Getting more curious about the situation, Sweeper wandered off to other parts of the base to see if there were any more clues to be found. This left Savage, Dealer, Reaper and Mirabelle to propose their next action.

"I don't know if we should spend the time to look for Guard." Dealer rubbed the back of her head. "We didn't really know Guard for that long to put that much effort in looking for her. Hell, we got over the deaths of everyone else pretty quickly."

"That's because their dead, Private Dealer, if we can so much as save Private Guard from meeting that fate I'll happily charge into the enemy's stronghold to rescue her." Savage closed her fists, she was ready to take on anything that stood in her way.

"I agree." Reaper nodded her head.

"Kill." Mirabelle stated.

Dealer let out a sigh, she somehow knew that they would rush in blindly and that they would drag her along. "Look, we don't even know who took her and where they even are."

"Hey guys!" Sweeper shouted from down the hallway. "I think I found some tracks!"

"Damn it..." Dealer muttered as she followed along with the rest of the soldiers heading to Sweeper's location.

It was outside the base, the heavy rain had turned into a light drizzle and the ground had become mud. Multiple boot prints could be seen on the ground leading off to the south, some of the boot prints were more embedded into the ground as if they were carrying something heavy.

"Look, see?" Sweeper had noticed this. "I'm pretty sure they carried Guard off with them, I'm no expert but I can say for sure that androids tend to be heavier than humans."

"Corporal Sweeper, that's some fine detective work." Savage knelt down to examine the trail.

"At least 5 other people were here." Reaper had noticed that there was 5 different pairs of boot prints, she could tell because of the size differences between them.

The group followed the trail as it led them further south. They eventually stopped when they reached a different kind of track, tire markings that took the kidnappers further away.

"They must have loaded her onto their vehicle before heading off that way." Sweeper pointed south-east.

"Then it must have been the UCNA!" Savage was pumped up to take on the UCNA again, even though it was the same day that they fought them in basketball.

Dealer attempted to hold Savage from running off. "Calm down Captain! Is attacking the UCNA the only plan you got!" She struggled to hold the smaller android back before being carried off with her.

"Hold on, I'm not sure the UCNA were the one that did it." Sweeper managed to get Savage's attention. "When we were at their base I didn't recall seeing a vehicle."

"It was raining at the time and we went in from the north, they could have vehicles parked else where." Savage retorted.

"Yes, but I strictly remember that all UCNA vehicles that participated in the Battle of Former North Dakota was destroyed and I also didn't see any vehicles from the first time we attacked their base." Sweeper had keenly observed and kept track of the UCNA equipment so that they can later make plans around what they have and do not have. "Also these vehicle tracks are the same ones as the strangers we were trailing before."

"You have really good memory. Also get off me Private Dealer." Savage knocked Dealer, who was still clinging tightly onto her back, off.

"Should we get in the jeep and follow them?" Reaper suggested to the Captain.

"We need someone to stay behind and protect the base, in case the UCNA tries to retaliate."

"Having one person stay behind worked so well last time..." Dealer sneered.

"Alright then Private Dealer. You, Corporal Sweeper and Private First Class Reaper head out and track down where they taken Private Guard. Meanwhile, me and Private Mirabelle stay behind, that should be enough to deter kidnappers."

Knowing how pointless arguing with Savage is, Dealer resigned to her fate. Just when they finally gotten back to base, she was now forced to go outside again. Sweeper, on the other hand, was delighted at the prospect of tracking down the kidnappers. Being the highest rank meant that she was the leader of this Guard retrieval team.

"Good luck you three! Bring her back home." Savage saluted the trio as she headed back to the base with Mirabelle.

"Sweeper squadron it's time to head out." Sweeper gave a sign to move forward and started marching south-east.

"Hey boss..." Dealer raised her hand. "Shouldn't we get the jeep?"

"O-oh right, ahem, Sweeper squadron get in the jeep and move that way."