“...the embassy, as well as the country of Piepan, has once again fallen. The leader who had been in talks with the WHO has been killed by separatists,” said Kommy.

“This is the 6th time right? It looks like the WHO's army will have to Normalize the situation once again,” said Fela.

Arron was standing next to the landing pad of Sector 9's zone 1 checkpoint and was watching the news in case they had any new information on the killings while he and the rest of ERF U3 prepared to capture and normalize the [Killer Criminal].

But there was no mention of their target or the killings after Cammy Newsons was arrested.

Arron grabbed the last magazine of bullets handed to him by Kix into the last open slot on his heavy-duty belt before looking over his well-worn armor which he tried to keep in top shape. The many scratches, dents, and gouges brought back many memories of all the deadly situations he had encountered during his short time as a member of the M1.

“Is everyone ready?” asked Captain Pointer.

“Yes!” said everyone with determined faces.

“Everyone, get on. We'll be flying in and dropping off at our destination.”

Arron followed Kix, who was already suited up in the newest P.L.E.v3 and boarded the waiting hover-copter which had M1 painted on its sides.

Bishop and Ward, both already inside their bulky exoskeletons, were the last to enter the hover-copter crouching down next to the side doors that automatically shut behind them.

The seating was cramped with everyone inside but they would only have to deal with it for a short while. Captain Pointer tapped on the pilot's shoulder signaling that everyone was in.

With a loud whirring sound, the engines went from zero to full throttle and lifted into the air before shooting off towards the designated destination that appeared on everyone's map of sector 9's zone 1.

Arron could only see the swift passing scenery out of the front windshield of the hover-copter. The windows on doors had been replaced with armored plates for extra protection of the rear passengers.

The ride, although uncomfortable, was far faster than any flying car or hovercar that he had ridden in since his arrival at the first level of the megacity.

The Hover-copter's speed slowed down and came to a stop as it hovered in the air above a roof of a 200-story research facility that was next to their target.

Thunk!

The side doors slammed open and the sound of the whirring engines became even louder.

“Knox, Ward! You're up!” ordered Captain Pointer over their helmet's secure voice coms. Arron could see the faces of everyone taking part in the normalization operation in the upper right corner of his helmet's visor as they were all connected to the same call.

The two crouching exoskeletons next to the doors scooted forward and at the same time pulled themselves out of the open doors Knox on the right and Ward on the left.

They dropped down nearly 30 ft onto the roof only creating a soft thud. The two exoskeletons activated their scanners to swipe the area several times for traps or anyone waiting to ambush them.

“All clear captain!” shouted Knox.

“Everyone out!” ordered Captain Pointer.

Kix jumped out the right side not using the thick rope that was tossed out of each of the doors. Akira followed him, clipping onto the rope to quickly descend to the roof.

As soon as the last person exited the hover-copter the ropes were automatically retracted and the side door slammed shut, allowing the hover-copter to fly off to a safer place.

“Kat, Priss, do you see anything suspicious down there?” asked Captain Pointer.

“Nothing out in the open,” said Priss.

“There could be a motion or heat sensor that activates when triggered... but I don't see anything either,” said Kat, looking over the side of the roof.

“Ward, Knox, Kix,” was all Captain Pointer said as he pointed to the building next to them where the [Killer Criminal] was holed up inside.

“On it!” shouted Ward.

Both Ward and Knox crouched down and then … jumped without hesitation launching themselves off of the roof using the full might of the mechanical legs.

Kix looked over the edge to see what he was dealing with. After a quick estimate of the distance, he backed up several steps and started running forward jumping off of the roof, following the other two.

“Damn it! I hate this!” shouted Kix as he fell over 100 floors and crash-landed onto the roof of the target building. Despite three exoskeletons smashing down onto the thick roof, they had managed to hit the Hover-copter landing pad that was fully reinforced.

“Kix, are you Okay? How is the P.L.E.v3 holding up?” asked Captain Pointer.

“Everything feels and looks Okay. They really did use a stronger para-steel formula this time,” said Kix after he did a quick check of his body and the light exoskeleton.

“Captain, the roof is all clear over here. But there are two security drones hiding near the roof's entrance,” said Knox.

“Bishop,” said Captain Pointer.

“Rodger!” said Bishop. He stepped up to the edge of the roof with what looked like two large bazookas, one on each shoulder.

Poof! Poof!

A thick para-steel rope shot out from each of the large tubes and flew down 100 floors embedding themselves into the rooftop's hover-copter landing pad.

Bishop slammed the rear of the right bazooka tube onto the rooftop and pressed a button causing four spikes to extend out and pierce the para-concrete securing the para-steel rope. He walked several steps to the left making sure to keep a wide enough distance before doing the same thing for the left bazooka tube.

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“Let's GO,” said Captain Pointer, as he clipped his armor's two harness hooks onto the left parasteel rope and started zip-lining down at a fast speed.

Arron was the last one to attach his hooks onto the right-side parasteel rope.

As he hopped off the roof and began the fast 100-floor descent he thought, 'What have I gotten myself into!'.

Thud!

Arron's feet slammed into the hard Para-Concrete roof and he would have fallen forward if it were not for the thick parasteel rope still holding him up and in place.

His feet that were encased in the gel-like AB v3s, still received a large portion of the shock causing him to let out a low groan as the force of the sudden stop hit him.

With a quick wave of his hand, his armor's attachments were unhooked and he joined the rest of the team who were gathering near the roof's entrance.

[Intruders stand back! Your NerViz cloud chips do not have the authorized codes to enter!]

“By order of the Office of Reason you are to move aside and let us in!” said Captain Pointer as he swiped some documents towards the security bots.

[Receiving new Data... Implementing security protocol 2! By order of the Office of Reason all who enter and exit a research factory must be scanned!]

With that, the two security bots floated over towards Captain Pointer and Priss.

Zap!

Their metallic arms shot out crackling with electricity as they reached for the two.

BAM! CRASH! Crrrrrr!

With swift movements, Knox and Ward punched the approaching cheap security bots. The thick fist of the exoskeletons smashed the security bots into a crumpled and crackling mess on the ground.

[Error.. error... err...]

Not phased in the least at this minor incident, Captain Pointer stepped forward and accessed the roof entrance's holo-lock and entered the security code that had been sent to him by Lexa.

A blue light rose from the ground and scanned him, when it stopped above his head it turned red.

[UNAUTHORIZED INTRUDER DETECTED! INITIATING LOCKDOWN!] came the loud robotic voice from the door as a near-deafening siren began to blare.

“Lexa the codes didn't work!” said Captain Pointer, as he jumped back and hid behind Ward and Knox for protection.

THUD!

A thick slab of high-grade Para-steel slammed down covering the entrance while two large turrets rose from the smooth ground.

Before they could acquire a target, Knox and Ward rushed forward and each grabbed onto one of the turrets. After bending the weaker parts and smashing everything else with their fists a few times they managed to disable the turrets.

“That's impossible, the code was directly given to me by an Office of Reason agent. It should definitely work,” said Lexa, who was sitting at her desk, “I'll contact them again and see if they changed the code or mixed it up.”

“Looks like it's my turn!” said Kat with her usual cheerful mood.

She took out her hacking tools from a pouch on her belt and plugged one of its wires into one of the slots on her NerViz implant and took out a second wire that had a drill at the opposite end and began to drill a hole in the thick para-steel that now covered holo-lock mechanism.

Two minutes passed before a small hole was drilled through the metal slab.

Kat grabbed a different thick wire and stretched it out from her tool kit and threaded it into the hole. The thick wire then split into ten smaller wires before shooting forward and piercing into the lightly armored hololock.

Kat stood there silently with her eyes closed as she worked on navigating through the system's inner workings to unlock the door.

After another minute of the sirens still blaring, Captain Pointer asked, “Well? What's the problem?”

“Sorry captain. This isn't a normal shoddy separatist hacking job. They have full control over everything. This is next-level stuff, almost like it's...”

“...an inside job?” asked Captain Pointer.

“Yeah,” said Kat in an unusually serious voice.

Several seconds later the blaring sirens and flashing red lights stopped and the thick parasteel slab raised back up revealing the door once again.

With a soft hiss the rooftop door opened.

“I'm working on locking down the other exits to prevent the [Killer Criminal] from escaping. After that, I'll try to regain control of the security drones. Until then you better be careful if you encounter them,” said Kat.

“Priss, Bishop stay here and protect Kat and keep an eye on the building's exits. If you see anyone other than us exiting the building shoot first and ask questions later,” commanded Captain Pointer.

“The rest of you follow me!”

Arron followed Kix down the steps into the research facility and came out onto a sturdy overhang platform that was hanging high above a large open room filled with loud active machines and other gadgets that almost covered the entire floor.

Captain Pointer looked at the basic 3d holographic blueprints of the building for a second before speaking again.

“Kix, Arron, you two need to head down to the third floor and search the first three floors. They are filled with nothing but cramped offices. Ward and Knox won't be able to move there so they will work their way down starting from here. I will stay with them to support them.”

“Understood!” said both Kix and Arron.

Ward and Knox jumped down from the platform and began their slow inspection of the nooks and crannies between the machines while Arron and Kix climbed down the metal rung ladder and found a mag-shoot that looked to be working.

Arron pressed the up button but was stopped by Kix.

“Like hell I'm going to get on that death trap,” said Kix. He walked over to a locked parasteel door and kicked it open revealing a stairwell.

Inside the stairwell was pitch black except for the lights coming from Kix's exoskeleton headlights. The stairs were covered in a layer of dust showing that no one ever used them.

With their weapons drawn they descended to the third floor to begin their search. All the while listening to the updates coming in from the other team members.

The third floor was completely silent with all the lights turned off.

“Hey aren't these research facilities normally running 24/7?” asked Arron, as he kicked open a door and scanned the area with his Bigboy ready to shoot any moving target.

“Yeah they're supposed to be...” said Kix, who was walking in front of Arron as a sort of shield to intercept and block any attack.

“Captain 3rd floors clear!” said Kix after they had walked through the entire place.

… “Second floor is clear!”

As they entered the first floor a low muttering voice reached their ears. Kix held up his metallic hand and put one of the fingers to the metal helmet motioning for them to be quiet.

They tried to listen to the muffled voice to find where it was coming from. When they ascertained its direction, Kix continued to lead the way.

“...I Did it all for Mother...”

As they rounded the corner of an office Kix's headlights lit up an adult male's sweaty back.

The man was sitting on the ground rocking back and forth as he muttered in a shaky voice. His body was shaking uncontrollably as he continued to rock.

Judging by the man's voice and his odd body actions, Arron could tell the man was most likely having withdrawal symptoms from a large dose of Stims, it was all too similar to the many other cases he had seen before.

For some reason, Arron's helmet visor was unable to scan and show the man's information.

“Identify yourself!” shouted Kix using his exoskeleton's external speakers.

“...I did nothing wrong... I did everything as I was told... all separatists must be normalized...”

“Hey, are you listening? I said identify yourself,” said Kix as he slowly walked towards the sweaty man.

“What's wrong!?” asked Captain Pointer upon hearing Kix shout.

“Captain, we may have found the target!” said Arron as he cautiously walked closer to the man using desks as cover while his weapon was pointing at the man's back.

The man ignored both of them and the bright light that was now lighting up the area. Kix and Arron carefully walked around the man so they could let their helmet's facial recognition software tell them who he was.

… but that was not needed.

“Hey isn't that...?” asked Arron trailing off as he looked at the shivering and sweaty face of the man before him.

“Yeah, It's Buck Boomers Assistant,” said Kix.