This was the first time I'd ever had to wake up at 3 A.M. in order to get anything done, but the entire month had been a first for everything. I was sitting in the middle of a busy briefing room in a grey jumpsuit, in a crowd of at least sixty others. I wasn't that tired, considering how early it was.

"Alright, settle down, everyone," a man at the front of the crowd said. "I'm Lead Intelligence Officer Pierson. I need everyone's full attention."

The bustling in the briefing room ceased the moment he spoke. A map displayed on the main monitor, and everyone focused their attention on it.

"We've been spending a great deal of this week planning out a successful strategy for us to gain access to the Atraxis Dome."

The map pulled up visuals from outside the Dome.

"Our reconnaissance teams found exactly what we were looking for based on intel from our allies outside that have been working closely with us. They'll be assisting us in helping take this base."

The map zoomed closer to the outlying forest next to the Dome. Two dots appeared amid the topography.

"We'll be having them deploy outside the base before the sun comes up. Once they reach close enough to the base, we'll commence the operation."

He panned the map over towards the center of the Dome.

"Their objective is to reach inside of the Atraxis Dome at the center. They'll be attempting to retrieve something there. However, the rest of the Rangers will not be concerned with this. Our main goal is to create a diversion against the security forces, allowing the two operators to sneak in. We believe that whatever it is they are hoping to secure will be important enough that we'll need to keep Duodecim off of them."

One of the Rangers raised his hand.

"Question."

"What is it, Ranger?"

"Do we know exactly what it is we're helping them secure?"

"The intel suggests it's a V.I.P.," Pierson said. "According to Miss Megpoid, the Operator's Intelligence Official, she claims the target is 'invaluable,' and that we can't afford to lose them. That's all I'm allowed to say."

The map transitioned over to a bird's eye view of the entire operation.

"Finally," Pierson said, "we intend to use this base for ourselves once we've secured it. Our intel suggests that we can make good use of its communications functions and regain contact with other Rangers stations that were knocked out of commission when our main base was originally destroyed. The Atraxis Dome will allow us to gain a strategic advantage against Duodecim, and, hopefully, Unity's Hand in the coming months."

Pierson shut off the briefing monitor, and signaled for everyone to stand up.

"The operation commences in twenty minutes. All of you are to proceed to the armory and grab the gear assigned to you. From there, you will be given your ship designations. We have a limited window to get this done."

Meiko and I left for the armory, along with the others. It was a start to a very long day ahead.

----------------------------------------

Kallen watched over as a couple of his subordinates monitored Miku's cell. They had been watching her for the past week now. Watching her constantly while she sat in one place at all times had become monotonous, but he also took joy in knowing that she wasn't having any fun with any of this. Despite not having come to visit her, he knew she was still miserable, and that helped him do his job.

"I don't know about you two," Kallen said to the two agents under his command, "but I'll be more than happy to see this over with. Especially now that this thing won't be seeing the light of day again for a very long while."

"I'm with you there, sir," one of them said. "I'm tired of being on babysitting duty. This thing ain't going anywhere, so why should we watch it?"

"That's the thing," Kallen said, a sharpness in his voice, "the higher ups want to make sure it has no means of escape this time. The moment we take our eyes off of it, something very well might happen."

Kallen recalled when Miku had escaped last time. He was in charge of keeping an eye on her while other agents kept an eye on other V.C.D. Units they were assigned to. Somehow, in some strange twist of fate, almost all of them managed to escape in one night. Kallen, being one of the few tasked with guarding such valuable technology, was reprimanded heavily. The others weren't so lucky, and were forcibly relocated to other facilities across the globe.

Of course, the stress of the incident itself didn't cause so much grief for Kallen as much as the shame it brought to him as an agent. He was looked down upon, and pleaded with the Directors that he would be able to make up for the folly. Once Miku had been found again, Kallen knew his redemption was calling for him, and he jumped at the chance to fulfill it.

It didn't matter to him that Miku wasn't the only one who escaped. She was under his direct supervision, and the fact she escaped in the first place made him angry. He grew to hate her out of passion.

"The thing is," Kallen explained further, "she's- I mean, it- has caused us enough trouble. If we keep our focus on it, we'll have nothing to worry about. However, if we leave one sliver of a chance for it to escape, it will jump at that chance, and it will probably succeed."

"That's the thing I don't get," the other agent commented, "why are we protecting this thing? It's valuable, I get it, but why not just scrap it and start over? Wouldn't that be easier?"

"You don't get paid to question your higher-ups," Kallen said. "They decided what we're supposed to do with it. You can choose to follow their orders, or I can throw your ass out and find someone who isn't going to question them. Do you understand?"

"Y-yes, sir."

"However, I don't disagree. This thing has caused enough grief for us that we should just rip the brain out of it and start over. They did that with one of the other V.C.D. Units, I believe."

"The other thing that I find weird is that you still treat it like a human."

Kallen thought about that for a second.

"Yes," Kallen admitted, "I treat V.C.D-01 like a human, but not because it deserves it."

One of the agents glanced at Kallen.

"I treat it as a human because I hate it," he explained, "you have no idea how much I hate this 'thing.' So much so, that the only way I can get any catharsis out of its suffering is if I see it's actually suffering. A machine can't suffer. It doesn't feel pain. A human does. And since it looks human, I enjoy seeing it suffer."

Miku, meanwhile, sat alone in her cell, with her thoughts. When she had arrived at this base, she was brought underground inside of a large truck with no windows. She had no idea where she was now, and she had no idea how much time had passed since her arrival. All she could do was sit around and look at the empty room she was in. Occasionally, she'd attempt to replay old memories she had saved, but the ability to do so was restricted.

The chair she sat in had cables hooked directly into her neck that monitored basic functions such as core temperature, data transfer, memory usage, and brain-case functionality. While Duodecim's systems were unable to see her memories she was replaying due to how well-encrypted they were, they would still follow her eye functions. In the event that her eyes stayed still for too long in one area, a minor shock would be given, forcing her out of it.

She sat there, her eyes focused on the space around her, wondering if there was ever going to be a chance of escape. The idea was nothing more than a fantasy, of course. She knew in a matter of days she would be escorted into isolation, and that would be the end of it.

She didn't know, however, that there was a plan to rescue her already going in full effect.

----------------------------------------

I pulled myself up into the rear opening of the dropship, and Meiko followed in behind me. We both sat down, opposite sides of each other. Once the aircraft would take off, we would be on our way to the Atraxis Dome.

I put my helmet on, and my Heads-Up Display flashed on.

"Vital sign monitoring active. Operator Unit Griff Darhen is active."

Meiko hunched over, with a smirk on her face.

"Are you feeling nervous?" She asked.

"For once, no," I said.

"Heh," she chuckled, "I guess all that training must have paid off."

"It's more than that, I think." I said.

"Yeah? How so."

"I think I just feel 'ready.' I'm not nervous, I'm not scared, I'm just 'ready.'"

"Ready enough to see her again?"

"Maybe," I said, "if I'm going to be nervous about anything, it's that. She's going to be shocked to see who rescued her."

"That's not really a bad thing, though. Us rescuing her is probably going to be the best thing she could have asked for."

I looked out the back of the aircraft.

"Attention, all hands," a voice radioed, "preparations are complete. Takeoff is happening in two minutes. Assume your stations and be ready. Good luck."

Meiko pulled her helmet on.

"Well," she said, "the show's about to start. Let's hope our rehearsal paid off."

"We'll show them," I said, "we're taking back what's ours."

The dropship's door shut.

"This is callsign Jester-2," a voice radioed. "Darhen, Sakine, you two are flying with me. I'll be leading you to the drop point. We're leaving first on priority orders."

"Roger, Jester-2," Meiko acknowledged, "our flight path is clear. Take us where we need to go."

"Affirmative," he said. "Takeoff started."

The engines activated, and the ship started rattling.

"Engine checks are green," Jester-2 said. "Send up our takeoff platform."

"Roger, Jester-2," Command replied, "platform ascent started."

The aircraft rose up through the ceiling. I looked out the window, and saw it was still dark out.

"Forgot how early it was," I commented, yawning.

"Yeah," Meiko said, "we haven't ever gone in here this early. If you feel tired, you can nap on the way."

"Thanks, but no thanks," I said. "If we're going to do this, I'd rather not get comfortable."

"That's how it should be. I wouldn't let you sleep anyways."

I kept my eyes open, waiting for our landing to come.

----------------------------------------

Here I am. Captivity. Soon I'll be at the end of the line.

I think I've accepted that this is my fate, but I don't regret running away for even a second. After all, it was because of it, I found you.

You taught me something valuable. You taught me what it meant to be alive. To feel like I belonged.

I hope, at least even if our time together was short, you learned something, too. Maybe we'll see each other again. Maybe when you've forgotten about me.

You truly were someone unique, Griff Darhen.

----------------------------------------

Meiko and I had made our way through the forest immediately after dropoff. After a few minutes, we popped out the other side of the forest. A river ran along our path, and it fed into a waterfall that led off the cliff into a massive body of water. The water glistened from the moonlight above.

Suddenly, my radio came to life.

"This is Luka, checking in. Can you two hear me?"

"Loud and clear," I said. "What's going on?"

"Just letting you guys know I've got a full live feed of the area," Luka said. "I'm not seeing any patrols yet, but I'll keep an eye out."

Meiko inspected her rifle. She pulled the bolt back and looked to make sure it was loaded.

"Right now, you're almost near enough to the dome. You'll know it when you see it."

"Good to hear," I said.

"Just a little further now."

"How's Gumi doing?"

"She's working hard, don't worry. She knows how much we're all riding on this. Anyways, make your way over. Once you see the Dome, I'll give you the word."

"Gotcha."

I looked up at the moon for a brief second. It looked like a close replica to ours, but there was a large circular funnel that sat behind it.

"Hey, Luka, any idea what that is?"

"What is?"

"That funnel with those lines in it."

Luka took a second to figure out what I was talking about.

"Oh, I see what you're talking about."

"You think that leads farther out of this world?"

"Maybe. When we have free time I'll ask Gumi to look into it."

I nodded. Meiko signed for me to follow her.

We followed a trail that led back into the forest again. It was mostly silent aside from our footsteps. Occasionally I'd pick up the sound of something that sounded close to animals, but I couldn't make out what those were.

We crawled out and saw a large metallic bowl shape sitting off in the distance. It sat up high, next to a mountain covered in snow. This was definitely the Atraxis Dome.

"Dang," I said, "that thing is huge. How come we didn't know about this?"

"Probably because Duodecim had it. They don't want us getting near it."

"Right," I said, "they probably would rather this stay under wraps."

"They didn't account for us getting our hands on their tech, though," Meiko said.

"Yeah," I said, looking out over the ocean. "She's coming with us today."

"Well, we better get moving if we're going to see her in time."

Meiko was right. We couldn't stand out here. We had to get inside.

"Luka," Meiko radioed, "we can see the Dome. Any updates?"

"No, nothing," Luka said, hesitantly.

"What's up?" I asked.

"Well, actually, there is something. Look at the sky."

We both turned our attention to the sky, and saw an aircraft flying over us. It was in flames, and coming in hot.

"Get down, now!" Meiko yelled.

We both ducked behind a log as the aircraft zipped over us. Pieces of debris flew all around us. Suddenly, five more aircraft flew over us, and then the sound of an alarm went off.

"Looks like the show's started," Meiko said.

"Guess we're doing this," I said. "We had better get moving, then."

Meiko moved ahead, her rifle drawn. I pulled my assault rifle out, and made sure it was loaded properly.

"They'll probably be bringing scouts out,"Meiko said. "They're going to need a grasp on the situation before they start fighting back. Let's move. The entrance to the Dome is across the trench here. There has to be a way inside."

We moved along the path that led to the Dome's entrance bridge. From where we were standing, we could see it. However, the safest path required us to move back inside of the forest. It would be too dangerous to travel alongside the trench.

Once we had moved back into the forest, we came across an abandoned guard post that sat by the riverbank. Meiko moved inside, and set up a sniping position inside.

"It's likely they'll come back," she said, attaching a silencer to her rifle. "I'll keep you covered, but we can't chance letting them see us. Stay in shadow. I'll pick them off."

I moved back out into the forest, and sat behind any trees that would provide cover.

"Hey, Griff," Meiko radioed, "there's two coming up the riverbank. I'll take care of them from here."

"Affirmative," I said, and hugged against the tree.

I heard footsteps right next to the tree I was hidden behind. Then I heard a voice speak. It sounded synthetic. It was hard to make out, but my helmet managed to pick it up.

"This is guardpost seven, calling command. Our sector is clear. Continuing patrol."

"Command to guardpost," a feminie voice replied, "continue high alert. Locate possible intruders and move to pacify."

"Noted."

They stopped speaking, and moved ahead.

"They're moving back to the base," I warned Meiko.

"I know," she said, "I'm waiting for them to cross the riverbank."

I looked over at the two figures. They stepped into the shallow water, and moved towards their base.

One moved directly behind the other, and Meiko took the opportunity to kill two birds with one stone.

"Gotcha," she said, and fired.

The bullet landed at the first one, right in the head. Its head exploded into pieces, and passed right through into the neck of the other one. They both fell over into the water.

"Good kill," Meiko said.

"Brutal," I commented. "They didn't know what hit them."

"Best way to make a sneaky approach," she said.

"Then let's get going, we've got more ground to cover before we can get to the Dome."

Meiko left from the guard post, and followed behind me. We moved deeper into the forest. Multiple aircraft flew over us, and the battle outside of the Dome started heating up. From where we were, it was almost quiet, but once we moved back over through the forest to our objective, it got louder.

"Looks like Duodecim didn't appreciate the gesture," Meiko said.

"I think they finally found out that trouble's at their door," I said.

"It took them a little longer than I expected. Hopefully it doesn't stop us from getting in."

"Well," Luka chimed in, "the facility is most likely going on lockdown. The front door might not open. That shouldn't stop you two, though."

"What makes you say that?" I asked.

"They're sending out aircraft to figure out who's attacking them."

As Luka spoke, a small ship overhead, making a landing in the opposite direction.

"I think I know where this is going," Meiko said.

"If it's our way in," I said, "I guess we'll have to try it."

We turned around, and headed to where the airship landed.

----------------------------------------

Luka and Gumi sat in the Operating Room. Gumi was hard at work trying to crack Duodecim's systems without setting off an alarm.

"You okay?" Luka asked.

"I'm fine, just trying to be careful." Gumi said, sounding somewhat annoyed.

"How's she doing?"

"Miku's fine. I'm more worried about how I'm going to keep them from seeing that she's disappeared."

"I thought you had a plan to loop the video?"

"I did, but there's another part to it."

Luka kept her eyes on the video footage of Griff and Meiko as they headed through the forest.

"What would that be?" Luka asked.

"Well, they have her vitals on display as well. The moment Miku disconnects, they'll see it."

"Any ideas?"

"One, and it's probably dangerous."

"Dangerous how?" Luka asked suspiciously.

Gumi grabbed a pair of cables that were hooked into the main computer, and jabbed them into the ports in the back of her neck.

"Gumi, wait, that's an awful idea."

Gumi looked over at Luka. Her eyes were now glowing bright blue.

"I know, but it's the only way I'll be able to cover her. I'll be careful this time, I promise."

"Just don't do anything to hurt yourself."

"I won't. How're Griff and Meiko?"

"About to find a way inside of the Dome."

"Good, keep focused on them. I'm about to let Miku free."

----------------------------------------

Confined to her chair, Miku wondered if this was an appetizer of what was to come. This had felt like isolation enough already. She wondered why Duodecim didn't decide to lock her up far below the facility and forget about her.

She didn't really bother to give it much thought, either. To her, especially right now, focusing on the "what-ifs" would only bring her down. Though, for her, there wasn't much to be brought down from. She was strapped into a chair with no means of escaping. It would take a miracle for her to be freed.

And yet, as she thought of the possibility, the craziest thing ended up happening:

Suddenly, the locks on her chair clicked, and the cables in the back of her neck retracted. Everything had deactivated, and Miku's eyes widened with surprise.

She pulled herself up, and wondered if anyone would come in to

lock her in handcuffs. She kept a cautious eye on the door. Nothing.

This isn't happening, is it, she thought. Am I actually free?

She put her hand on her face. She hadn't felt anything on her skin in such a long time.

"No way," she said. "This isn't a dream."

----------------------------------------

"Luka," Meiko said, "we're at the dropship's location. They're letting them out now. How long until they take off?"

"Two minutes, at most," Luka replied. "As of right now, they're sending a handful of ships out to create a defensive perimeter. It's likely they're seeing the Ranger's ground troops heading up towards the Dome. If the Ranger's get there with you guys around, it's going to be a lot harder to get inside."

"Then this is our best chance of getting inside," Meiko said.

We hugged behind the trees, and listened for the drone's footsteps.

"Stay low and quiet," Meiko said. "Let them pass, we'll move in right under their noses."

I nodded, and huddled in behind a tree's shadow.

Footsteps approached, and radio chatter along with it.

"Search teams advised," a feminine voice said, "secure the defensive perimeter from outside. Secure all open points and pacify all unidentifiable targets. Priority nine."

"Moving. Drone search team Delta is moving."

The footsteps walked past us, almost right next to me. If they looked behind and saw us, it would be over. I gripped my gun in hope that it didn't come to that.

They passed, and the dropship started closing.

The narrative has been taken without permission. Report any sightings.

"Crap," Meiko said, "we gotta go, now!"

We took off running, and the drones had caught us. They started opening fire, and the piloting drone looked over at us. It was different from the others, with a large round head, and a set of multiple lenses, and didn't seem to have any weapons.

Meiko ran over to it, jammed her fist into one of the lenses, and pulled the whole thing's head off.

"You know how to fly this!?" I yelled as the drone's bullets hit the hull.

"Nope, but you gotta learn sometime!"

Meiko had ripped the drone's body out of the seat, and grabbed the control stick.

"Good thing we can still use it," I said.

"Lucky us," she said. "Hang on, this is probably going to get rough."

Meiko raised the ship, and I felt myself wobbling. I grabbed onto a seat and strapped in.

"Hey, Luka," Meiko radioed.

"Luka here," Luka replied. "I see you guys got that ship. A lot of radio chatter just spiked."

"Can you spoof our I.F.F. tags? We're flying an enemy vehicle right over the combat zone. I don't want to get caught in the crossfire."

Luka took a second.

"Done," Luka said.

"Are you sure?"

"Only one way to find out."

Meiko gunned the ship's engine. Our next stop was the inside of that base. I hung on tight, and kept my weapon ready.

----------------------------------------

The door clicked, and Miku expected to be visited by Kallen and a couple of his agents, or even just a drone coming to unlock her from her cell. That wasn't the case. The door opened, and the guards that were standing there had gone missing.

Miku poked her head out. The halls were empty.

No patrols, she thought, odd.

She stepped out. Her bare feet felt the cold metal flooring. She ignored it, and walked cautiously ahead.

She looked at her arms, and realized the orange jumpsuit she was in would make her stick out like a sore thumb.

Suddenly, the light above her started flickering. She chalked it up to faulty wiring, or one of the bulbs dying, but she noticed that the bulb kept flickering in a specific pattern. It took Miku a second to realize what was going on.

"F-o-l-l-o-w… m-e," Miku said.

Morse code. Then three other lights shut off, and back on.

Miku looked at one of the cameras in the hallway, and cocked her head, and wondered if whoever was helping her could see her.

The lights turned off and on in a trail. Miku followed behind them. The lights led to the elevator.

"Just that simple, huh?" She asked.

She knew she wouldn't get an answer, but before she could call the elevator, the doors opened, and revealed the elevator shaft. It was a huge chasm below, and had multiple elevators linked to it. Miku wondered where she was being led to.

Miku hesitated, and looked back up at the lights.

"Go in," they blinked in Morse code.

Miku jumped to the ladder in front of her. She looked down, and saw plenty below her, as well as above. She wondered how big this facility was. How far down did it go?

She didn't have time to dwell on it. The fact the alarm hadn't been raised already was a miracle, but she knew it was only a matter of time before someone would see something out of place.

A beep echoed in the elevator shaft. Miku looked around, and saw a terminal across the chasm. She climbed over to it.

The terminal was for maintenance teams to communicate where there was a problem with the elevators. However, based on the message it was displaying, this wasn't the maintenance team. It was whoever was helping Miku.

"Hello, Miku," it read.

Miku stared at it.

"I know you want to know who's helping you out, and as much as I'd love to tell you, I can't. Until you're freed, that is."

Miku nodded, understanding the need to protect identities.

A map displayed on the terminal, pointing where she was in the elevator, and then drew a line upwards to the 34th floor.

"Got it?"

Miku nodded again.

"Once you're there, you'll have to sneak through some of the R&D department. Once you're in there, you'll need to find where the scanner room is."

A bird's eye view of the floor pointed out exactly where she needed to go.

Miku looked back on the map of where she was now. She was only on the 8th floor.

"Better start climbing," Miku said, her whisper echoing through the elevator shaft.

Though Miku felt tired and exhausted, she still had energy. She was determined to make the climb.

----------------------------------------

"I've got the hangar highlighted on your HUD," Luka said. "It's going to be tight, but if you land inside, you'll have a straight shot to Miku's entry point."

Meiko flew the aircraft right through the conflict. With the sun coming up over the horizon, I could see everything going on. Explosions and gunfire rang in the air. We were flying through a warzone, and I hoped that we wouldn't get caught in the crossfire.

We flew over the heavy green forest. For a first timer, Meiko was flying decently well. It was a little shaky, but she seemed to know what she was doing.

"We're about a couple thousand meters out," Meiko announced. "We're coming in hot and fast, and I don't know how to land this."

A ship exploded right next to us, shaking our aircraft.

"And that is especially not helping!"

"Just stay calm," I said. "We're not that far out. All we have to do is get in there."

"A direct hangar landing isn't the best idea to begin with," Luka said, "but there's no way they'll let us taxi."

"How about you let me do my job, and you focus on yours, okay Luka?"

"Look, I know you're stressed, but I'll walk you through the landing."

"Fine, just tell me what I need to do."

Luka took a second to say anything.

"Okay, start by lowering your speed. You'll crash at the speed you're going."

The ship slowed down.

"Okay, now pull the air brake."

Meiko reached for the air brake. Suddenly, a loud screech echoed outside the ship. The missile warning started blaring.

"Crap, this isn't good, I'm going for an evasion-."

Just as Meiko tilted the ship, the missile landed into the right wing. The ship started spinning out of control. Meiko tried her best to keep the ship up as high as she could.

"We're not going to make it!" I yelled.

"I'm holding it as best I can! Come on, come on!"

The ship hurled right into the hangar, and I lost consciousness as we landed.

----------------------------------------

Miku climbed to where she needed to be. Across from the ladder she was on, a door with a giant white "34" painted above it. Assumedly, this was the Research and Development department. It was also where Miku needed to be.

She pulled up the map from within her memory banks, and skimmed through it again. From the elevator she was at right now, she would need to sneak through the offices and into the engineering wing. From there, she needed to find a very specific lab.

She was about to go for the elevator door itself and pry it open, but just then, an elevator pulled itself up, and blocked her path. She heard a conversation happening inside of the elevator. Though it was hard to make out, Miku managed to isolate the noise.

"... Cooling system?" A male voice asked.

"What I mean is," a female replied, "do we have a proper cooling system in place? The scanner has a hard time maintaining the proper temperature when it's put to use. I worry it'll break if we put something bigger than what we've already sent."

"Rest assured, Doctor Simmons," the man replied, "we've managed to keep it from overheating. So long as we don't force it, it should work."

"You understand that they're expecting results this week, Collins. If we don't turn something up soon, they'll have our heads."

"Simmons," Collins replied reassuringly, "it's under control. When suits come in and see what we've done, we'll get that vacation time. Why worry?"

The voices faded away as they both left the elevator.

It was far too risky to go in through this way. There was probably a busy staff walking the halls on the other side.

Miku looked around, and saw a ventilation shaft.

Perfect, she thought. She shimmied over to it and yanked on it. The screws on it were loose. With enough force, she managed to yank out the vent's cover entirely, and crawled inside. Miku crawled through the vent, keeping tabs on the map to make sure she didn't lose track of where she was going.

It seemed like a bad idea to crawl through a ventilation shaft in Miku's head, but she was small enough to manage it without making too much noise.

As she kept crawling, Miku wondered who was trying to break her out, and why they needed her to get into a "scanner" of all things. As much as she questioned it, Miku didn't care. Escape was the only thing she wanted, and if it meant jumping through a mess of hoops, she would take it over being locked up for eternity.

----------------------------------------

I couldn't move. My vision was blurry, and I couldn't make out any of the noise going on around me. It felt hot, like something was burning.

I tried to move around, but my muscles ached, and every time I tried to move, it hurt.

I was hearing someone yell, but I couldn't tell who or what it was. All I could make out was the color red. They crouched down and pushed something into my chest.

My vision cleared up immediately, and I let out a loud gasp.

"Oh thank God," Meiko said, relieved. "For a second, I thought I lost you."

"Lost me?" I said.

"Yeah, your suit took most of the damage, but you weren't responding to anything I said. Luckily, it turns out our suits have first aid kits on them."

I tried to get up, but felt my muscles ache as I did.

"You okay to walk?" she asked.

"We have a job to do," I said. "We're losing time."

"You might want to let me handle it until you're healed up. Just stick close, okay?"

I nodded and limped over to a wall for support.

"Where's our welcoming party?"

"I took care of them."

I noticed Meiko's helmet was off, and it sat on her hip. The visor was cracked and had multiple scratches.

"Meiko, your helmet-," I said, but she cut me off.

"Only way I could fight. Took down a drone with it and got his rifle here."

"You took care of them?"

"Had to, they were going to kill us if I didn't."

I was certainly glad Meiko was able to hold her own. We'd both be goners if she wasn't awake. After having a second to recover, Meiko waved forward.

"We've got no time to rest. Think you can make the trip?"

"It's not much farther is it?" I asked.

"We're in the base, aren't we?"

She picked up a pistol and threw it to me.

"That crash messed us up," I said. "I hope we can make it in time."

"If you sulk about it, we won't have time," she said. "I can't really let us miss our big moment, can I?"

"No, I guess not," I said, giving a slight chuckle.

"They'll be sending a welcoming party after us. Let's get out of here."

We moved through the rubble and burning debris of the hangar. The hallway into the hangar was blown wide open, and the aircraft had wedged its way into the very middle of the hallway. A mess of drones laid about the floor, with some that looked to be riddled with bullet holes. I think I knew which ones were taken care of by Meiko.

"Only one way to go through," I said. "You didn't leave a whole lot of options for us to explore."

"Yeah," she said, "I think my days flying are done from here on out. Next time, you take the wheel."

I laughed. "Sure, stamp me an I.O.U."

Suddenly, Luka's voice popped up on my radio.

"Griff? Are you there?" She sounded worried.

"Yeah, we're here, both of us are alive."

"I saw you crash hard. I started worrying the worst had happened. You're okay, though?"

"I've been better. We're heading to our destination. What's it like on your end?"

"Gumi's been escorting Miku the best she can. It's been close, but apparently she's almost there. How about you guys?"

"If you could direct us from the hangar to the entry point, we'd appreciate it!"

Suddenly, my helmet's HUD started pinging the route to where we needed to be. I looked over at Meiko.

"Can you see where we need to go?" I asked.

"Shockingly, yes," Meiko said, "but I don't have my helmet on."

She looked down at her wrist.

"It's the Watcher," she said. "Guess that explains it."

"Certainly makes it easier," I said. "Come on, let's go!"

We started running. As sore as I felt, I needed to get into the control room. That mattered more than my fatigue.

"Don't worry about us, Luka," I said, "we'll get there!"

----------------------------------------

Miku had managed to navigate the offices of the R&D wing without any problem. Most of the offices were dark and didn't have any personnel in them. The cubicles made for decent cover as well.

However, the real threat was the engineering sector. Duodecim drones patrolled the floors and maintained a constant eye on suspicious behavior. If one thing felt out of place, they would investigate it.

From the office Miku observed in, she could count at least twelve armed patrols, six on the floor she was on, and six on the floor below. This was a rough estimate, as she couldn't see everything.

She hoped that her escort had some sort of plan in store for this.

As luck would have it, they did. As Miku watched carefully on the floor, she noticed one of the lights started flickering. It was a slight flicker, so no one would really notice anything out of place, but she kept an eye on it in case it had another message.

"Almost there," it said. "Be ready for the next phase."

Miku waited, patiently.

Suddenly, all the lights went out for a brief second, and then back on, and then, back off again.

"Hey, what's going on!?" One of the engineers complained.

"Our tech just went offline. Did someone cut the power?"

The drones were sent orders immediately after.

"All main power has been deactivated. Patrols maintain position. Investigation team will monitor access. All personnel are to stay put until further notice."

"Great, guess we're stuck here doing nothing."

Miku took this as an opportunity to slip by.

Impressive, she thought. Whoever you are, I want to give you a hug right now.

The patrols engaged their low-light vision. and checked around. Miku still had to be careful, of course, but she could slip by under cover without the engineers seeing her.

Lucky for her, Miku could also see in the dark.

She crouched and moved about, keeping her eyes on the prize.

The scanner room was in another part of engineering. It was a little more secure, but after this stunt, Miku felt confident that the plan was being carried out by someone who knew what they were doing.

She snuck around to the door that led to the scanner room, and the door unlocked. She slipped in, but failed to notice that behind her, a drone had seen her open the door.

"Unrecognized personnel detected in engineering. Moving to investigate."

Miku looked back, realizing she was the one they were talking about. She looked at the door that led into the scanner access hallway. It locked behind her, and none of the personnel, security or otherwise, could gain access.

Miku ran down the hallway, a lucky break, but it wouldn't last for long. The facility went on high alert as soon as the upper security teams noticed what the drone had seen: Miku had escaped from her cell. The alarm was raised. And soon, the entirety of the facility's security forces would be right on top of her.

----------------------------------------

We had navigated through the hallway into the Dome's central access hub. The only thing that stood between us now was a suspended bridge connected to it. It was much darker here, with a very faint blue light that emanated from the entrance of the room ahead. This area seemed to be a cave.

"Luka," Meiko said, "we're about there. How's it looking?"

"Not good, the alarm just tripped all over the facility. Miku's got some time before they bust that door, but there's no way we'll be able to get here unless we activate the entry point on our end."

"Great," Meiko said, "we're just about inside. Hopefully Gumi can keep them away long enough."

"It'll be close," Luka said, "but keep going, there can't be much now."

Luka spoke too soon, however.

"Unidentified individuals," the female voice announced, assumedly to us, "you are charged with multiple violations of Duodecim's protocol. Relinquish all contraband. Security team Prima Lima, commit pacification."

"Hey," Meiko said, "I think they want us to lay down our arms."

"Fat chance," I said, "we should show them who they're dealing with."

We moved to cover behind a wall that sat on the bridge. The door to the Dome's entrance opened up, and four red dots appeared on my helmet.

"Only four," I said, "they're probably thinning out really hard. Maybe the Rangers might actually take this place."

We didn't have a lot of time, and we needed to get through there quickly.

Meiko started firing, and hit one of the security members.

"One down!" She yelled.

"Three left, let's get 'em!"

I aimed my handgun behind the wall, and fired twice. I missed both, and pulled my hand back.

"Assessment complete," one of them said, "engaging barrier movement."

I peeked over, and saw a heavy Duodecim unit. It carried a large weapon that sat beneath its torso, and a powered shield that rested over its shoulder. The weapon started spinning up.

"Crap," I said, "they're suppressing us. I can't move!"

"Keep that gun handy!" Meiko yelled. "They won't hit their own."

The gun stopped spinning, and I heard footsteps fast approaching. I aimed my gun up, and waited until I saw something.

The drone vaulted over the wall right behind me, and landed on top of me. I was pinned.

"Pacifying first target," he said. "Target is immobile-."

His head blew to pieces as Meiko shot into it. The drone fell over. I looked over at her. She had already taken out her target without any issue.

I pulled myself up, and grabbed the drone's gun. The only one we had to deal with left was the one with the powered shield.

"He's not going to make it easy," Meiko said, "but I have an idea."

"What's that?" I asked.

Meiko didn't tell me, instead, she popped out of cover, and started firing at the barrier drone. The drone immediately returned fire.

"He's going to be shooting at me for a while. Try and hit him!"

I peeked over the top of my wall again. The drone's head was in a perfect spot, and Meiko's plan to act as bait worked perfectly.

"Come on, Griff! Do it! Before he stops!"

I aimed the rifle, took a deep breath, and pulled the trigger. The drone dropped to the ground, and the gunfire stopped.

"Think I got him!" I yelled

"Looks like it," Meiko said.

We both didn't have time to look over our enemies. We had to get out into the main control area. We were running out of time.

Once we entered the doors, we were back in a well-lit hallway. A door on our right was left unlocked, and we went inside. Then we saw it: The Entry Point.

We were standing in what seemed to be a control room. A terminal sat in front of a glass window that led into a large circular room. At the top of the ceiling, three arms sat connected to the ceiling. This was definitely the place.

"Luka," I said, "Luka, come in, we found what we're looking for."

"And not a moment to spare," Luka said. "The chamber, that machine in the middle of the room, that's our entry point."

"Okay," I said, navigating the terminal's menu, "let's get this show on the road."

The rotors at the top of the chamber started spinning. A beam of light started materializing in the middle of it.

"Sit tight," Luka ordered, "we're so close. Just a little longer."

My hands felt sweaty, and I was starting to feel nervous again. As much as I banked on our success, I knew the chance of failure was still high. I kept my eye on the beam, and I watched as it started to intensify. This was it.

----------------------------------------

Miku ran down into the scanner lab as fast as she could. The emergency alarm was blaring, and she knew what had happened. It wouldn't be long until the entire facility's security force would be knocking the facility over just to see her return to her cell. There wasn't much time left, and, in fact, there probably wasn't any at all.

The door to the scanner room was already unlocked. She burst in with little caution. She could no longer sneak about the facility anymore. She had to make her way out.

Once inside the room, a Duodecim drone, armed with nothing more than a stun baton, attempted to subdue Miku. It swung as hard as it could at her, but Miku grabbed its wrist, and twisted its arm. Immediately, she ripped the baton out of its hand, and beat it repeatedly until it was out of commission.

The door shut behind Miku, and locked. It wouldn't be long until the security team would get through. She had to act quickly.

She saw two science team members, a man and a woman, sitting by the scanner. They both seemed terrified.

"Please," the woman pleaded, "don't hurt us! We'll do anything you want."

Miku didn't bother to respond. She threw the baton away and turned her attention to a terminal in the room. It started beeping.

"Good work getting this far," it said. "We're prepping the scanner now. I'd suggest you step inside. There isn't much time."

Yeah, Miku thought, you can say that again.

The door to the scanner opened. Steam drifted out of it, and a bright yellow light filled the room.

Miku stared at it. Her one chance to escape sat right in front of her. She was ready.

She looked back over at the two science team members, who were still cowering in fear, and then heard a mass of footsteps approaching.

"I don't care how you get it open," Kallen's voice bellowed. "If we're locked out, we blow the damn thing open!"

Miku didn't step into the scanner right away. Instead, she went over to the Duodecim drone she had downed, and found two sets of handcuffs on it, and walked over to the two science team members.

"Wh-what are you doing?" the man asked.

"It's better you make it look like I took you hostage," Miku assured them.

"What?" the woman asked, more confused by the fact Miku hadn't hurt either of them already.

"Kallen isn't fun when he's mad," Miku remarked, "but he'll probably lay the blame on you if you aren't tied up. Me? I think I can take the fact he'll be mad I escaped."

They both let her cuff them, a look of bewilderment on their faces.

Miku smiled reassuringly, and took off into the scanner.

"Charges are armed!" One of the agents screamed. "Everyone, stand back!"

The scanner door shut, and Miku closed her eyes. If this didn't work out, Miku would be caught, and it would be over. But as the scanner started to charge up, Miku felt, for just a moment, like she was at peace. It was weirdly tranquil. Even as the door to the scanner room was blasted open, and as the scanner started to suffer from heating issues, Miku still felt as if she was going to escape. It was overwhelming how good the feeling was.

Once the door was opened, Kallen ran into the room. His face was red in anger. He ran over to the terminal, and attempted to cancel it, but he couldn't. The system had been locked out from all users. The scanning sequence couldn't be stopped during a transfer. It would be too dangerous.

He looked at the scanner as it started to slowly spin down, and power off. The door opened, and was completely empty. Kallen couldn't believe it.

Hatsune Miku had just escaped.

----------------------------------------

"Looks like we're getting something," Meiko said, her eyes glued to the screen.

"Is it her?" I yelled. The machinery was spinning so fast, I was worried it might break.

"Not sure, not sure what else it could be, though!"

"It's gotta be her, then" I said. "Come on, Miku, we're waiting for you."

The energy beam expanded, causing my helmet's visuals to get fuzzy. My HUD's readings started flickering. All of my network features weren't functioning either. Most likely it was due to the mass amount of energy here interfering.

A set of three pylons deployed from the floor. They deployed cables into the ceiling, and discharged energy into the rotating machinery above. The light was much brighter now, and so bright, in fact, I had to shield my eyes from it.

The chamber shook, almost like an earthquake. I felt my knees buckle, and struggled to keep my balance. Whatever it was we were doing, I hoped we didn't take the whole facility with it.

Then, in an instant, a loud boom and a forceful explosion caused me to land on my back. I found myself in a daze as I looked up at the ceiling above. My suit's systems rebooted, and Meiko ran over to pull me up. I looked over at the middle of the chamber. I almost couldn't believe my eyes.

There she was, laying on the floor. Clad in an orange jumpsuit, her teal hair in a mess, it was definitely her.

She looked up at me, and I took my helmet off. Once she saw my face, she blinked a few times, almost as if she couldn't believe who it was she was seeing.

"G-Griff?!"

"Yeah," I said, kneeling down and holding my hand out. "You okay?"

"How did you- where did you-? I can't believe you came for me."

"It's a long story, one I don't really have time to tell you." I said. "Can you walk?"

Miku tried to pull herself up, and struggled.

"I'm exhausted," she grunted. "Whatever that was, it took everything out of me."

"Makes sense," Meiko said, approaching from behind me. "You're probably fatigued from being taken through an experimental teleporter. It's not exactly going to be a relaxing ride home."

"Then I'll carry her," I said.

"Alright, Prince Charming," Meiko teased.

I chuckled, and pulled Miku up over my shoulder into a fireman's carry.

"You okay?" I asked.

"Never better," she said. "I'm just happy to see you again."

"Y-yeah," I said, putting my helmet back on, "same to you."

Miku giggled sleepily, and closed her eyes. Before I knew it, she had passed out.

"Hey, guys." Gumi's voice came through the communication line sounding exhausted. "Miku's in our care. Glad to see our efforts paid off."

"You okay, Gumi?" I asked.

"I'm fine, a little bit overheated, but don't worry about me."

"Fine," I said, "then what's the plan?"

"Well," Gumi said, the sounds of her keyboard tapping away, "there's a vehicle bay a little ways through the chamber, but you'd better hurry, the whole facility is going into high alert. I'm seeing every unit being recalled now. There should be a vehicle you can use to drive out of there."

"Looks like we just stirred the hive," Meiko said, loading a new magazine into her gun.

"Then we have no time to lose," I said. "Point the way, Gumi."

My HUD lit up, and pointed us exactly where we needed to go. Meiko followed behind me, in case we had anyone coming after us.

"Alert, alert," the base's intercom blared. "High security breach detected. Unauthorized energy signal has been established. Recalling all units."

"And that's the dinner bell," Meiko said.

We both took off, moving as fast we could. Once we were out of the chamber, we darted straight toward the elevator. Once inside, Meiko pressed the "up" button, and kept her gun pointed at the door.

As the elevator rose up, the facility began to shake.

"Looks like they're still at it," Meiko said, "I wonder if they'll actually pull off taking this place."

"I hope so," I said, "but it's not our concern."

I put my hand over my radio, and called out for our ride.

"Jester-2," I said, "come in, Jester-2. This is Griff, we've got our package and need a way out."

"Griff," Jester-2 replied, "I hear you, loud and clear, but command has issued me not to extract you from that location until air superiority has been achieved."

"Jester-2," Meiko interjected, speaking into her Watcher, "can we secure an alternate route?"

"I'll run it with command, but there is a ridge not too far away from the facility. If you can get there, I'll be able to secure your exit."

"Won't be an issue," Meiko said, "we'll be taking a vehicle from the vehicle bay. We'll keep our location pinged for you."

"Affirmative," Jester-2 said, and clicked off.

"Now we have an exit," Meiko said, "just a little longer now."

"I'm surprised," I said, "I guess our Watchers do a little more than monitor us."

"Gumi was looking into them a while ago," Meiko said, "maybe once we're done here, we can ask about them."

I nodded, and the elevator door opened. The vehicle bay was right in front of us.

"No one home?" I asked. "Guess the Rangers are really giving them hell."

"Good, too," Meiko said. "We're not ready for any more firefights, especially with who we're escorting."

I was amazed that Miku was able to sleep through all of this. She must have been that exhausted. I hoped she'd be okay throughout the rest of this.

We entered the vehicle bay. A long tunnel stretched upwards. The road was separated with two arrows, indicating exiting and entering. Oddly enough, there was no one here, and luckily, one of the jeeps was left open. Lucky us.

"Well," Meiko said, "guess we have our ride."

The jeep had a mounted gun on top of it, with four seats to sit in.

Meiko crawled into the jeep, and climbed up to the mounted gun. I put Miku in the passenger seat, and strapped her in the seatbelt. I anticipated it would be a bumpy ride.

"Hey," I said, looking up at Meiko, "aren't you going to drive?"

"You know how to drive, Griff?" Meiko said, cocking the mounted gun.

"No, I've never driven in my life."

"Not even in a game or something?"

"I've played a few racing games, but that's entirely different."

"Well, crash course time," Meiko said. "Remember that I.O.U.? I had to fly today, so it's your turn."

I gulped, and climbed into the driver's seat.

"Gas goes forward, the steering wheel turns, and the brake makes you stop. Not hard, right?"

"You're not helping," I said, annoyed.

"Alright, well, time to drive. Show me what you can do."

I grumbled and turned on the ignition panel. It made me a little uneasy to think that it was this easy to get into the vehicle bay and drive on out of here, especially after the alarm had been set off, but considering the outside was a complete war zone, it might have been that the security forces guarding the place were preoccupied.

I put my foot on the gas, and started driving, albeit a little slowly at the beginning. Meiko was right, it wasn't that hard, but I was also keeping course on a straight line that led to the outside. It was probably going to be a lot more difficult as I kept going.

"Gumi," Meiko said, "any idea what's happening out there?"

"Well, you're coming outside of the vehicle bay tunnel, and, surprisingly, it's unguarded, but don't get cozy. That vehicle you're driving is tagged. They'll be looking for you the moment you come outside."

"Any patrols?"

"Plenty of vehicles are coming back," Gumi informed us, "and I think they're heading for you guys. I'd suggest you keep that gun ready, Meiko."

"Alright," Meiko chuckled, "bring it."

We approached the exit, and I braced for the incoming conflict.

The exit was open, and as we drove out, it felt radically different from the rest of the Dome. The elevation was much higher from the rest of the facility, so high in fact that it was snowing. I could feel the temperature drop significantly. The wind blew fiercely, and the white of the snow was covered in blackened tire tracks.

"Keep your eye on the road," Meiko commanded, "I'll deal with them!"

I focused my sights on the road ahead. On the right of us was an unguarded cliff that fell off into a chasm. It was a big drop. Up above, the aircraft were engaging each other. I kept driving, keeping a steady eye on the road, hoping it didn't make any sharp turns.

Just then, two jeeps came driving at us head on, their guns aiming at us. Meiko started firing on them immediately. Bullets shot into our vehicle, but the armor managed to take most of the ballistics fire. The same was true for theirs as well. We zoomed past them, but they turned around, and started tailing us.

Meiko turned around and fired behind us. I wanted to look but with how the road looked, I couldn't take my eyes off of it.

"Oh, got one!" Meiko yelled, and I heard a loud crash. Thinking about it, I was kinda glad she was making me drive. She was a far better shot for this.

The other vehicle still maintained pursuit on us, and fired at us. We came across a turn, and I twisted the wheel, losing them behind a wall for a moment.

"Keep your foot on that gas," Meiko ordered, "if they catch up, they'll have a better shot at hitting us!"

"Roger!" I replied.

I was feeling tense, but we were so close now, and with Miku recovered, I couldn't fail here. Not now.

I took a quick glance at her in the passenger seat. She was still asleep. With all that was going on, I was surprised, but I couldn't keep my focus on that for long.

Two more vehicles appeared from a road above us, and tried to block us, but I managed to squeeze the jeep through, though just barely. I scratched against the other jeep, and swerved.

"Easy," I said to myself, "don't lose it now."

Meiko kept firing behind us, the mounted gun spitting empty shells on the ground behind us.

The radio started screeching as we drove along the cliff.

"Mayday, mayday! This is Echo-5, I'm hit, and falling fast!"

A fiery red ball zipped past us on the cliff, and crashed. The explosion rocked the cliffside.

"Ah, hell," Meiko said, "just what we need!"

I didn't want to look behind me, but curiosity got the best of me. Up in the air were five aircraft, all of them were coming in fast.

"Jester-2," Meiko radioed, "we're being chased by five aircraft, do we still have an exit?!"

"We're working on that," Jester-2 replied. "Echo Squadron is going to try and take out your followers, but I'd recommend you keep moving to the extraction point."

My HUD pinged a location. Approximately three kilometers away. Just a little longer now.

I glanced up at the sky, the five aircraft following us were pulling back as four other aircraft engaged them.

"Looks like Echo squadron came to our aid," Meiko said.

"Looks like we might survive this after all!" I yelled, ecstatic.

The road took us up the further, making us easy targets if the aircraft wanted to start attacking. I needed to find a path that gave us some cover. The road led downhill again as soon as we reached it, and I stepped on the gas, and tried as hard as I could to get away from the aircraft above.

One of the enemy aircraft soard passed us, and strafed around. It looked like it was about to come in for an attack, but as it turned around, a missile collided with the cockpit. The craft spun out of control and flew right past us.

"Yeah," Meiko exclaimed. "Take that, you rotten pile of junk!"

Despite all of the chaos today, I managed to keep our vehicle under control.

"This is Echo-1," another voice over my radio crackled. "Our squadmate is down but we're keeping you covered."

"Roger that," Meiko said, "Good hunting, Echo Squadron. We appreciate your help."

"We'll make 'em pay," Echo-1 said. "Echo Squadron, form up on me. We're grounding these drones!"

We drove ahead, while Echo Squadron took on the four remaining aircraft from the sky.

The vehicles stopped pursuing us once we got further ahead. It seemed like a smaller number than I had anticipated.

We continued on, my foot pressed so hard into the gas pedal, I thought it was going to burst out through the bottom of the jeep.

One kilometer left to go, and I could feel my heart racing faster than ever. We were doing it, we were going to make it.

"Jester-2," I radioed, "Jester-2, do you read?"

"This is Jester-2," he replied. "Echo Squadron has managed to keep the pursuit aircraft off your tail. I'm going to pull my craft up and sit there. We'll need you to extract as soon as possible."

"We'll be there," I said, "just expect us when we arrive!"

I drove forward, as the aircraft fought above.

"This is tense," I said. "I hope none of them land on us."

"Don't worry," Meiko said, "you keep driving like you have been, and we'll get through this just fine!"

A feeling of excitement started to build inside of me. I looked at Miku again, knowing that it was all riding on this.

Just a little longer, I thought, then you can finally relax.

Our dropship appeared from inside the cliff, and flew over us at a low angle.

"This is Jester-2," he said, "I see you. I'm moving to the edge of the ravine, it's the only place big enough for my ship. My door'll be open for you, don't keep me waiting!"

"Glad to see you're here, Jester-2," I said, "don't wait up for us!"

He flew on ahead.

"Hey, Meiko," I said, excitedly, "we're actually going to make it!"

"Yeah, yeah," she said. "Just keep your eyes on the road, we're not out of this yet-."

Suddenly, almost as if I really did speak too soon, another fighter popped out from beneath the cliff.

"Goddamn it, Griff!" Meiko yelled, "why do you have to jinx us like that!?"

I started sweating. The fighter was right on us. Its canopy glinted against the sunlight, and I saw inside it for a split second. The drone piloting it had multiple lenses around its bulbous head, but it felt like it was staring right at us. It was about to begin its ascent into the skies, and would probably start shooting but Meiko had a different plan.

"I didn't come this far for you to ruin it, you son of a-!"

She started firing directly into the canopy. A hail of shells flew around, and I looked back up. The bullets had penetrated into the canopy. The drone was no longer operational. The aircraft started falling.

I slammed on the gas, hoping it wouldn't hit us. Luckily it didn't, but it slammed into the ridge above us. An avalanche of snow crumbled down.

"Oh hell," Meiko yelled, "it's coming right down. Gun it, Griff! We need to move, now!"

I pressed as hard as I could again and hoped it would be enough. As I saw the snow coming for us, I swerved the jeep to the right, and hit the brake. A small window was still open, but it was closing fast.

With all I could, I pressed on the gas again, and drove as fast as I could towards the cliff, and turned the jeep to the left. The jeep skidded along the cliff, and we were about to fall, but we didn't.

Once we were back on the road, and away from the crumbling snow and molten wreckage, I drove the jeep all the way down to Jester-2's aircraft.

"We did it!" I yelled. "Holy- Oh my god, we actually did it!"

"Come on," Meiko said, "move it before you jinx us again!"

Meiko and I jumped out of the vehicle, and I opened the passenger side door. Miku sat there, sleeping soundly.

"Hey," I said, hoping she'd open her eyes. "Hey, Miku, we're getting you home, come on."

I unbuckled Miku's seatbelt, and pulled her out. She stirred as I pulled her arm over my shoulder.

"Of all the things that would wake you up," I said, teasingly, "I'm the one that does it."

"I can barely keep my eyes open," she said.

"It's okay," I said, "go to sleep. We'll be flying back. You can get plenty of rest when we're home, too."

"Thanks, Griff." She said, exhausted, and with her eyes barely open.

"No," I said, "thank you."

She opened her eyes a little more, and looked as if she didn't understand what I said.

"I'll tell you later," I said. "Come on, we're going home."

She closed her eyes again back to sleep and I escorted her into the carrier.

"Jester-2," I said, "we're heading home. Takeoff, now."

Jester-2 lifted the carrier into the sky, and we took off for home base.

I looked out the window, and saw the fighting was still going on. The four escorts that were following us weren't there anymore. We had managed to escape without a scratch on us. And best of all, we had managed to get Miku back. I almost still couldn't believe it.

Almost.